SiriusXM to obtain Stitcher podcast business for up to $325M

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.