MarketWatch tells us SiriusXM (which means Pandora) is going to spend $265 million in cash to buy E. W. Scripps (which means Stitcher). Pandora will kick in up to $60 million of additional payments if Stitcher can achieve certain financial goals in 2020 and 2021.The Verge tells us the deal is for all the podcasting bits of the company: Stitcher, the podcast listening app and directory; Stitcher, the podcast network, which has some exclusive content and some windowed shows, which is content that comes out first exclusively on Stitcher and then days and or weeks later everywhere else; and Earwolf, the production arm of the network that makes some rather big and popular podcasts; and Midroll, the podcast advertising service. On the surface, this seems like a pretty obvious play to maintain parity with their bitter rival Spotify. But to me, it seems a bit disjointed.Finances are problematic. E. W. Scripps’ (parent company to Stitcher) share price is struggling this year, according to MarketWatch, with a drop of 43% this year. SiriusXM’s market performance isn’t much better, with a stock value down 20% thus far in 2020. And there’s a lot of overlap. Pandora already has their own advertising company and ad tech in AdsWhizz. And Stitcher’s Midroll all but lost their identity in 2018 under a Stitcher-first branding redux in 2018.  Earwolf is Stitcher’s production company making high-quality content. But Pandora also has original podcasts and exclusive deals, much as they announced in partnership with Marvel in 2019. Leaving those unknowns aside, this acquisition is good news for all of us. Even with the uncertainty of the economy right now, it still shows podcasting is worthy of large investments and acquisitions. Even better: If SiriusXM takes a similar approach taken by iHeartRadio and starts using their remnant advertising inventory to drive listeners to and awareness of podcasts in their app, all podcasters win. Assuming your shows are listed on Pandora, obviously. Hopefully, this new acquisition will mean the approval process of six weeks or more shrinks to a realistic number. But we’ll see.-----Read the full article and share with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/is-pandora-stitchering-a-sirius-podcasting-strategyPodcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is designed to make podcasting better, not just easier.Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit SimplerMedia.pro to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.Mentioned in this episode:Support For Abortion RightsWhile Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few. You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com. If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources: 1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion. 2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions. 3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics. 4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet. 5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more. We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy