May 1 (Reuters) - SiriusXM on Thursday reported

a smaller-than-expected quarterly decline in subscribers who

directly pay for its satellite radio service, driven by demand

for exclusive content, including shows from "Call Her Daddy"

podcast host Alex Cooper.

The satellite radio operator launched two new channels with

Cooper in February on the SiriusXM app, "Unwell Music" and

"Unwell On Air", delivering exclusive content to her dedicated

listeners.

SiriusXM now reaches 70 million monthly podcast listeners,

with the company's podcast revenue increasing by 33% year over

year.

In January, the company had flagged that several changes

introduced such as click-to-cancel features, pullback in

streaming marketing, and shorter-term post-trial promotions

could impact subscriber additions in the first half of 2025.

Self-pay subscribers decreased by 303,000 in the first

quarter, compared with a loss of 359,000 a year earlier. Visible

Alpha had estimated a loss of 406,560 subscribers.

"We do not anticipate that tariff-related pressure on new

car sales will have a material impact on our subscriber or

financial performance this year," CFO Tom Barry said.

Total revenue came in at $2.07 billion for the quarter ended

March 31, largely in line with estimates of $2.08 billion

according to data compiled by LSEG.

Net income for the quarter stood at $204 million, compared

with $241 million a year ago.

Revenue from its Pandora and Off-platform segment fell 2% in

the quarterly largely due to weaker advertising performance.