Mel Karmazin: Sirius XM Will Be "Very Profitable"

Fortune:

"I really don't mind everybody second-guessing," Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin tells me, though his tone screams otherwise.

Karmazin and I are chatting at Sirius XM's Midtown Manhattan headquarters, in a conference room just up the stairs from the studio where Howard Stern broadcasts his daily radio show for Sirius. The topic is the eleventh-hour deal Karmazin has just struck withLiberty Media (LINTA) to keep Sirius XM - the progeny of last year's ballyhooed satellite-radio merger - on the air and out of bankruptcy court. During the interview, Karmazin's mood swings from frustration (with some of the shots he's taken in the financial press) to relief (at being able to refinance at all) to optimism (about a company whose future seemed extremely shaky just weeks ago).

Read the whole story: Fortune

Comments

[Nivekian]

As a real Sirius subscriber, I find these people who "cancel their subscription" over stupid stuff highly dubious. I love Satellite Radio, it's a great investment for those rick of constant commercials with a little same ol' same ol' radio. I like my music unedited by Government decency watchdogs, and something not pulled off a list with 5 bands on it.

Give Sirius a chance, the merger hasn't effected the quality of material. Anyone who really listens can tell you that.

[CountryBeforeParty]

I'm with you.

My only real complaint, as a Sirius subscriber, is that we still don't have the baseball on our side of the fence.

Other than that I love it. I will stay with Sirius until the very end.

[Tyler-Durden]

my opinion from the XM side is this:

* 80% of the stations I listened to were phased out and replaced with the sirius "equivalent". THEY ARE NOT EQUIVALENT. sirius stations CLEARLY intend to have dj-hosted format. There's someone talking on every station i listen to now, when XM was JUST music. No talk from annoying dj's that work in the profession because they get off hearing their own voice.

* the combination of the two stations DID NOT ADD ANY VALUE for me as a customer. I don't get the special stations that sirius has (like Howard Stern as example) unless i PAY MORE FOR IT.

So the product didn't improve, it got worse. THAT'S WHY i let one subscription expire and the other one is on thin ice. I'm only keeping it because i like the music i have stored on the player, and i will lose it all if i don't stay current.

[sueinmn]

Same outfit that was spreading lies to help Coleman's rebid for a new election! Just another BS outfit.

[nogimmicks]

.. crickets.. some static noise ... the sound of money being packed into a suitcase and taken away by the bosses.

[Indie2008]

Hope so, Mel--Unfortunately I couldn't wait and had to dump mine at a loss.

[majarashi]

It's been nothing but downhill since the merger. I've already canceled my service. Can't turn a profit if no one is listening.

[Tyler-Durden]

he's not going to be all that profitable if he loses his current customer base. i've cancelled one of my radios and i'll be dropping the second if they don't improve the product. i have been very dissatisfied since the merger.

[GarysDiscardedCaps]

I have Sirius XM and tell people...
you pay 13 dollars a month to Sirius XM and have 1000's of songs at your disposal 24/7.
You pay $13 a month for tunes for your iPOD and you get 13 tunes.
You do the math.
Buy Sirius Stock!!!!

[scornflakes]

. . . and you have a flimsy, unreliable piece of hardware that will last about 16 months if you're lucky. Then you have the opportunity to buy an shiny new flimsy, unreliable piece of hardware AND a new subscription because the subscription is attached to the hardware rather than the consumer. Which has the better content value, either iTunes or Sirius, is subjective; but the Apple hardware is superior in every way to what Sirius has or will have for the foreseeable future. Speaking from experience as a former Sirius customer and a former Sirius shareholder, until they straighten out their foolish cart-befor­e-the-hors­e business model and put a priority on R&D, I'll say to Mr. Karmazin, "Believe it when I see it."

[Gasparilla]

What you do when you buy a new piece of equipment is cancel the subscription on the old one, and then transfer it to the new one. I have the Sirius boombox. What you have to do sometimes if it fails to respond is remove the battery from the receiver and it will automatically reprogram everything. [ I do that with my satellite Tv by unplugging it and it resets.]

[GarysDiscardedCaps]

Funny I've had my "flimsy, unreliable piece of hardware" going on 4 years now. Still works as good as the day I bought it. I notice in your rant you still don't address the fact that you pay $1 a tune with an iPOD through Itunes. With those price you will, for the most part, buying tunes you are familiar with. You won't be as inclined to take a chance on new music.
With Sirius I can listen to something new that I've never been experienced before or listen to something familar and by format. Got to collect it from friends with an ipod and if I'm not mistaken "THAT's ILLEGAL!
Thanks for playing.
Pessimists like you said the same thing about pay TV in the 70's and look where it is.
I'll keep hold of my stock Thank You.

[Rickter]

Even as a former 14 year veteran of terresterial radio, everything from a morning jock to a general manager I'll pay 12 bucks a month just to avoid every stupid 'Mark in the Morning' and local talk show I hear on regular radio, and to avoid the 7 minute spot breaks for every auto dealer in the valley.

I love my Sirius! I hope you're very very profitable­...

[Gasparilla]

I hope so. I don't want to go back to listening to the same five songs on commercial radio. I'm going to puke if I hear Free Bird again.

[Truby]

Very funny.

[LeeCalif]

Yes, very profitable­...... in it's next lifetime.

[filo]

A CEO wouldn't lie to us .....Would he ?

[CountryBeforeParty]

At least I see this CEO trying everything he can to keep his company afloat, and not coming to the government with his hand out.

Keep fighting Mel! You're not losing my subscription anytime soon!