Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Business & Basis of Presentation

v3.24.3
Business & Basis of Presentation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Business & Basis of Presentation Business & Basis of Presentation
Liberty Media Transactions
Sirius XM Holdings Inc., the reporting company under this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, is the product of a series of transactions that closed after market close on Monday, September 9, 2024.
On September 9, 2024 at 4:05 p.m., New York City time, Liberty Media Corporation (“Liberty Media” or “Former Parent”) completed its previously announced split-off (the “Split-Off”) of its former wholly owned subsidiary, Liberty Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (“SplitCo”). The Split-Off was accomplished by Liberty Media redeeming each outstanding share of Liberty Media’s Series A, Series B and Series C Liberty SiriusXM common stock, par value $0.01 per share, in exchange for 0.8375 of a share of SplitCo common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Redemption”), with cash being paid to entitled record holders of Liberty SiriusXM common stock in lieu of any fractional shares of common stock of SplitCo.
Following the Split-Off, on September 9, 2024 at 6:00 p.m., New York City time (the “Merger Effective Time”), a wholly owned subsidiary of SplitCo merged with and into Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (“Old Sirius”), with Old Sirius surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of SplitCo (the “Merger” and together with the Split-Off, the “Transactions”). Upon consummation of the Merger, each share of common stock of Old Sirius, par value $0.001 per share, issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Merger Effective Time (other than shares owned by SplitCo and its subsidiaries) was converted into one-tenth (0.1) of a share of SplitCo common stock, with cash being paid to entitled record holders of Old Sirius common stock in lieu of any fractional shares of common stock of SplitCo. At the Merger Effective Time, Old Sirius was renamed “Sirius XM Inc.” and SplitCo was renamed “Sirius XM Holdings Inc.” In connection with the Transactions and by operation of Rule 12g-3(a) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), SplitCo became the successor issuer to Old Sirius and succeeded to the attributes of Old Sirius as the registrant, including Old Sirius’s Commission File Number and CIK number.
The Transactions are intended to generally be tax-free to holders of Liberty SiriusXM common stock and Sirius XM Holdings common stock (except with respect to any cash received by such holders) and the completion of the Transactions was subject to various conditions, including the receipt of opinions of tax counsel.
General
The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements represent a combination of the historical financial information of Old Sirius and the assets and liabilities of SplitCo until the date of the Merger Effective Time. Although SplitCo was reported as a combined company until the Merger Effective Time, all periods reported herein are referred to as consolidated. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the unaudited consolidated financial statements. These consolidated financial statements refer to the combination of Old Sirius and the aforementioned assets and liabilities as “Sirius XM Holdings,” “the Company,” “us,” “we” and “our” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements. “Sirius XM” refers to Sirius XM Holdings’ wholly owned subsidiaries, Sirius XM Inc., Sirius XM Radio LLC and its subsidiaries other than Pandora. “Pandora” refers to Sirius XM's wholly owned subsidiary Pandora Media, LLC and its subsidiaries. The Split-Off is being accounted for at historical cost due to the pro rata nature of the distribution to holders of SplitCo common stock.
The accompanying (a) consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023, has been derived from audited financial statements, and (b) the interim unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the results for such periods have been included. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for a full year. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the combined financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2023 as presented in the prospectus filed with the SEC on July 23, 2024, which forms part of Liberty Sirius XM Holdings' Registration Statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-276758) (the “Registration Statement”).
Public companies are required to disclose certain information about their reportable operating segments. Operating segments are defined as significant components of an enterprise for which separate financial information is available and is evaluated on a regular basis by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources to an individual segment and in assessing performance of the segment. We have determined that we have two reportable segments as our chief operating decision maker, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Sirius XM Holdings, assesses performance and allocates resources based on the financial results of these segments. Refer to Note 16 for information related to our segments.
We have evaluated events subsequent to the balance sheet date and prior to the filing of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and have determined that no events have occurred that would require adjustment to our unaudited consolidated financial statements. Disclosure of relevant subsequent events have been included throughout these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and footnotes. Estimates, by their nature, are based on judgment and available information. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Significant estimates inherent in the preparation of the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include asset impairment, fair value measurement of non-financial instruments, depreciable lives of our satellites, share-based payment expense and income taxes.
Business
Sirius XM Holdings operates two complementary audio entertainment businesses - one of which it refers to as “Sirius XM” and the second of which it refers to as “Pandora and Off-platform”. 
Sirius XM
The Sirius XM business features music, sports, entertainment, comedy, talk, and news channels and other content, as well as podcasts and infotainment services, in the United States on a subscription fee basis. Sirius XM packages include live, curated and certain exclusive and on demand programming. The Sirius XM service is distributed through Sirius XM’s two proprietary satellite radio systems and streamed via applications for mobile devices, home devices and other consumer electronic equipment. Satellite radios are primarily distributed through automakers, retailers and Sirius XM’s website. The Sirius XM service is also available through an in-car user interface, called “360L”, that combines Sirius XM’s satellite and streaming services into a single, cohesive in-vehicle entertainment experience.
The primary source of revenue from the Sirius XM business is subscription fees, with most of its customers subscribing to monthly or annual plans. Sirius XM also derives revenue from advertising on select non-music channels, which is sold under the SiriusXM Media brand, direct sales of satellite radios and accessories, and other ancillary services.  As of September 30, 2024, the Sirius XM business had approximately 33.2 million subscribers.
In addition to the audio entertainment businesses, Sirius XM Holdings provides connected vehicle services to several automakers. These services are designed to enhance the safety, security and driving experience of consumers. Sirius XM Holdings also offers a suite of data services that includes graphical weather and fuel prices, a traffic information service, and real-time weather services in boats and airplanes.
Sirius XM holds a 70% equity interest and 33% voting interest in Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. (“Sirius XM Canada”). Sirius XM Canada's subscribers are not included in Sirius XM’s subscriber count or subscriber-based operating metrics.
Pandora and Off-platform
The Pandora and Off-platform business operates a music, comedy and podcast streaming discovery platform, offering a personalized experience for each listener wherever and whenever they want to listen, whether through mobile devices, vehicle speakers or connected devices.  Pandora enables listeners to create personalized stations and playlists, discover new content, hear artist- and expert-curated playlists, podcasts as well as search and play songs and albums on-demand.  Pandora is available as (1) an ad-supported radio service, (2) a radio subscription service (Pandora Plus) and (3) an on-demand subscription service (Pandora Premium).  As of September 30, 2024, Pandora had approximately 5.9 million subscribers.
The majority of revenue from Pandora is generated from advertising on Pandora’s ad-supported radio service which is sold under the SiriusXM Media brand. Pandora also derives subscription revenue from its Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium subscribers.
Sirius XM also sells advertising on other audio platforms and in widely distributed podcasts, which it considers to be off-platform services. Sirius XM has an arrangement with SoundCloud Holdings, LLC (“SoundCloud”) to be its exclusive ad sales representative in the US and certain European countries and offer advertisers the ability to execute campaigns across the Pandora and SoundCloud platforms. It also has arrangements to serve as the ad sales representative for certain podcasts. In addition, through AdsWizz Inc., Sirius XM provides a comprehensive digital audio and programmatic advertising technology platform, which connects audio publishers and advertisers with a variety of ad insertion, campaign trafficking, yield optimization, programmatic buying, marketplace and podcast monetization solutions.
Effects of the Transactions
Prior to the closing of the Transactions, a portion of Liberty Media’s general and administrative expenses, including certain legal, tax, accounting, treasury and investor relations support of $3 and $11 for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $15 and $31 for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, were allocated to SplitCo and are included in General and administrative in the unaudited consolidated statements of operations. In addition, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 we incurred costs related to the Transactions of $32 and $68, respectively, which were recorded to Impairment, restructuring and other costs in our unaudited consolidated statements of operations.
Following the closing of the Transactions, Liberty Media and Sirius XM Holdings operate as separate, publicly traded companies, and neither has any continuing stock ownership, beneficial or otherwise, in the other. In connection with the Transactions, Liberty Media and Sirius XM Holdings entered into the Reorganization Agreement and certain other agreements, including a tax sharing agreement, governing the relationship between the two companies. Refer to Note 15 for more information regarding the tax sharing agreement.
Refer to Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, in the December 31, 2023 audited combined financial statements included in the Registration Statement.
Reclasses
Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified for comparability with the current year presentation.
Recently Adopted Accounting Policies
In March 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2023-02, Accounting for Investments in Tax Credit Structures Using the Proportional Amortization Method, which expands the population of investments for which an investor may elect to apply the proportional amortization method. Under this ASU, an investor in a tax equity investment may elect the proportional amortization method for qualifying investments on a tax credit program-by-program basis. We adopted ASU 2023-02 as of January 1, 2024 using the modified retrospective approach.
Adoption of the new standard resulted in the recording of additional Equity method investments, Related party current liabilities, Other Long-term liabilities, Deferred tax liabilities and a cumulative effect adjustment to opening retained earnings. The effects of the changes made to our unaudited consolidated balance sheet as of January 1, 2024 for the adoption of ASU 2023-02 are included in the table below.
Balance at December 31, 2023 Adjustments Due to ASU 2023-02 Balance at January 1, 2024
Balance Sheet
Equity method investments $ 715  $ 122  $ 837 
Related party current liabilities $ $ 15  $ 23 
Other long-term liabilities $ 428  $ 109  $ 537 
Deferred tax liabilities $ 2,414  $ (3) $ 2,411 
Retained earnings
$ 15,353  $ $ 15,354