SiriusXM has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the podcast space. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to follow the rest of the industry into a push to video.
In recent years, the company has announced several podcasters, like Conan O’Brien, Mel Robbins, SmartLess, and Morbid, among others. Perhaps most notably, SiriusXM inked a deal with Alex Cooper — the founder of Call Her Daddy — for a contract that pays her up to $120 million per year.
But that push into the podcast space doesn’t mean that the company is going to be following many others from the industry into placing a primary focus on digital video shows labeled as podcasts.
“We’re not going to be Netflix,” SiriusXM President and Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein told The New York Times. “We’re still an audio company.”
He added that while some bemoan the low barrier of entry to podcasting, the company believes it might actually be a feature and not a bug.
“I like that the wall has never been lower for creativity,” Greenstein said. “You can set up a mic or your phone, and you’re a podcaster.”
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