Audio Video News

Satellite radio giant SiriusXM’s $3.5 billion acquisition of music streaming powerhouse Pandora will yield the “world’s largest audio entertainment company” with a combined audience of more than 100 million active users, according to the parties involved. Pandora alone has the largest digital audio audience in the U.S. with more than 70 million users.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the independent directors of Pandora and SiriusXM’s board of directors and is expected to close in early 2019, subject to federal anti-trust scrutiny and approval by Pandora stockholders.

In the wake of last week’s announcement, SiriusXM said there will be no immediate change in listener offerings and noted that it plans to expand its satellite radio offerings beyond the car and into the home and other mobile areas.

What the merger will ultimately mean for users of either service remains a question but SiriusXM executives said they plan to leverage their content and programming with Pandora’s ad-supported and subscription tiers to create “unique audio packages” and use SiriusXM’s automotive relationships to expand Pandora’s presence in the car.

SiriusXM said it also plans to support and strengthen Pandora and create a “promotional platform for emerging and established artists, curated and personalized in ways to deliver the most compelling audio experience that connects artists to their fan bases, as well as new listeners.”