Satellite radio big SiriusXM explained Monday that it is buying podcasting system Stitcher from broadcaster E.W. Scripps for $325 million.

Sirius had been in talks for months to acquire the system, which owns a handful of podcast networks that produce displays like “Freakonomics Radio,” “My Favored Murder” and “Conan O’Brien Demands a Friend.”

The deal positions Sirius to operate in the podcasting huge leagues, together with Apple Audio, iHeart Media and Spotify, which leads the podcast race thanks to a slew of new acquisitions, including Bill Simmons’ The Ringer, Gimlet Media and strike display “The Joe Rogan Working experience.”

“With this acquisition, SiriusXM’s merged homes will include the premier addressable audience in the US throughout all categories of digital audio — reaching more than 150 million listeners,” Sirius Main Executive Jim Meyer stated in a memo to employees Monday.

Prior to the Stitcher transaction, Sirius had been bit by bit going into podcasting with the 2018 acquisition of new music and podcast streamer Pandora for $3.5 billion, as effectively as this year’s acquisition of Simplecast, a podcast web hosting system the place end users can take care of their clearly show distribution and articles, amid others.

According to stories, Stitcher has been shopped for some time by Scripps, which is struggling with force in its main local Tv set small business. The podcasting business, which was bought by Scripps in 2016 for 4.5 million, brought in  $17.1 million in running revenue for the 1st quarter of the calendar year, up 13 % from a 12 months previously.

Under the terms of the offer, which is is expected to near in the 3rd quarter of 2020, Sirius will make a income payment of $265 million to Scripps. The arrangement provides that Sirius will will perhaps make up to $60 million in added contingent payments centered on Stitcher obtaining specific fiscal metrics in 2020 and 2021.