Karmazin Gets Sirius
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/18/2004 12:17:00 PM
After weeks of rumors, ex-Viacom Inc. president Mel Karmazin agreed to take the helm at satellite radio company Sirius Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.
Karmazin will serve as CEO of the company, bumping current CEO Joseph Clayton up to the post of chairman.
It’s Sirius’ second talent coup, following Howard Stern’s $100 million-a-year agreement to join the service in 2006.
For years, Karmazin was a power in the radio business, building Infinity Broadcasting into one of the most powerful station groups before selling it to Westinghouse/CBS, which was in turn acquired by Viacom.
Karmazin was Stern's boss at Infinity, where he went to bat for the broadcaster when he was attacked by some legislators pushing the company to muzzle the shock jock.
But he battled with Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone over running the company and left last spring when it became clear Redstone was never going to name him CEO.
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