SiriusXM subscribes growth in the fourth quarter, facing a “challenging” economy and “physical investment” – The Hollywood Reporter

Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, home of Howard Stern, reported Thursday that it added 162,000 self-pay subscribers in its satellite radio unit in the fourth quarter, but expected ​will decrease “modestly” this year due to economic and auto industry challenges.

SiriusXM also said its paid promotion subscribers dropped by 28,000 in the last quarter of 2022. During the same period last year, it added 55,000 self-paying customers and lost 286,000 paid promotion users. .

The total number of subscribers achieved was 134,000 in the most recent period compared with a decrease of 231,000 in the period a year ago. As of the end of 2022, the number of self-paying subscribers of Sirius is 32.4 million, with the total number of users reaching 34.3 million.

At its Pandora streaming business, the company lost 52,000 net self-paying subscribers in the final quarter of 2022, compared with a loss of 128,000 the year before. The company ended December with about 6.2 million total self-pay customers at Pandora.

The company’s quarterly advertising revenue fell from $495 million in the same period a year ago to $480 million. Monthly active users (MAUs) at Pandora were 47.6 million, down from 52.3 million in the year-ago period. Total ad-supported listening hours reached 10.9 billion, down from 11.5 billion, but average monthly listening hours per user with ads increased 4% to 20.6.

SiriusXM has invested in and focused on developing listening experiences both in and out of the car, and is planning to relaunch its app by the end of 2023.

“The year 2022 has been a successful year for SiriusXM, as we continue to focus on giving consumers the best sound quality.
entertainment both in-car and on the go, achieving record-high sales and record-low churn,” said CEO Jennifer Witz. “Our strong financial and operating results for 2022 are testament to our resilience.
business model, and the growing contribution from streaming, has helped us deliver 348,000 new net self-paying subscribers. In 2023, we expect SiriusXM to deliver strong operating results and significant cash generation, even as we face a challenging economic environment and continue to invest in assets. into its technology infrastructure.”

Chief Financial Officer Sean Sullivan warned: “While we’re not releasing subscriber guidance today, we do expect a moderately negative net out-of-pocket net gain for the year due to economic uncertainty. The economy and demand continue, auto sales remain low, and we’re reducing marketing ahead of the launch of our new streaming experience plan later this year.”

But he also noted: “SiriusXM met all of its financial guidelines in 2022 – a remarkable achievement in a difficult year.”

In pre-market trading, SiriusXM stock fell 1.9%.