Sirius XM Holdings said Monday it will obtain Stitcher, E.W. Scripps’ podcast enterprise, for up to $325 million US, as the satellite radio enterprise pushes further more into the podcast space.
Stitcher streams podcasts these types of as Freakonomics Radio, Conan O’Brien Needs a Close friend, My Favored Murder, SuperSoul Sunday from the Oprah Winfrey Community, LeVar Burton Reads and WTF With Marc Maron.
Stitcher also owns and operates a cellular application listening platform where people can stream a assortment of podcasts, which include information, sporting activities, talk and leisure shows, on-demand and absolutely free of charge with advertisements (or for a subscription charge with out).
“The addition of Stitcher is an significant following stage as we carry on to acquire and fortify our offering in the quickly-escalating podcasting market,” Jim Meyer, chief government officer of SiriusXM, said in a information launch.
Stitcher presently competes with the podcast libraries of corporations these as Apple and Spotify.
SiriusXM, which purchased on-line audio support Pandora Media Inc in a $3.5 billion (all figures US) offer in 2018, has been investing to bolster its podcast enterprise.
Final year, it signed a multi-12 months deal with Walt Disney Co, enabling it to develop special weekly podcasts, like 5 new sequence on well-known Marvel characters these kinds of as Wolverine, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Star-Lord.
Below conditions of the offer, SiriusXM will pay $265 million in money to Scripps, as perfectly as up to $60 million in more payments primarily based on Stitcher accomplishing selected economic metrics in 2020 and 2021. Stitcher’s 2019 profits was $72.5 million.
Scripps reported in a news launch that the $325-million determine represents a return of additional than double its investment in podcasting in excess of the previous five yrs.
The offer is anticipated to close in the 3rd quarter of 2020.
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