SiriusXM Names New CFO Zac Coughlin as It Doubles Down on In‑Car Growth, Free Listening and Podcast Power

As Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI) reshapes itself for a tougher audio landscape, the company is making a series of high‑impact moves that all point in the same direction: cars, cash flow and premium content.

Over the past few weeks SiriusXM has:

Announced Zac Coughlin as its next Chief Financial Officer, effective January 1, 2026. ^[1]
Reaffirmed and then nudged up its 2025 free‑cash‑flow outlook after a solid third quarter. ^[2]
Continued executing a strategic pivot away from expensive streaming customer acquisition and back toward its core in‑car audience. ^[3]
Rolled out “SiriusXM Play,” a low‑cost ad‑supported plan designed to capture price‑sensitive listeners and new ad dollars. ^[4]
Kicked off today’s “Listen Free” in‑car event and debuted a new weekly Serie A soccer show, even as Apple Podcasts named SiriusXM the world’s No. 1 podcast channel. ^[5]

Here’s how all of that fits together — and what it means for investors, automakers and listeners.

Zac Coughlin Takes the Finance Wheel at SiriusXM

On November 18, SiriusXM announced that Zac Coughlin will become the company’s next Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Tom Barry on January 1, 2026. Barry will step down as CFO on December 31, 2025 and remain briefly as an adviser to help with the hand‑off. ^[6]

Coughlin arrives with nearly three decades of experience across some of the most recognizable brands in retail, luxury and autos:

Current role: Executive Vice President and CFO at PVH Corp., parent of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, where he oversees global finance, investor relations, corporate development, tax, treasury and real estate. ^[7]
Prior roles: Group CFO and COO at DFS (LVMH), CFO of Converse at Nike, and more than a decade in finance at Ford Motor Company. ^[8]
Education: MBA from Harvard Business School and a BSBA in Finance and Supply Chain Logistics from The Ohio State University. ^[9]

SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz framed the hire squarely in strategic terms, highlighting Coughlin’s “track record of driving sustainable, profitable growth” and his experience at “global iconic brands” as critical to maintaining a strong balance sheet, improving margins and “optimizing cash flows” in a complex market. ^[10]

The company also used the announcement to reaffirm its full‑year 2025 guidance, signaling that the CFO transition isn’t being driven by any sudden financial stress. ^[11]

Why this hire matters

Coughlin is stepping into a role at a pivotal moment:

SiriusXM is targeting $8.5 billion in 2025 revenue, $2.6 billion in adjusted EBITDA and $1.15 billion in free cash flow, with a longer‑term goal of $1.5 billion in free cash flow by 2027. ^[12]
The company has already delivered about $350 million in run‑rate cost savings in 2023–2024 and is aiming for another $200 million in annualized savings exiting 2025. ^[13]
Management plans to reduce debt by roughly $700 million in 2025 while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share and keeping a $1.166 billion share‑repurchase authorization in place. ^[14]

That combination — aggressive cost discipline, steady shareholder returns and a heavy dependence on the auto industry — is very familiar territory for a CFO who has lived inside both fashion retail and Detroit‑style manufacturing.

With SiriusXM stock trading around $20.70 and a market cap just under $7 billion, shares are down about 18% over the last year despite a dividend yield near 4%. ^[15] Coughlin’s performance on debt reduction, margin expansion and capital allocation will be watched closely by income‑oriented investors and by Liberty Media, the company’s largest shareholder.

From Streaming Ambitions Back to the Dashboard

Coughlin’s arrival is layered on top of a strategy shift that SiriusXM has been telegraphing for the last year: streaming is no longer the primary growth engine — the car is.

In a December 2024 strategic update, the company laid out a new playbook that does three big things: ^[16]

Double down on core automotive subscribers.
- 90% of SiriusXM’s subscribers have the service embedded in their vehicles.
- The company is focusing marketing and other resources on retaining and upselling this audience instead of chasing high‑churn streaming users.
Use streaming as a companion, not a replacement.
- The SiriusXM app is being positioned as an extension of the in‑car experience — useful for at‑home or mobile listening and for IP‑enabled dashboards like Tesla’s, but no longer the focus of heavy standalone marketing. ^[17]
Lean hardest into what rivals can’t easily copy: live, curated content.
- That means human‑hosted music channels, deep live sports rights, exclusive talk talent and a growing podcast network. ^[18]

Speaking at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia + Technology Conference in September, Witz was candid: SiriusXM intentionally pulled back on streaming marketing and expects to lose about 300,000 streaming subscribers in 2025, even as in‑car subscriber trends improve for the second year in a row (still negative, but less so than in prior years). ^[19]

The logic is simple: in‑car subscribers are stickier, spend more time listening, and are acquired more efficiently, especially as automakers roll out connected dashboards and bundled trials.

Q3 2025: Solid Results, Cash Flow Up, Growth Still Tight

That strategic pivot is starting to show up in the numbers.

In its third‑quarter 2025 results, SiriusXM reported: ^[20]

Revenue of $2.16 billion, down 1% year‑over‑year.
Net income of $297 million, compared with a $2.96 billion loss a year earlier that was driven by a non‑cash goodwill impairment tied to the Liberty Media transaction.
Diluted EPS of $0.84, versus a loss of $8.74 in Q3 2024.
Adjusted EBITDA of $676 million with a 31% margin.
Free cash flow of $257 million in the quarter.

While revenue is essentially flat, profitability and cash generation are trending in the direction investors like — which is why the company raised its full‑year guidance by $25 million across revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. ^[21]

It’s this backdrop — modest top‑line growth but improving margins, cost savings and free cash flow — that Coughlin will inherit.

Streaming Isn’t Dead: New Tiers and Ad‑Supported Play

Despite the “pivot away from streaming” headlines, SiriusXM is retooling, not abandoning, its digital ambitions.

SiriusXM Play: The low‑cost on‑ramp

In July, the company unveiled SiriusXM Play, its first low‑cost ad‑supported subscription tier: ^[22]

Priced at under $7 per month.
Offers 130+ music, sports, news and talk channels in the car, plus even more via the SiriusXM app.
Delivers roughly half the ad load of traditional AM/FM radio, a key selling point to both listeners and advertisers.
Expected to reach nearly 100 million vehicles by the end of 2025 as the rollout continues.

Play does two important things:

Opens a cheaper, more flexible entry point for price‑sensitive listeners who might otherwise default to free streaming platforms.
Unlocks a new advertising frontier in the car, letting marketers place audio ads in premium, curated music environments that were previously ad‑free.

To investors, Play is also a way to diversify revenue. SiriusXM’s ad‑supported portfolio — spanning Pandora, SoundCloud inventory, the SiriusXM Podcast Network and now ad‑supported satellite channels — reaches roughly 160 million listeners a month. ^[23]

Modular pricing and in‑car bundles

At the Goldman Sachs conference, Witz outlined a “good‑better‑best” modular pricing strategy, including a $9.99 music‑only plan in the car, with higher tiers that add sports, talk and news. Most trial customers still end up choosing the richer $25‑range package, but having a lower price anchor helps open the funnel without collapsing ARPU. ^[24]

Combined with the rollout of 360L hybrid radios — now in over half of new car trial starts, with better conversion and retention metrics — SiriusXM is trying to get more sophisticated about matching content and pricing to each driver’s behavior and budget. ^[25]

Podcast Power: Apple Says SiriusXM Is No. 1

If cars are SiriusXM’s distribution moat, podcasts are increasingly its cultural currency.

According to Apple’s newly released “Best Shows of 2025” list, SiriusXM is now the No. 1 podcast channel worldwide, underscoring the scale of its podcast network and syndicated talent portfolio. ^[26]

The recognition caps several years of investment in spoken‑word audio:

Acquisitions and partnerships that brought shows and networks into the SiriusXM Podcast Network.
Cross‑promotion of podcasts across satellite channels and the app.
A focus on marquee personalities and franchises that can live on air, on demand and in video.

In Q3 2025 filings and investor communications, SiriusXM repeatedly pointed to podcasting and digital audio ads as growth engines that complement its subscription business. ^[27]

For Zac Coughlin, that means finance decisions won’t be just about satellites and car trials — they’ll also be about adtech, podcast rights and cross‑platform content economics.

November 20: Free Listening, New Soccer Show and Live Sports

Today’s news cycle adds fresh color to the “car‑first” story.

“Listen Free” Event: Turning dormant radios back on

Starting today, SiriusXM is turning thousands of inactive car radios back on for a limited “Listen Free Event” running November 20 – December 1, 2025. ^[28]

Key details from the offer page:

The event is available on inactive satellite radios in compatible vehicles.
Drivers can simply turn on their car radio and sample curated music, live sports, talk, news and comedy — no credit card required.
The promo heavily features the All Access plan, currently marketed at $1 for the first three months and then $24.98/month, covering in‑car and app listening. ^[29]

For a company doubling down on in‑car acquisition, this is classic “try before you buy” — using empty dashboard real estate as a free billboard-and-demo for the full subscription.

New weekly Serie A show launches tonight

Also debuting today at 7 p.m. ET is “Serie A: Calcio – Made in Italy”, a new weekly show on SiriusXM FC (channel 157) created in partnership with Italy’s Lega Serie A. ^[30]

According to coverage of the launch:

The one‑hour program will break down news, clubs and players from Italy’s top football league, with a spotlight on American stars like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah.
Veteran commentator Adam Summerton and longtime SiriusXM host and soccer executive Charlie Stillitano will lead the show, with analysts such as Marco Messina and Tony Meola joining regularly. ^[31]

The timing — every Thursday ahead of the weekend match slate — makes it a natural appointment listen for soccer fans and a strong vehicle for targeted sports advertising.

Live sports touchpoints everywhere

Today’s Thursday Night Football matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans is another reminder of how deeply SiriusXM is woven into live sports. The game is available with home, away and national feeds on both car radios and the SiriusXM app, with specific channels highlighted in the company’s NFL coverage and local media guides. ^[32]

From NFL and NBA to college sports and now expanded European soccer coverage, sports remains one of SiriusXM’s most defensible differentiators versus on‑demand music streamers.

What the Strategy Shift Means for Different Stakeholders

For investors

CFO change + cost savings = margin story.
Coughlin’s background at PVH, LVMH and Ford lines up with SiriusXM’s focus on disciplined spending, complex global operations and a high‑stakes transformation plan. ^[33]
Car‑centric growth may cap subscriber upside but support cash flow.
By leaning into in‑car users and limiting high‑churn streaming marketing, SiriusXM is signaling that free cash flow and balance‑sheet strength matter more than flashy sub‑adds, at least for now. ^[34]
Dividends and buybacks remain part of the story.
The company has reiterated its intent to keep paying its $0.27 quarterly dividend while gradually deleveraging and potentially resuming opportunistic repurchases as leverage moves toward the low‑to‑mid‑3x EBITDA target. ^[35]

Anyone evaluating SIRI after these announcements should view it as a mature cash‑flow machine with a sizable content and ad‑tech upside, rather than a pure‑play growth stock.

(This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.)

For automakers and dealers

SiriusXM’s renewed emphasis on:

Three‑year dealer‑driven subscription programs,
Wider integration of 360L hybrid radios, and
Free trial events like Listen Free

means OEMs and dealers can expect more co‑marketing and more data‑driven efforts to convert trial listeners into paying subs — especially in higher‑margin, higher‑retention segments like older drivers who still default to radio in the car. ^[36]

For listeners

If you’re a listener, here’s how this shake‑up shows up in your day‑to‑day:

More choice in the car: Modular pricing, the low‑cost Play tier and evolving channel line‑ups (including holiday and short‑run pop‑ups) mean more ways to match a package to your budget and interests. ^[37]
Better app experience, but less aggressive marketing: The streaming app remains a core companion for on‑demand listening and podcasts, but SiriusXM is no longer burning marketing dollars to chase purely app‑only subs at any cost. ^[38]
Stronger podcast and sports coverage: From Apple’s recognition of SiriusXM as the top global podcast channel to new sports shows like “Serie A: Calcio – Made in Italy,” the platform continues to stack reasons to stay tuned in. ^[39]

And if you’ve ever had a SiriusXM trial that’s now dormant, the current Listen Free window is essentially an invitation to rediscover whether the content mix — music, talk, sports, news, podcasts — still earns a place on your dashboard.

The Bottom Line

SiriusXM’s latest moves — a veteran CFO hire, a sharper in‑car strategy, new ad‑supported tiers and a flurry of content and promotional activity around November 20 — all point in the same direction.

Rather than fighting Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube on their turf, the company is doubling down on where it still has a structural edge: the car, live sports, curated channels and a fast‑growing podcast network.

Zac Coughlin’s job will be to turn that strategic thesis into sustained free‑cash‑flow growth, while keeping subscribers, automakers and advertisers all feeling like they’re getting a better deal.

If today’s mix of free listening, fresh sports programming and global podcast recognition is any indication, SiriusXM intends to make the most of its time back in the driver’s seat.

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