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Survey: 40% of Promo In-Car Satellite Radio Subs Don’t Dig It

A mere 40 percent of car-installed satellite radio subscribers - that is, those who received free satellite radio service already installed when they purchased or leased a car - plan to keep the service through the year’s end.

66 percent of subscribers who sought out the service plan to “absolutely” keep it throughout the end of the year, according to a survey from Jacobs Media, a consultancy for broadcast radio (via The New York Times).

Between Sirius and XM Satellite Radio, promotional subscriptions added about 3.7 million subscribers last year, and about 79 percent of those were from promotions to car buyers or leasers, says David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. XM says 52.7 percent of those customers converted to paying subscribers.

XM and Sirius Satellite Radio are hoping to merge in order to remain viable. The two companies are awaiting approval from the FCC; the Justice Department okayed the merger in March.