Liberty Media To Step Up Podcast Effort

Liberty Media, the company that is controlled by billionaire mogul John Malone and houses such assets as satellite radio company SiriusXM Radio, the Atlanta Braves baseball club and the Formula One racing circuit, on Monday reported lower third-quarter earnings as higher costs and expenses outweighed increased revenue.

Quarterly earnings came in at $262 million, or $193 million attributable to Liberty stockholders, down from $366 million, or $268 million attributable to stockholders, in the year-ago period. Operating income fell from $531 million to $507 million. The company's third-quarter revenue rose from $2.32 billion to $2.86 billion, but operating costs and expenses rose from $1.78 billion to $2.35 billion.

SiriusXM recorded a 1 percent drop in operating profit to $459 million, while the company's Liberty Braves Group's operating profit of $21 million fell from $45 million. Formula One posted an operating profit of $44 million, up from $39 million in the year-ago period.

Greg Maffei

“SiriusXM continues to deliver and posted another record breaking quarter. The company has made great progress in monetization at Pandora, reaching an all-time high for ad revenue in the quarter,” said Greg Maffei, Liberty Media President and CEO.

“Formula 1 continues to show great momentum and is on track to hit 2019 targets, benefitting from foundation building over the last two years, and the Braves secured their second straight NL East division title.”

FORMULA ONE GROUP 

“We were thrilled to have the World Motor Sport Council unanimously approve the 2021 regulations, which were the result of input from all stakeholders across the sport of Formula 1. We believe these regulations stay true to the DNA of Formula 1 while seeking to improve the competition and action on the track,” said Chase Carey, Formula 1 Chairman and CEO. “This season continues to produce some spectacular racing and we congratulate Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes on their amazing achievements. We now look forward to the final two races of 2019 and a record 22 race 2020 season, including our new event in Vietnam and our return to the Netherlands.”

BRAVES GROUP

Baseball revenue is comprised of ballpark operations, local and national broadcast rights and licensing and other shared MLB revenue streams. Development revenue is derived from the Battery Atlanta mixed-use facilities and primarily includes rental income.  Baseball revenue per home game grew in the third quarter of 2019 primarily due to increased ticket and concession sales.

Liberty Media is planning to step up its bet on podcasts and is looking for opportunities to develop unique content that will draw in customers.

The majority owner of satellite-radio operator Sirius XM Holdings Inc. believes consumers aren’t tapped out on podcasts, which have grown in popularity in recent years and are now standard fare for media companies.

Last month, Sirius XM and Walt Disney Co. ’s Marvel unit said they signed a multiyear deal that calls on the comic-book business to create a substantial number of podcasts for SiriusXM and Pandora, the streaming service that Sirius acquired in February. Sirius has launched a 20-part podcast series tied to the 100th season of the National Football League and other podcasts, too.

“The audio day, between AirPods and Alexa and other kinds of distribution devices, is only expanding,” Maffei told analysts on Monday.

Music has become somewhat commoditized, but podcasts create the chance to offer customers exclusive material, Mr. Maffei added.