Post-Pandora Acquisition, SiriusXM Slashes 60 Positions

Last week, SiriusXM revealed its joint Q1 2019 financial report following its acquisition of Pandora Radio.

The satellite radio company’s pro forma revenue jumped 10% year-over-year to $1.9 billion, up from $1.7 billion.  Overall revenue grew 8% to $1.5 billion.  The company attributed the growth to a 3% increase in SiriusXM subscribers and a 4% growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) to $13.52.  At the end of the first quarter, SiriusXM had over 34.2 million total subscribers.

Pandora Radio didn’t do so well.

The digital radio service’s monthly active users (MAUs) declined to 66 million, down from 72.3 million in Q1 2018.  This resulted in total ad-supported listener hours of 3.4 billion in Q1 2019, down from 3.8 billion year-over-year.

Yet, the digital radio service added 246,000 net new self-pay subscribers, ending the quarter with nearly 6.2 million self-pay subscribers.  The digital radio’s total subscriber count now stands at 6.9 million.

Speaking about the report in an earnings call with investors, SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer said,

“We’re right where we want to be and moving very fast.  It’s still the first inning, but I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made so far.”

Now, following its financial report, the satellite radio company has announced new layoffs.

Here comes the ax.

Not everything was good news for SiriusXM in its Q1 2019 report.

The satellite radio company confirmed its net income experienced a sharp 44% decline, totaling $162 million compared to $289 million year-over-year.  SiriusXM attributed the steep drop to its Pandora Radio acquisition, completed on February 1^st.

So, according to a memo from Meyer, the satellite radio company will let go around 60 staff members.

Meyer wrote that due to the acquisition, “both organizations knew that there would be changes to the workforce as we realigned departments, formed new teams, and found we had a greater visibility on the roadmap for the combined companies.”

“We made these changes to better align our resources with business needs.”

The combined companies have around 4,600 employees.  SiriusXM will lay off just over 1% of its current workforce.

Attempting to motivate its current staff following the job cuts, Meyer concluded,

“The opportunities for SiriusXM and Pandora together are exciting, and, now more than ever, I need your focus and dedication on the work at hand.”

Featured image by SiriusXM.