Now that SiriusXM’s 360L “360 degree listening” platform is about to launch, the satellite radio company says it will add more features to the platform including the addition of “customized artist-specific channels designed to please our subscribers,” said CEO Jim Meyer on a conference call with analysts Wednesday.
The new custom artist-specific channels could be enabled later this year, he said, without offering further details.
SiriusXM also announced it will begin offering video programming in the second quarter.
Initially, video will be enabled only on Howard Stern programming, via a revised 360L smartphone app for both iOS and Android devices. By the second half, SiriusXM will announce future video programming.
The app will be a “springboard” to launch video, said Meyer, who cautioned that the video rollout will be gradual. “We’re going to wade into it.” He quipped, “We’re not going in the Netflix business.”
The new formats follow the announcement of 360L due in the second quarter in the 2019 Dodge Ram followed by other vehicles in the future. 360L delivers more channels, and provides access to thousands of hours of on-demand shows never before available from the dash. It also serves up customized recommendations for programs the listener might like.
360L requires a direct cellular connection. Meyer said by 2020, at least eighty percent of new cars will come with an embedded cellular modem.
Now that SiriusXM is offering streaming with 360L, it plans to push the service in areas outside of the car, including over home speakers such as Amazon’s Echo. “You only see a few things every once in a while that are truly [game] changing. These home speakers are truly [game] changing. We want, when the time is right, for us to start driving listening across multiple platforms,” Meyer said.
By the way, Meyer mentioned that the new tax plan should result in savings of $900 million for SiriusXM over the next 4 years and about $200 million thereafter. The company said some of that extra cash might go into satellites.
SiriusXM now has about 32.7 million subscribers after adding 527,000 net new self-pay subscribers in the fourth quarter (and 1.56 million for the full-year 2017). It expects to add another 1 million subscribers this year.
The company announced 4th quarter revenues of $1.4 billion, up 8 percent over the same quarter last year, but earnings swung to a net loss of $37 million, as the company took a special tax accounting charge and was hit by a $72 million drop in the fair value of its investment in Pandora, it said.
With all that money being saved maybe some could be invested back into sound quality. Have always liked the satellite radio concept but can’t get past the poor sound quality.