The gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 satellite radio companies continues to close. Sirius, currently No. 2, added 441,100 net new subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total to 5.12 million (analysts put the number at 440,000). XM, the industry leader, for the time being, added 285,000 new net subscribers, bringing its total at 7.185 million subscribers (analysts put the number at 325,000).

Since the addition of Howard Stern, Sirius has outpaced XM in subscriber numbers, but neither company has turned a profit yet. The alarming number, if you're an XM investor, is the percent change from the same quarter in the previous year. During the third quarter of 2005, XM added 617,000 new subscribers, this year's total is down 46%. Sirius beat last year's number by 23%. — Brian Ward

Go to story from Reuters
Go to Sirius story from Orbitcast
Go to XM story from Orbitcast

Technorati tags: satellite radio, sirius, xm.