Pandora Names Brian McAndrews CEO; Stock Up - Update

(RTTNews) - Internet radio service Pandora Media Inc. (P), Wednesday named Brian McAndrews as its new chief executive officer, president and chairman, with immediate effect. McAndrews comes in place of Joe Kennedy, who in March revealed plans to retire.

The company indicated the executive change a part of its focus on leveraging its position in internet radio and accelerate its robust advertising business.

The news impressed investors and Pandora shares touched a new high for the year, gaining 7 percent in after-hours trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

McAndrews is most noted for his taking over of Avenue A, a small digital agency in Seattle in 1999, and as CEO built it into aQuantive, which was acquired by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) for $6 billion in 2007. He also served as a senior vice president at Microsoft, managing its Advertiser & Publisher Solutions group.

Earlier, McAndrews held senior positions at General Mills and ABC, and recently, joined Madrona as an investing partner in 2009. He also serves on the boards of The New York Times Co., Grubhub Seamless and AppNexus.

The executive change comes as the music streaming sector braces for more competition. Pandora already faces stiff rivalry from Spotify, Sirius XM Radio, as well as Google and Apple.

Last month, Pandora, based in Oakland, California, reported a wider quarterly loss, hurt by content acquisition and other costs, even as mobile advertisement revenue surged.

Shares of Pandora closed Wednesday at $21.38, up $1.03 or 5.06%, on a volume of 11 million shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock gained $1.43 or 6.69% at $22.81. In the past year, the stock has traded in a range of $7.08 - $21.98.