With the clock ticking, Sirius XM is now in talks with Liberty Media, the parent of satellite TV provider DirecTV. The move is an interesting one by Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin, and could set up a bidding war between Liberty Media and EchoStar, which owns a chunk of Sirius XM debt, debt the Wall Street Journal says might be worthless if Sirius XM goes bankrupt. EchoStar has already had its unsolicited offer to buy Sirius XM turned away once. However, the satellite radio operator has little time to waste, as they have a $174 million note due on Tuesday and no plan in place for paying it. On Wednesday, it was reported that SiriusXM quietly hired a bankruptcy lawyer and adviser two weeks ago for a potential Chapter 11 filing, That news caused SiriusXM (SIRI) shares to plunge 51% in Wednesday trading. Click here to track SiriusXM shares today.