SiriusXM Buys Podcast Producer Stitcher from E.W. Scripps

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, July 13, 2020

Stitcher

SiriusXM has agreed to acquire podcast producer Stitcher from The E.W. Scripps Company. Under the terms of the deal, at closing, SiriusXM will make a cash payment of $265 million to Scripps. The agreement provides that SiriusXM will potentially make up to $60 million in additional contingent payments based on Stitcher achieving certain financial metrics in 2020 and 2021. When combined with the SiriusXM/Pandora's ad sales arrangement with SoundCloud and the Stitcher & Midroll networks will reach over 150 million listeners.

"The addition of Stitcher is an important next step as we continue to develop and strengthen our offering in the fast-growing podcasting market," said SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer. "With Stitcher, we will expand our digital audio advertising presence and look to generate new ways for creators to find and connect with their audiences. Stitcher has a talented team with deep experience in the podcast space, and we look forward to working with them to better meet the needs of creators, advertisers, and listeners."

Stitcher podcasts include "Freakonomics Radio," "My Favorite Murder," "How Did This Get Made?," "SuperSoul Sunday" from The Oprah Winfrey Network, "Office Ladies," "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend," "Literally! with Rob Lowe," "LeVar Burton Reads," "Comedy Bang! Bang!" and "WTF with Marc Maron."

The deal comes on the heels of SiriusXM's recent acquisition of podcast management and analytics platform Simplecast. The addition of Stitcher, alongside the ad tech and monetization platform AdsWizz, will expand the company's existing suite of podcast hosting, analytics, insights and marketplace offerings.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020. Guggenheim Securities, LLC is serving as financial advisor to SiriusXM and Weil, Gotshal