SiriusXM ‘Not Going to Be Netflix,’ CEO Meyer Says of Video Services Ambitions

SiriusXM remains “very focused” on launching an exclusive Howard Stern video service, but “we’re not quite ready to say when we’ll launch it,” CEO Jim Meyer told a Bank of America/Merrill Lynch investment conference Thursday. Of SiriusXM's decision signing Whalerock Industries to the project, Whalerock founder Lloyd Braun, is “a very, very strong and confident producer with a big successful track record of producing video,” Meyer said. Asked if the public should think of the Stern video-service initiative as an initial step for a broader SiriusXM video offering in the future, or just a one-time project, Meyer said that was “a great question and it is one I am not sure of the answer yet.” One thing for sure, however, “we’re not going to be Netflix," he said. "We’re not going to produce 60 channels of video and try to compete with that kind of business,” he said. “The question that we’re focused on today is, do our customers want video -- short form of video or some other form of video -- as part of that audio experience?” Meyer sees SiriusXM “getting in this to keep our churn stable or improve our churn,” he said. “I don’t see it as this burgeoning new big business that we’re going to generate tons more revenue from. We don’t know the answer yet. We’re testing a lot of stuff. We’re out asking customers.” But the company is “going to walk into this, not run into it,” he said.