Tech Rumor of the Day: Sirius, GM

New questions hang over Sirius (SIRI Quote) as GM (GM Quote) enters bankruptcy protection.

As its top marketing and satellite radio selling partner, GM's woes aren't entirely outside Sirius' orbit.

The pay radio business teetered on the brink of its own bankruptcy earlier this year as growth stopped and consumers switched to more popular music devices like Apple's (AAPL Quote) iPods. A $530 million loan with a 15% interest rate from Liberty Media (LMDIA Quote) proved to be a critical lifeline.

But now the collapsing auto industry threatens to put a bigger dent in Sirius.

Last quarter, for the first time since the launch of satellite radio service, Sirius lost subscribers. In fact, 1.7 million subscribers quit the service and only 1.3 million signed on, leaving the company with 404,422 fewer paying customers.

With Chrysler's failure, Sirius warned on its May 7 earnings conference call that there would be an impact on sales in the current quarter. Sirius said Chrysler's plant shutdowns would reduce "the number of prepaid bundled subscriptions" the company normally books with new cars.

Sirius said on the call that "we do not have a net financial exposure to Chrysler at the time of their bankruptcy filing." Sirius representatives were not available for comment on what if any impact a GM bankruptcy would have.

Analysts on the earnings call asked if GM's collapse would have ramifications for Sirius. CEO Mel Karmazin said the company was bracing for that event.

"We are rooting for General Motors and again, our modeling also could anticipate the fact that General Motors could also file a bankruptcy," Karmazin said. "So you know, if in fact that occurred, that would not be a surprise to our financial performance at the company."