As promised back in March, Sirius XM (NSDQ: SIRI) is finally ready to release its iPhone app tomorrow, Reuters reported. The app will be free to Sirius’ subscribers; other iPhone and iPod Touch users will have to pay $3 per month. Sirius has 19 million subs and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has sold 40 million iPhones and iPod Touchs. While it’s not clear how much of an overlap there for the Sirius app, the satellite radio company believes the promotion will help it retain current subscribers and attract new ones. That’s become especially important as car sales, a key part of Sirius’ distribution strategy, have been tanking. More after the jump
At a time when media companies’ hopes are turning to paid content, Sirius is struggling to maintain its subscriber base, who pay an average $13 per month for the commercial-free radio service. In addition the bankruptcy of Chrysler, which had a major contract with Sirius, satellite radio sales also took a hit with the demise of Circuit City in January.
Creating an iPhone app has been something that Sirius appears to have created somewhat grudgingly. It now has to compete with several popular digital radio apps available in the iTunes App Store, such as the free online music music services offered by Last.fm, Pandora, Slacker, and the terrestrial radio-backed iheartradio.

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