The recently merged company between Sirius Satellite Radio, and XM Satellite Radio, have merged into Sirius XM, but along with the merge, came a massive debt that neither company was able to cover. The total debt for the newly merged company totals $3.25 billion overall, $175 million that is due at the end of February, something the company is unlikely to cover.
The company that reports more than 20 million active subscribers can see both its success and failures come from the auto industry, which offers Sirius XM pre-installed in some of the vehicles, but has recently asked for a bail out to dig itself out of the recession. The debt amounts from expensive satellites launched into space to provide signals anywhere in North America using the Sirius XM receivers.
EchoStar, a TV satellite company, could take over the company if things don"t improve in a very short time. It is unclear if customers will be affected with the down fall of Sirius XM even with a rise in customers over the last year, having more new and returning customers than ever before.
An announcement will be made shortly if or when the company completes the paper work for filing a chapter 11. High priced talents like Howard Stern and Matha Stewart, both brought on by the company to promote the sales of their hardware, could see a prompted end to their satellite career as the company tries to cut back.