Pandora Appoints Sling TV's Roger Lynch As CEO, Effective Sept. 18; Stock Up

(RTTNews) - Pandora Media In.'s (P) shares gained around 3 percent in the extended trading on Monday after the Music discovery platform announced that Roger Lynch will join the company as CEO and president, and a member of its board of directors, effective September 18.

Naveen Chopra, who has served as Pandora's interim CEO since June 2017, will continue in his role as chief financial officer. In addition, Pandora announced that it has also appointed Michael Lynton, Chairman of Snap Inc., to its board of directors.

As the founding CEO of Sling TV, Lynch led the creation, launch and growth of Sling TV to become the #1 Live OTT service in the U.S. Prior to Sling TV, Lynch served as executive vice president, Advanced Technologies, for DISH Network and EchoStar Corporations.

Lynch also served as chairman and CEO of Video Networks International Ltd., a UK based IPTV provider. Prior to VNIL, Lynch was president and CEO of Chello Broadband in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Lynch was also a technology investment banker with Morgan Stanley in New York, Silicon Valley, and London. He began his career as a member of the physics technical staff at Hughes Aircraft Company.

Pandora's current chairman, Roger Faxon, on behalf of the Pandora board, stated "As I have said before, with 'digital radio' at the core of our business, and both 'Plus' and 'Premium' as new, integral parts of our arsenal, Pandora is now in an ideal position to leverage changing consumer behaviors to further expand and monetize our listening audience. We are very excited to welcome Roger as our CEO as we embark on our next chapter with renewed focus, a strong balance sheet, a strategic partnership with SiriusXM, and an incredible team of loyal and creative employees."

Pandora shares declined 0.12 percent in the regular trading on Monday to $8.07. In the after hours trading, shares gained 3.1 percent to $8.32.