Pandora continues to lose listeners with monthly active users (MAU) down 7% from a year ago according to the latest Q3 2020 financial results from parent company SiriusXM. MAUs were 58.6 million in the third quarter, down from 63.1 million in the prior year period. Total ad supported listener hours also declined from 3.12 billion in the period, down from 3.32 billion in the third quarter of 2019.
Pandora added 105,000 net new self-pay subscribers to its Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium services in the third quarter to end the period with nearly 6.4 million subscribers to those services. However, advertising revenue declined by 3% year on year and rising promotional costs led to gross profit declining by 4% over the same period.
The streamer’s stable mate SiriusXM added 169,000 additional subscribers in Q3 and helped the group to increase its Q3 revenue to $2,025 million up 1% year on year. The Company’s net income increased 11% to $272 million in the third quarter from $246 million a year prior. SiriusXM’s new car penetration rate climbed to approximately 78% in Q3 2020 largely due to the success of its 360L platform with a variety of car manufacturers including Audi, BMW, FIAT Chrysler, Ford, GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC brands and Volkswagen.
The company stated that ‘the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a material effect on our revenues and expenses for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020, with the effects on our business first emerging in the quarter ended June 30, 2020.’ In common with many other businesses the outlook over the coming months is uncertain as the pandemic continues.
The full accounts can be downloaded here.
