June 18 - 7:50am EDT   Sirius XM early today launched its promised Sirius XM Premium Online app for the iPhone and iPod touch. The free software gives either of Apple's devices access to almost all of Sirius' and XM's stations as long as they have an active Internet-enabled subscription to one of the two. Songs can be tagged to buy through iTunes; channels can also be tagged as favorites or browsed while still listening to a single feed. [full story]

May 4 - 11:00am EDT   DirecTV this morning said it would merge with the eventual spinoff of Liberty Entertainment from Liberty Media. The deal is meant to simplify Liberty Media's own structure but puts the satellite TV provider together with TV channels themselves, including the Game Show Network and 3 local sports stations. Executives at DirecTV will keep their positions, though the move will still have Liberty Media founder John Malone and trusts have about a 24 percent stake in the new venture. [full story]

March 13 - 7:25am EDT   After avoiding declaring bankruptcy last month, Sirius XM has announced plan to stream its subscription radio service to the iPhone and iPod touch this spring as part of the company's latest fiscal results conference call. The new app will let either Apple device receive Sirius or XM stations over their Internet connections without requiring a separate radio. Currently, Sirius has roughly 19 million subscribers, an improvement of about 10 percent from last year, but is being significantly slowed by plunging car sales and the absence of radios. [full story]

February 17 - 9:50am EST   Sirius XM on Tuesday morning said it has agreed to give an equity stake to Liberty Media in a deal worth $530 million. Best known as the owner of the DirecTV satellite service, Liberty is offering a $280 million emergency loan to cover both an immediately due $172 million debt for Sirius XM and to cover related financial costs. An extra $150 million also goes specifically to the XM half of the satellite radio provider, while Liberty is further volunteering to pay off about $100 million of Sirius XM's existing loans. [full story]

February 13 - 12:20pm EST   Sirius XM on Friday took emergency steps to save itself by starting a debt exchange. The company says it has started a deal that will swap about $172.5 million of the convertible senior notes keeping the company afloat for equivalents that will expire at the start of June 2011. The exchange would give the company about 1.5 years of extra time to pay the portion of the debt, which would otherwise have come due in December this year. [full story]

February 11 - 11:05pm EST   Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin has reportedly established talks with DirecTV Group and Liberty Media, in what is viewed as a last ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy or a loss of control, according to Reuters. The satellite-radio provider has held preliminary talks with Liberty Media, while another report suggests the executives asked DirecTV to purchase the company. Liberty Entertainment, a division of Liberty Media, holds a controlling interest in DirecTV Group. [full story]

February 10 - 8:25pm EST   People aware of the situation have told the New York Times that satellite radio provider Sirius XM is readying itself for the possibility it may declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Although still solvent, the company is believed talking with experts in bankruptcy cases and restructuring and has made enough progress in the necessary documents that it could make its declaration "within days." No official signals have been given regarding a potential collapse. [full story]

February 5 - 9:50am EST   Sources allegedly familiar with the situation tell the Wall Street Journal that EchoStar is taking steps that may lead to a buyout of Sirius XM. The satellite TV provider has reportedly bought up some of about $300 million of Sirius XM debt that must be paid back on February 17th, with the possibility of buying out more debt that would be owed in May. EchoStar would potentially use the sudden influence to either get equity in the target company or else sit in a position of power that lets it force a deal should Sirius XM go bankrupt or otherwise need help from its bank. [full story]

January 27 - 12:10pm EST   Sirius XM today confirmed rumored price increases with notices for subscribers to the individual Sirius and XM networks. Either satellite radio station will no longer offer its Internet streaming component for free and will instead charge $3 per month extra for individuals listening to the stations. Sirius XM justifies the move by noting that the audio quality will go up by March 11th and is giving existing users a chance to "lock in" free listening before that date. [full story]

January 20 - 10:35am EST   Multiple sources for Orbitcast and others claim today that Sirius XM is planning to charge for its Internet radio service on top of general hikes for its regular satellite network. Normally free for subscribers to the regular service, the online component is said by an alleged employee to be picking up a $3 monthly fee for individuals and $9 for families. [full story]

January 8 - 3:45pm EST   Addressing an important gap, Sirius XM today introduced the MiRGE. The radio fulfills a promised update and is the first to support both Sirius and XM channels in one device. It can switch between either on the fly gives either network the same features, including as many as ten presets and a dual view display that shows both the currently playing station as well as the channel browser. A buffer caches up to 60 minutes of programming for pausing and skipping. [full story]

November 3 - 8:30am EST   A group of "incensed shareholders" calling itself Save Sirius today said it was suing Sirius XM over allegedly profiteering at the expense of investors. The lawsuit, filed in a California Central District, Southern Division court, accuses the satellite radio provider of violating RICO anti-racketeering laws and the Sherman antitrust act through decisions relating to the Sirius and XM merger only completed earlier this year. [full story]

October 15 - 10:55am EDT   Pioneer today officially took the wraps from the XMp3, the company's first portable satellite radio since the long out-of-sale Inno. The new handheld is unique in its ability to record five separate XM stations at once, guaranteeing that listeners can preserve more than one show at the same time. It also takes a cue from Slacker in an automatic buffering mode that holds as much as 30 hours of programming at any given time to keep radio going when a subway tunnel or other interference cuts out the satellite signal. [full story]

October 6 - 1:40pm EDT   Sony on Monday introduced its first marine CD receivers that are able to connect directly to compatible iPod, iPhone and other music players through a USB cable. The CDX-H910UI and CDX-M60UI head units also come with Sony’s MemoryBackup and ZAPPIN features, with the former saving radio station presets when the boat is in storage and the latter offering a short preview of a song to allow users to navigate large music collections. At the same time, the company rolled out the Remote Commander RM-X60M remote control, which is compatible with the head units. All three new products were unveiled at the International Boatbuilders' Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) show. [full story]

October 2 - 10:10am EDT   Sirius XM drew a quick close to speculation today by announcing the availability of the A La Carte and Best Of radio features promised with the merger of the two satellite radio stations. The former service debuts with the equally new Starmate 5 radio and lets users custom-pick their stations in blocks rather than having to accept Sirius XM's default options. [full story]