SiriusXM Radio: CEO Jim Meyer..Pandora Offers Opportunities

Jim Meyer

Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the home of Howard Stern, sees growth upside for its emerging video business, but won't turn into a film or TV company, CEO Jim Meyer told an investor conference on Tuesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Appearing at the annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference in New York in a session that was webcast, the exec said Stern was "really excited" about the video offerings. "I don't know what the step is, that's what he gets paid to do. He is a genius, and he will figure out, I know, some exciting stuff in that area. You guys should expect more and more video to roll out now over the remainder of the year."

"We have done really well with video," the SiriusXM CEO also told investors. "Video advertising is a much higher monetization than some of the other ads."

Sirius, controlled by John Malone's Liberty Media, closed its $3.5 billion acquisition of music streaming service Pandora Music on Feb. 1. Meyer on Tuesday once again lauded the success of the deal, saying that cost savings have come in ahead of expectations, and he highlighted that Pandora has turned positive in terms of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The exec also cited the addition of content to Pandora and continued cross-promotion of the Pandora and SiriusXM services as further opportunities for the company.

Asked about possible further acquisitions, Meyer signaled no major deals are on his mind. "We’re not a conglomerate. We’re not built to run a conglomerate," he told the conference. "We’re in the audio entertainment space. We have found opportunities that are tangential to that, like the connected vehicle space, where we get one plus one equaling more than two."

As the integration of the companies continues, Meyer said management was able to cut costs much quicker than he expected. And after years of losses, Meyer said Pandora will be EBIDTA-positive in second half for the first time in its history. But he stressed that Pandora has serious work ahead to stem the decline in listeners that has dogged the streaming service for years.

Less than seven months after taking over Pandora, Meyer said management is “digging into” Pandora’s listener deterioration, reports InsideRadio.  Stressing that it needs to make Pandora’s product better, Meyer teased “some interesting things coming later this fall that makes the app functionally better and easier to find content within the app.”