After a failed push to compete with streaming services, SiriusXM is reshaping its strategy to directly target terrestrial radio listening. “We have a real opportunity here to take share from AM/FM with the right price points and packages,” said CEO Jennifer Witz.
The pivot, discussed in the company’s Q1 2025 earnings call, comes as part of a broader repositioning to solidify SiriusXM’s presence in the in-car listening space by offering new pricing, ad-supported options, and expanded access through embedded technology.
This strategic redirection follows SiriusXM’s admission that its previous push toward streaming-exclusive subscriptions did not yield the desired results. CFO Tom Barry confirmed that the company is pulling back on marketing spend for streaming-only products.
The centerpiece of this shift appears to be SiriusXM’s upcoming ad-supported subscription tier. The new product will offer a subset of music and talk programming for a “persistently lower priced” fee. “We plan to begin testing early iterations of this new subscription in the coming months, enabling us to hone the offering and bring to market the strongest package,” Witz explained.
COO Wayne Thorson elaborated, saying the rollout will be tightly focused: “We’re expecting to land in the high single digits in terms of price. This is going to be available from the beginning in almost 100 million vehicles and available to all new car trials.” Thorson emphasized that the goal is not cannibalization of current paid plans, but expansion.
The ad-supported tier will be complemented by the company’s growing Free Access efforts, combined with periodic open broadcasts of premium content, such as February’s Chris Stapleton Radio event, to non-paying users.
As of Q4 2024, AM/FM radio dominated the ad-supported, in-car listening space at a 90% Share of Ear, per Edison Research.
Even with total revenue down 4% to $2.07 billion and net income falling to $204 million for the quarter, leadership remains bullish on the shift. In Q1 2025, SiriusXM reported a self-pay net subscriber loss of 303,000, which represented a 16% year-over-year improvement from the comparable quarter in 2024. Churn also improved, decreasing 18 basis points to 1.6%, with gains seen across vehicle-related, non-pay, and voluntary churn categories.
Witz noted, “We saw reduced in-car churn largely due to lower cancel demand and non-pay despite the full price rate increase we implemented in early March,” adding, “We really haven’t seen anything to give us any pause… just our loyal core long-term subscriber base where we have been seeing higher satisfaction and value even than ever before and consistently low churn.”
“Our strong churn performance suggests no meaningful change in consumer behavior,” said Barry. “We’re staying vigilant… but we feel great about our ability to generate long-term sustainable value for shareholders across a variety of economic environments.”
