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[Ripclawe]

http://www.radioandrecords.com/Newsroom/2004_11_18/topstory.asp

Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004
Mel Karmazin
Named Sirius CEO

Former Viacom President/COO Mel Karmazin has joined Sirius as its new CEO. He succeeds Joe Clayton, who will retain his duties as Chairman. "This is a perfect opportunity for me because I want to lead a growth company that can reshape the landscape of the radio business," Karmazin said. "I took Infinity Broadcasting and Westwood One to leadership positions in the industry and am confident that Sirius will become a market leader in short order."

Meanwhile, Clayton called the hiring of Karmazin "the final piece" in Sirius' turnaround, which began when Clayton joined the company three years ago. Clayton's contract with Sirius ends Dec. 31, and he has advised the company's board of directors to stay on for a transitional period."

The suprising move to Sirius by Karmazin comes as syndicated host Howard Stern prepares to join his former boss at Sirius amid rumors that the satellite radio company may buy out his contract early, enabling him to move to Sirius earlier than the previously announced January 2006 date. Stern will be a guest on tonight's edition of The Late Show With David Letterman, only hours after he appeared in New York's Union Square and gave away Sirius radios to a crowd of thousands. As a result of the announcement, after-hours trading of Sirius stock was up nearly $1 at press time.

 

[dem]

:lol
No wonder Stern chose Sirius.
Reunited again!


DONT MISS STERN ON LETTERMAN TONIGHT

 

[ShadowRed]

I heard Stern talking about going on Letterman today. I say that he announces that he will move to Sirrus this coming January rather than 2006. This news almost confirms it. While i'm happy for Stren it sucks for us poor folks who can't afford suck satalite radio.

 

[DarienA]

:lol
No wonder Stern chose Sirius.
Reunited again!


DONT MISS STERN ON LETTERMAN TONIGHT

Wow Mel and Howard were pretty tight... things are really looking up for Sirius right now....

 

[Vark]

Yep, now all they need to do is catch up on about 1,000,000 subscribers and they'll catch XM

 

[RedDwarf]

Stern handed out vouchers for 20,000 free radios today and said he wants to do a US tour giving them out, so that might help.

 

[WasabiKing]

Stern handed out vouchers for 20,000 free radios today and said he wants to do a US tour giving them out, so that might help.

If he comes out to the Bay Area, I am there!

 

[Lathentar]

Oh yes....

My Sirius stop is soaring now!

 

[ChumsGum]

I bought Sirius stock at $3.88 a share about a month ago, now the stock is $5.60 a share and sky rocketing. Woohoo, "IM RICH BYATCH!!!"

Mel Karmazin knows his business and knows how to make anything he touches profitable. This is the same man that ran MTV and CBS. So long XM, there will only be one, Sirius Satellite.

 

[ChumsGum]

Howard Stern will be on Letterman in minutes. Everytime he mentions "Sirius" he's putting dollars in my pockets.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Howard Stern will be on Letterman in minutes. Everytime he mentions "Sirius" he's putting dollars in my pockets.

Get ready for alot of money then (saw it earlier).

He really ripped on regular radio. As he said, he's usually on to joke around but he was basically serious through the entire interview.

 

[ChumsGum]

XM got sooo owned.

 

[DarienA]

XM got sooo owned.

What happened, and what did Stern say on Letterman?

 

[dskillzhtown]

Hopefully both Sirius and XM are successful. Can't wish death on either, if you hope satellite radio is going to take off. If one crumbles and dies, it will definitely hurt the chances of this becoming a viable industry.

 

[ChumsGum]

You're right, we need both to suceed. I'm a Sirius shareholder so I got a little excited.

 

[ChumsGum]

$6.50 a share.

For those looking to get in, it ain't to late. Sirius is gonna do some big things come CES in January. They've got their handheld to show and they'll introduce mobile sattelite video. With their partners DISH Network, they'll soon be offering video programming to everyone with a monitor in their car, for a monthly fee of course. XM needs to get in bed with Direct TV quick or risk the chance of losing major market share. People are fed up with those crappy tuners in their cars, this segment will be a cash cow for Sirius. As to their handheld, there are rumors that they're trying to get Apple to implement Sirius in a future Ipod model.

$15 a share by the end of 2004 is not far off and if all of the above comes through in 2005 then the price could easily go above and beyond $30 a share.