Audacy’s local sports stations have been on SiriusXM for less than two months, and the satellite company is already praising the results. SiriusXM says the 24 channels would rank third among its sports destinations by listeners, behind only NFL Radio and ESPN Radio.
SiriusXM raised its full-year 2026 outlook by $25 million on each of its three guidance metrics. The company now expects about $8.55 billion in revenue, with third-quarter revenue at about $2.2 billion, essentially flat year over year.
Advertising revenue edged up to $456 million from $455 million, and is up 3% to $1.32 billion for the first nine months, as growth in podcasting, programmatic, and technology fees balanced softer demand for streaming music and satellite advertising. Net income rose 7% to $317 million.
“It is clear that our differentiated sports offering, including newly added local content, is contributing meaningfully to enhancing our subscription value,” said SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz, in reference to Audacy’s local sports stations that joined SiriusXM on September 1, with 19 Audacy news/talk stations to follow later this year. Witz said more than 80% of listeners to the Audacy stations are outside the channels’ home markets. Witz used Philadelphia as an example of fans following the Eagles, Phillies, 76ers, or Flyers through familiar local voices wherever they live. SportsRadio 94WIP is one of the Audacy stations in the deal.
As for SiriusXM’s streaming performance, Pandora and off-platform advertising revenue rose 1% to $419 million. Podcasting grew 20%, programmatic 21%, and technology fees 11%, while streaming music advertising declined on lower listening hours. SiriusXM segment advertising was about $37 million, down $2 million, which the company tied to softer news programming and direct-to-consumer demand, partly offset by sports.
The release shows the Pandora side shrinking in audience even as ad revenue held. Ad-supported listener hours fell 10% to 2.25 billion, monthly active users fell 7% to 38.8 million, and revenue per thousand listener hours was $91.63, up from $91.24. Pandora Plus and Premium ended the quarter with about 5.5 million self-pay subscribers, down 3%.
SiriusXM Chief Financial Officer Zach Coghlan said strong podcast sell-through reduced available inventory and constrained third-quarter growth, but fourth-quarter advertising trends are encouraging, with podcasting and programmatic supporting modest growth against a tough comparison.
With YouTube audio, SiriusXM Media now reaches about 255 million unduplicated monthly listeners, up from 170 million a year ago, according to Witz. She said early campaigns have increased advertisers’ unique reach by as much as 91%, and most early bookings are from existing advertisers. The company expects a modest contribution from YouTube audio in 2026 and a more meaningful impact in the second half of 2027. Walker said the company is in early discussions with the major holding companies and that advertisers are in test-and-learn mode.
On the subscriber side, SiriusXM added 5,000 self-pay net subscribers, about 45,000 better than a year ago, but lost 20,000 paid promotional subscribers, leaving total net additions at negative 15,000. Ending subscribers were 32.85 million, up 46,000 year over year. The company expects a tougher fourth quarter and now sees full-year self-pay net additions roughly in line with 2025, when it lost about 300,000.
The success of its Audacy additions may have led to a softening of its stance of taking up arms against terrestrial radio.
Witz told investors in February that the vast majority of in-car listening still goes to AM/FM, and that new packages, including a $9.99 music-only plan and low-cost ads at $7, were aimed squarely at that listening. On the second quarter call in July, SiriusXM Chief Advertising Revenue Officer Scott Walker called local and mid-market advertising the next frontier, said the company would hire to capture it, and described local spend as a large, if not majority, share of traditional radio’s total, as Radio Ink reported.
The third quarter call did not return to either theme, with no reference to the packages, and no mention of local or mid-market advertising or hiring. The closest it came was in a Q&A answer on SiriusXM’s ad approach, when Witz said the in-car advertising opportunity is still ahead of the company, that it may get more focus next year, and that automakers are interested. She said YouTube is the main priority.
