Los Angeles Times Publisher Eddy W. Hartenstein was named Thursday the non-executive chairman of Sirius XM Radio, replacing Gary Parsons.

Parsons was the founder and former chairman of XM Satellite Radio and held on to the chairman's position after its merger with Sirius in 2008. The company has recently gained subscribers, helped by the "cash for clunkers" auto sales-incentive program, which resulted in the sale of 700,000 new vehicles -- many of which came with trial subscriptions to satellite radio.

Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said that Hartenstein, as an independent director, "will bring an important new perspective to the chairmanship," one that "our stockholders will benefit from." Hartenstein will remain publisher of The Times.

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