Ce-Oh no he didn't, part XXXIV: Karmazin sez "we suck less" than XM

We guess that once your acquisition target has agreed to be purchased, you don't really have to go around buttering up its board members or executives anymore, but it still seems odd that CEO Mel Karmazin would defend Sirius' admittedly poor performance on Wall Street by arguing that at least his company "sucks less" than future partner XM. Yet that's exactly the case presented to shareholders at a Manhattan meeting last week, where the often-outspoken Karmazin admitted that he was "real unhappy" with the satrad firm's stock price -- although compared to the 61% decline in XM share prices since September 2004, Sirius' 8% gain over that same period was a relative bull run. Still, Mel, don't you think there are better ways to phrase that sentiment other than attaching the connotation of "suckiness" to your company and one you hope to acquire? Hey, just a thought.

[Via FARK]

[Bo @ May 27th 2007 11:12PM]

Mel knows what he's doing. He didn't get to be CEO by making poor decisions and he certainly doesn't need advice from a blogger.

[Dave @ May 27th 2007 10:29PM]

Go HD Radio!

[Zadillo @ May 27th 2007 10:44PM]

Isn't it a merger, not an acquisition?

[e @ May 28th 2007 1:31AM]

hoo hoo tell em fred

[jorge @ May 27th 2007 11:18PM]

I don't know what he's talking about. I've had both XM and Sirius and they both suck.

[lyl545646 @ May 27th 2007 11:29PM]

bad teeth, should brush more

[jason @ May 28th 2007 12:29AM]

mel needs some advice from boardroom jimmy

[Dave @ May 28th 2007 12:47AM]

Buy high! Sell low! And invest in rainbow futures!

[ByronGman @ May 28th 2007 12:53AM]

Wow Bo, I didn't ever think I would hear this in a million years, let alone say it, but you are a Sirius fanboy.

[kagai @ May 28th 2007 1:15AM]

Is he English?

[Mike @ May 28th 2007 1:46AM]

JUST MERGE WITH XM AND SHUT UP ALREADY!

[christian @ May 28th 2007 5:28AM]

sony,fighting!

[Skyler @ May 28th 2007 6:16AM]

I've had XM for a long time, and it's great. Haven't listened to regular radio since.

[LC @ May 28th 2007 11:07AM]

Everything he says is calculated. The best way he could paint his company, in light of the NAB and others against the merger, is to make both companies appear to be in their death throes and show how a merger is the only thing that could possibly save satellite radio and show that claims it would be a monopoly as being nonsense.

[derek @ May 28th 2007 12:49PM]

they cant be doing that much better if he cant afford braces...

[Will Cate @ May 29th 2007 7:12AM]

I think the zen master is right on target. Sirius does suck less than XM, as far as audio quality is concerned. I'm an XM subscriber, but the last two rental cars I've had were Sirius-equipped, and I must admit I found myself liking it better. Just might be switching to Sirius... soon.

As for HD Radio, pffft. If you don't live near a cluster of HD broadcasters it's complete waste of money. The entire terrestrial broadcasting industry will never go all HD, since iBiquity (the proprietary, single-source provider of the HD radio tech) keeps the barrier to entry very high (about $100K per station).