Following the shutting down of its kiosk program, XM Satellite Radio has discontinued its contract managing store level retail field support staff with Wal-Mart, Orbitcast has learned.

The national team, which was employed by National In-Store (NIS), was comprised of over 30 field personnel and 4 regional managers. Their duties were primarily to manage the training and merchandising compliance of the Wal-Mart associates at the store level.

It's important to note that this does not affect XM's retail partnership with Wal-Mart which is XM's largest retail partner. This team supported over 2,000 Wal-Mart stores nationwide, according to a person familiar with the matter.

XM made the announcement internally on Friday, but the program will continue "business as usual" until the end of February. The company cited budgetary constraints and lack of company revenue to justify keeping the program going forward, according to the source.

As a result, XM will manage their relationship with Wal-Mart directly (much like what Sirius already does). This is yet another sign that the company is reducing retail-related expenditures, especially following weak holiday shopping sales.