Report: Sirius and XM may merge

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Sirius and XM satellite radio services, which saw increases in their subscription bases in 2006, are reportedly in talks to merge.

Howard Stern's show on Sirius helped boost subscriptions both for Sirius and XM, The New York Times reported. While Sirius' subscriber base is up 80 percent from a year ago, XM Satellite Radio has seen an increase of more than 30 percent.

However, both services' stock shares have lost value, with prices for both off about 50 percent from their year-ago levels, the newspaper said.

Sirius insists the merger would be beneficial, while officials at XM would not comment.

If the companies merge, they could double their subscription base and reduce programming, the Times said.