SiriusXM To Speed 360L Interactive-Platform Deployments

SiriusXM’s 360L interactive vehicular platform “is now the plan of record” with the automotive OEMs, said CEO Jim Meyer on a Q4 call Tuesday. Installations of 360L will reach 2 million vehicles by the end of 2020, “and will accelerate sharply in the years to come,” he said.

According to Meyer, "360L is now the plan of record with OEMs and its distribution will continue to grow. With many new launches coming in model year '21, our next-gen platform will be distributed this year across six OEMs and 13 of their brands. Total vehicles in operation with 360L should reach 2 million by the end of this year and will accelerate sharply in the years to come.

"360L brings a more immersive, engaging and personalized listening experience into the vehicle by marrying satellite broadcasting with two-way Internet connectivity. We expect the superior offering of 360L will improve conversion and churn performance.

'One of the most exciting things about 360L is that – is that it’s our first platform that can handle significant over-the-ear updates, so we can evolve features across the entire fleet now - not just the newly produced vehicles. This provides a path to move Pandora capabilities into large volumes of cars at some point down the line.

Additionally, Meyer expects all of the OEMs to adapt SiriusXM's new wideband chipset over the next few years, with the first OEM actually launching it later this year.

"As we consolidate our broadcast platforms in the middle of the decade, this new chipset will allow us to expand our content offering and multiply the amount of data we are able to send to vehicles. This should open up new ways to monetize and grow our services. 360L and wideband chipsets are the mainstay/future of our in-vehicle roadmap for many years to come.

"Although we still have plenty of work to do, I’m pleased with our efforts so far to increase listening and engagement on the SiriusXM platform outside of the car. Late last summer, we made streaming available at no extra charge to the vast majority of our subscriber base. Subscribers streaming this service continue to steadily grow. And we know that increased subscriber engagement leads to increased retention."