Karmazin: Howard Stern Received $80 Million a Year in Cash

In an interview on Wednesday with the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune, tireless satellite radio promoter and Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin argued, among other things, that since Arbitron has found that satellite radio represents only about 3.4 percent of radio listeners, they are not a monopoly. The monopoly argument, you’ll remember, is the thrust of the National Association of Broadcasters argument against the merger going through. At a hearing this spring of the House Judiciary Antitrust Task Force, members of the NAB actually sat in the gallery sporting red stickers emblazoned with ”No Satellite Radio Monopoly.” And until recently, National Association of Broadcasters headquarters in Washington DC hosted a banner that read, “You do the math: XM + Sirius = Monopoly.”

Some of the highlights of Karmazin’s interview with the Board:

– Karmazin: ”Howard got $80 million a year in cash. To make that deal work, you need a million subscribers paying $120 a year or $12.95 a month.” Sirius now has 7.7 million subscribers.

–Karmazin took the opportunity to call AM and FM radio ”boring.”

–What happens if the FCC doesn’t approve the merger? Karmazin: ”Sirius will sue.”

–Karmazin regards the coming Google phone as competition for Sirius. That, of course, is in the interest of Sirius (the more competition, the weaker the monopoly argument becomes)

(image via hamptons)

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