iTunes to pickup Satellite Radio Podcasts?

Is Apple preparing to stream satellite radio content as podcasts in their iTunes music store? That apparently is what The Register reported recently. The president of Universal Music Group's digital division, Larry Kenswil, was speaking at the Digital Music Forum in New York and drew some attention to three groups he called "pie throwers" who are apparently holding up progress in digital music.

The RIAA director specifically highlighted Samsung and Pioneer (Note: The Register article actually labels "Samsung and Helix" but I'm going to assume that was a typo), who he highlighted for producing hybrid MP3 players and satellite radios that record the streams.

Here's where it gets interesting, to quote the article:

Thanks to a loophole in US copyright law, satellite radio recorders are the next big legal battleground - with Apple believed to be in the advanced stages of adding satellite streams as podcasts to its iTunes store.

"It's a great example of how you can lose it all for everyone if you set out to gain an extra cent for yourself," said Kenswil.

Now, SIRIUS already features several shows as Podcasts on iTunes. But they're mostly samples of content meant to drive awareness to the satellite radio service. This sounds like Apple is close to working out a deal with either XM or SIRIUS to stream satellite radio content as Podcasts. There's also been separate chatter about Apple charging for Podcasts. Could we be seeing a combination of the two? Could my wish for Satellite Podcasts soon to come true? Let the speculation begin!