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NEW YORK, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI - News) has named Mel Karmazin as Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Joseph P. Clayton, who will remain at SIRIUS as Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr. Karmazin, who served as President and CEO of Viacom until earlier this year, said, "This is a perfect opportunity for me because 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...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom Inc.'s No. 2 executive, Mel Karmazin, will step down, according to a report on Tuesday by CNBC, after several years of tension between himself and Viacom Chairman and Chief Executive Sumner Redstone. Viacom was not immediately available to comment. Karmazin headed CBS Corp. until Viacom bought the company in 2000 and named him president and chief operating officer of Viacom. Karmazin has been much respected on Wall Street, but his tenure has been characterized by tension with the 80-year-old Redstone. Karmazin is said to have clashed with Redstone over the years ranging from acquisition strategy,...

Mel jumped before he was pushed. In recent weeks, Viacom President Mel Karmazin realized he was being cut out of the company's succession plans — and decided to vacate his post rather than wait for the board of directors to formalize a succession plan, according to sources. "Sumner never intended for Mel to be his successor," said one source close to the company. Relations between Viacom chief Sumner Redstone and his former top deputy are so frigid that Karmazin never told his boss directly about his decision to resign as president of the media giant, which is home to CBS,...

Is "shock jock" Howard Stern's voice powerful enough to affect the upcoming presidential election to the extent of sending President Bush packing? That's what the Boston Globe wants to know, explaining that the liberal talk show host the newspaper describes as a "stripper aficionado, champion of misfits everywhere, all-purpose radio provocateur," has turned his raunchy show into a Bush bashing marathon. Writes the Globe's Matthew Gilbert, Stern has been devoting hours of his broadcast every weekday "to impassioned criticism of President Bush and support of Senator John Kerry." Stern, he writes has been "Railing tirelessly against the president, attacking Bush's...