SXM Media Unveils New Programmatic Capabilities for Podcast Advertising

SXM Media to host session with panelists from Publicis, Discovery and The Trade Desk at this fall's IAB Podcast Upfronts

News provided by

Sirius XM Holdings Inc.

Sep 09, 2021, 11:57 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- This week at the IAB Fall Podcast Upfronts, SXM Media, the combined advertising sales organization spanning SiriusXM, Pandora, and Stitcher, will introduce new programmatic capabilities into the marketplace for podcast advertising. The new capabilities are expected to bring unprecedented scale, targeting and DSP campaign management for podcast advertisers. This offering cements SXM Media's position as a leader in the growing programmatic space, in its pursuit to modernize podcast advertising and simplify the audio buying experience for advertisers.

In the SXM Media hosted session, leaders will discuss the hurdles marketers face within this buying platform, the greatest opportunities to grow, and how brands can unlock the solutions to successfully execute podcast ad campaigns programmatically. Moderated by Claire Fanning, VP, Ad Innovation at SXM Media, the panel will include:

Hayley Diamond, EVP, US Digital Investment at Publicis
Regina Sommese, GVP, Paid Media - Global Subscriber Acquisition at Discovery
Ash Gangwar, GM of Inventory Partnerships at The Trade Desk

SXM Media allows brands and marketers to connect with over 44 million podcast listeners across 5,000+ shows to reach their target audience at scale. With SXM Media's new programmatic podcast solution, advertisers now have a single access point to buy all of SXM Media's inventory, such as Pandora, Stitcher, SiriusXM, and podcasts from NBC News, CNBC and MSNBC. This content provides brands with even more scale, diversity of content, and premium inventory to align with. These properties are also transparent to programmatic DSPs, so advertisers can see and choose specifically which publishers they can access. To complement SXM Media's exclusive podcast inventory, programmatic buyers will also have a single access point to expand their podcast buys into more of the SXM Podcast Network. The network brings even more unique reach and quality podcasts to programmatic buyers seeking incremental users and premium content alignment.

In addition to investing in technical innovation, SiriusXM has made a series of programming acquisitions to bolster its catalog of premium podcasts it offers exclusively to its advertisers. SiriusXM has announced a series of notable deals to expand content offerings including the acquisition of Roman Mars' 99% Invisible Podcast, and the launch of Seth Rogen's original podcast series, Storytime With S eth Rogen. Last month, Sirius XM's Stitcher also announced the relaunch of beloved Black culture show, For Colored Nerds, which is expected to premiere later this year.

Quality content stacked against a sophisticated alignment offering now enables brands to reach podcast listeners programmatically through a mixture of audience and contextual targeting. Topically, advertisers can both target and anti-target granular content categories, to ensure they feel confident running in relevant, brand-suitable environments across thousands of episodes. Audience targeting leverages third-party data to match listeners with their online and offline behaviors, so that advertisers can reach specific audiences, such as parents or business owners.

"The programmatic opportunity has remained nascent for podcast buyers and creators for a few reasons," said Claire Fanning, Vice President, Ad Innovation at SXM Media. "Without programmatic activation, a better understanding of the inventory, and advanced targeting levers, it is difficult to build a sophisticated strategy that aligns with advertiser standards. With years of experience, SXM Media is well positioned to lead. We are excited to roll out the offering to brands who are eager to mature their podcast investment - and to further benefit the growing number of creators who attract engaged listeners to so many genres of content. We are also hard at work continuing to diversify our programmatic offering to extend to all emerging audio channels, such as programmatic transactions of Connected Home advertising inventory, which we expect to be generally available this month."

About SXM Media
SXM Media is the combined sales organization of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), spanning its SiriusXM, Pandora, and Stitcher audio entertainment platforms and services. With a reach of more than 150 million listeners, SXM Media gives brands, creators, and publishers access to the largest digital audio advertising platform in North America. SXM Media also serves as the exclusive advertising and sales representative for other platforms and podcasters, including major entities such as SoundCloud (exclusive U.S. advertising representative) and the NBCUniversal News Group (exclusive advertising representative for NBC News and MSNBC podcasts, with additional sales rights to CNBC podcasts).

CONTACT: Ashley Jones, 832-474-8611, [email protected]

SOURCE Sirius XM Holdings Inc.