Mel Karmazin, chief executive officer of Sirius Satellite Radio, has had discussions with Apple about incorporating satellite radio into iPods, although there is currently no interest in adding such a feature.

Mr Karmazin told a conference in New York that Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer, currently did not believe iPod users needed anything other than the ability to download thousands of songs. However, he said this might change in the future, especially if satellite radio provided more interesting content.

?Whether you put satellite radio in a cell phone, video game or MP3 player this could be an enhancement,? Mr Karmazin said, comparing it to Sony's decision to add radio to its Walkman cassette player.

Satellite radio remains a small market in the US, but is expected to grow rapidly. A survey this week by JPMorgan of satellite radio subscribers showed that demand is still strong, with subscribers expected to increase to 35m by 2010. Sirius is predicted to reach 19 per cent market penetration, compared with rival XM Satellite Radio's projected 35 per cent.

The main distribution method of satellite radio is in cars, with many manufacturers having agreements with Sirius or XM or both. XM, which was set up before Sirius, is also now being distributed via a wearable device. Mr Karmazin said Sirius would also introduce such an item ?before the holiday season?.

Mr Karmazin joined Sirius last year after leaving Viacom, the media company where he was president. As well as subscriber income, Mr Karmazin expects Sirius, which is not scheduled to become profitable for several years, to generate advertising revenue.

In particular, Howard Stern's move to Sirius next year was likely to boost advertising income, he said, with some of the controversial radio host's advertisers likely to follow him to the new station. ?His advertisers are very loyal,? Mr Karmazin said.