Pandora has received political advertising from both of the presidential campaigns in key markets.
That’s according to Pandora Chair/CEO Joe Kennedy.
Speaking to the Canaccord Genuity Growth Conference in Boston on Wednesday, Kennedy told Wall Street analysts those political ads have come in two forms — promoting the candidates and also asking listeners to click on email alerts. Pandora shares a consumer’s email address with an advertiser with permission, he said, giving this as an example of the kind of advertising that a mobile platform provides over and beyond desktop advertising.
The business that provides a personalized form of audio is having success with display ads as well. “We show display advertising on mobile when someone changes stations, for example,” Kennedy said the company is careful not to interrupt streams too much for ads.
Pandora’s revenue is shifting from desktop and laptop use to mobile. It costs about two cents per listener per hour to deliver the service. Much of that expense, some 50%, goes to licensing costs, which we’ve reported the company is trying to lower in its next royalty rate negotiations set to begin in 2014.
On the desktop, Pandora is deriving some $63 in revenue from 1,000 hours of desktop listening. Kennedy said the company has demonstrated its long-term business model with desktop listening and is working to translate that to mobile as well.
The majority of the top 50 mobile advertisers have bought time on Pandora and the company remains focused on disrupting traditional radio advertising in local markets. We’ve reported the company has hired salespeople to go after local ad dollars in the top traditional radio markets.
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