Charlie Rose, acclaimed interviewer and broadcast journalist, spent an hour with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc CEO Mel Karmazin. It's a fascinating interview and well worth the watch when you have a little time.
Check out the video below (Email/RSS readers may need to click-through to view):
I don't think Mel says "XM" at all during the video, interesting.
I can see why Mel has been so successful. This interview shows that he’s a very sharp man who understands well what is going on and clearly makes the points that need to be made. I can’t think of anyone who might be better suited for his job.
When Mel IPO'd Infinity in 1992 it was selling for $17.50 per share. It sold to CBS/Westinghouse in 1996 for $170 per share. You read that right - it went up 1000%. From 1996 to 1999 when Mel merged CBS into Viacom the stock almost tripled from $18 to over $50 per share.
Can any other media CEO match that performance over an 8 year period? I doubt it.
I really hope that if this merger goes through, that O&A don't get let go...before my XM I had never heard of them up here in Canada but man...they are the best thing that XM has going...and the NHL too.