As it concludes week 53 of waiting for Department of Justice approval of its merger with rival satellite radio provider Sirius (NSDQ: SIRI), XM Satellite Radio (NSDQ: XMSR) said its Q4 net loss narrowed by $18 million over the prior year to $239 million compared to last year’s $257 million. For the full year, the company’s net loss was reduced by $37 million, coming in with a $682 million loss versus 2006’s $719 million. As for its revenues, XM gained 20 percent, coming in at $308 million in comparison to Q406’s $257 million total revenue reported in fourth quarter of 2006. XM’s full year 2007 total revenue was $1.1 billion, an increase of 22 percent over 2006’s $933 million.

-- XM added 1.4 million net new subscribers by the end of 2007, giving it more than 9 million subscribers, an 18 percent increase over the 2006.

-- Q4 ad sales climbed 33 percent to $820 million from $615 million, year-over-year.

-- Not much was mentioned of the status of XM’s pending merger with Sirius, as the release contained only a bland statement from Nate Davis, the company president and CEO, again touting the general benefits to consumers and saying the regulatory nod is expected in the near future.

Earnings release | Webcast (10:00 AM EDT)