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Tag: Karmazin

  • Former Viacom COO Karmazin takes the reins at Sirius

    Former Viacom COO Karmazin takes the reins at Sirius

    MUMBAI: Mel Karmazin, who earlier this year had left Viacom as its president and COO after a protracted dispute with Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone over strategy and the balance of power, has joined Sirius Satellite Radio as its CEO.

    For Karmazin, it marks a return to his “professional roots”. Karmazin has almost four decades of experience in the radio industry and is credited with building Sirius’ rival Viacom’s Infinity into a national broadcaster.

    Sirius’ high profile hiring comes just a month after it signed on talk-show host Howard Stern.

    Karmazin was Stern’s boss at Viacom’s Infinity radio, where the announcer had the top-rated show among young men in New York and Los Angeles.

    Karmazin succeeds Joseph P Clayton, who will remain at Sirius as chairman of the board of directors. Clayton said, “The hiring of Mel Karmazin is the final piece in the turnaround of Sirius that began when I joined the company three years ago. My contract was ending on 31 December, and I advised the board of directors that I was willing to stay on for a transitional period. When Mel left Viacom, we all felt we had a unique opportunity.

    “I am very confident that Mel will accelerate the very positive momentum that we have established at Sirius in the past two years. Our recent announcement of the signing of Howard Stern, our exclusive relationship with the National Football League and the partnerships with automakers such as DaimlerChrysler, Ford and BMW, are all indications that satellite radio has a central role in the future of broadcast media. We fully expect to achieve the subscriber projections we have given to Wall Street for this year.”

    Explaining the logic behind this latest career move Karmazin said, ” I want to lead a growth company that can reshape the landscape of the radio business. 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.

    “I will inherit a first-class management group led by co-presidents Scott Greenstein and James Meyer. I look forward to working closely with Joe Clayton and the strong team that he has assembled.”

    When Karmazin left Viacom there was speculation that he could succeed Michael Eisner as Disney CEO. However later on Eisner made it clear that he wanted Bob Iger to succeed him. Reports indicate that traditional radio in the US is struggling with flat revenues and declining audiences. Stern was in New York a few day ago handing out free subscriptions to Sirius.

  • Media speculation rife on Karmazin’s next stop

    Media speculation rife on Karmazin’s next stop

    MUMBAI: After Viacom what does Mel Karmazin have next up his sleeve? That is the big question doing the rounds of US media circles.

    There has been strong talk that Karmazin might join Disney in the near future by succeeding Michael Eisner as the CEO. That is something Roy Disney and the dissident group would be cock a hoop about. The differences between Eisner and Roy Disney have been well documented.

    However, not surprisingly, Disney chairman George Mitchell reacted to the talk by issuing a statement saying, “The board has complete confidence in the current management. On the strength of our recent results we believe that confidence has been justified, and will be further validated as our performance continues to improve.”

    The Disney talk has been gaining momentum because Eisner’s top deputy, Bob Iger is not seen as a potential heir to the Disney throne. Karmazin is said to be on a list of at least 20 candidates the Disney board has compiled for succession.

    There has also been talk of Karmazin heading to Time Warner. A report in CBS Marketwatch stated that while Time Warner chairman and CEO Richard Parsons has thus far been able to keep shareholders happy, should Time Warner stumble again Karmazin could well be called upon to revive the giant. In fact rumours of Time Warner looking at Karmazin go back over a year when the outfit was called AOL Time Warner. At that time he had been courted to serve as president of the media conglomerate.

    There is also the possibility of Karmazin being tapped to function as Parsons’ number 2, but that remains another long shot.

    Media reports are also of the opinion that Karmazin going to NBC Universal is a more distant shot. That is because NBC is going though a difficult phase. On his part Karmazin has maintained that so far he has not intimated anybody about his future plans.

  • Viacom COO Karmazin in the Radio Hall Of Fame

    CHICAGO: Media conglomerate Viacom’s president and COO Mel Karmazin will be inducted in the Radio Hall of Fame. Inductees were selected through a ballot process in the US. Radio executives, broadcast historians and members of The Radio Hall of Fame participated.
    The Radio Hall of Fame which is located at the Chicago Cultural Center recognises and showcases contemporary talent in the US. It also pays tribute to the pioneers who shaped the medium during its infancy.
    The induction ceremony takes place on 8 November. The one-hour special will be hosted by Radio Hall of Fame inductee Larry King who hosts the talk show on CNN. Karmazin built his reputation as the dynamic leader of Infinity Broadcasting and demonstrated a boundless belief in the future of the medium.

  • Karmazin to stay on at Viacom

    MUMBAI: Global media major Viacom Inc. has sealed a deal to keep president and chief operating officer Mel Karmazin on board for another three years.
    The long drawn-out management drama that ended months of speculation, gives Karmazin a contract extension that cedes ultimate authority to chairman-CEO Sumner Redstone. Viacom has also announced a new contract with Redstone. 
    The Wall Street Journal was the first to break the news that Karmazin was indeed staying. Viacom’s board met Wednesday afternoon to thrash out the final terms of the deal.
    Viacom’s Big 2 Sumner Redstone (left) and Mel Karmazin – keeping egos aside to work together. (Picture courtesy news.bbc.co.uk)
    The 79-year-old Redstone, who owns a controlling stake in Viacom, gave Karmazin effective operating control of the company when the two were negotiating Viacom’s acquisition of CBS. The 59-year-old was CBS’s chief executive before the merger, which was completed in May 2000 and is now considered one of the few media mergers that has been a success, agencies report.


    The deal removes a major distraction at a time when Viacom’s business is under pressure as the advertising market appears to be weakening ahead of the impending war with Iraq. The company gets about half its revenue from advertising, making it more exposed than most other media firms.
    In a statement Thursday, Redstone was quoted as saying: “I am very pleased that Viacom will continue to benefit from Mel’s leadership and talent. The CBS merger brought many great assets together under the Viacom name, and Mel has done a masterful job of integrating those businesses and operating them at peak performance. I look forward to continuing our successful partnership and taking Viacom to new heights in the years to come.”
    The company release quoted Karmazin as calling Redstone a great visionary.
    New York-based Viacom had 2002 profits of $726 million on $24.6 billion in revenues, reversing a $224 million loss in 2001.