SiriusXM Gets Serious About Podcasting with Stitcher Acquisition

SiriusXM is reportedly closing in on a deal to purchase E.W. Scripps’ Stitcher podcast business for about $300 million, a move that would give the satellite radio company access to popular content, an advertising unit, and a distribution platform. 

Stitcher’s podcast presence: Stitcher produces podcasts including Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and Freakonomics. Stitcher also acts an ad sales rep for more than 250 podcasts through its Midroll Media advertising unit. On top of these, Stitcher has a listening platform that costs $4.99/month to subscribe.

Arsenal of assets: Pandora, Soundcloud, Simplecast and Stitcher are now all under the SiriusXM umbrella. 

• What’s next? There are a couple ways SiriusXM could leverage its collection of audio and podcast assets. Wells Fargo Securities analyst Steven Cahall says the company could pull these together to form a podcast platform to go head-to-head with Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The other option, which Cahall says is unlikely, is that SiriusXM acts as a “podcast mercenary” and sells Stitcher shows exclusively to platforms like Spotify. There is a downside to that strategy, though.

  • “The value of some of Stitcher’s content or even Stern would be huge based on recent content transactions. However, making content non-exclusive to SiriusXM risks strengthening a competitor and/or hurting the competitive positioning of SIRI’s core biz and cash cow,” said Cahall.

Big picture: The race for podcasting supremacy is picking up, and major media companies are looking to capture market share through acquisitions. Spotify’s exclusive deal with Joe Rogan is a flex on the rest of the industry, and a message that to match Spotify’s content you will have to dig deep into your pockets. SiriusXM could be an underdog in the podcast business. Cahall says that with more than 30 million subscribers and a loyal base, “SIRI is one of the best run businesses in Media, in our view.”