Mel's Chutzpah

Mel Karmazin provides a great quote today. He talks about the future of Sirius/XM and says that terrestrial radio is still his main competition, but points out their tragic flaw: "A lot of people would rather pay us 50 cents a day and not have to hear all of those commercials."

Let that sink in a moment. Mel Karmazin said that.

You know who Mel should really tell that to? Mel Karmazin, circa 2000. He's the guy that crammed an unprecedented number of commercials into every hour (when he ran CBS). Sure, it drove listeners away in the long run (and created an opening for satellite and internet radio), but it also stuffed a few pockets in the short run, didn't it?

He's like a ship captain that rammed into an iceberg, collected the insurance money, then bought an airplane with that money, and said "Don't take a ship! The captains are terrible."