iHeartMedia has begun preliminary merger talks with SiriusXM, Bloomberg first reported Friday.
Prominent record executive Irving Azoff and Apollo Global Management are offering to assist with and advise on a potential deal, according to Variety.
It would bring together two of the biggest names in American audio and would be a historic combination given satellite radio’s position as a competing media form to terrestrial radio. Many questions would stem from the size and scale of such an audio entity, including potential scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
All reports indicate that the talks are preliminary, and that both parties declined to comment.
Variety cited sources stating that the companies are viewing this as a merger, not as an acquisition of one by the other. The New York Times, however, framed the talks as SiriusXM being said to acquire iHeartMedia.
Regardless, it would bring together iHeartMedia’s approximately 860 radio stations and SiriusXM’s music and spoken word channels. SiriusXM says it had around 33 million subscribers as of last year.
But industry observers point to podcast reach as the crown jewel of the potential deal. According to Edison Podcast Metrics in Q4 2025, the SiriusXM Podcast Network was the number one podcast network in the U.S. based on weekly reach.
The iHeartPodcasts network was third.
SiriusXM reported that its podcast ad revenue grew 41% in 2025, which followed double-digit growth in 2024. SXM also recently announced that it will become the sole advertising representative of YouTube U.S. audio ad inventory.
iHeartMedia, meanwhile, said that its podcast revenue was up 24.5% year over year.
In 2025, SiriusXM reported revenue of $8.56 billion, while iHeartMedia reported $3.86 billion.
This is also not the first time the two audio powerhouses sought to join forces.
As RadioInsight noted, Liberty Media, the parent to SiriusXM, sought to acquire 40% of iHeartMedia following iHeart’s bankruptcy restructuring in 2018.
Liberty sold its shares of iHeartMedia in 2021.
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