The Good News for SIRI? Karmazin Likely Out

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- We're watching a dog and pony show play out between Sirius XM (SIRI) and Liberty Media (LMCA).

The media relations slugs probably have the press releases ready to go:

We would like to thank Mel Karmazin for eight years of service at Sirius XM. Mel oversaw Sirius' merger with XM and took the company from the brink of bankruptcy to one with increasing free cash flow, strong revenue growth and the best premium content available anywhere.

Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius XM.

Of course, that's satire. Pure speculation. But, once you step back and take a clear-headed survey of the situation, it's obvious what's happening here. Liberty's recent moves to buy more shares and take what will likely end up a majority stake in Sirius XM should not confuse investors.

Before long, one way or the other, Liberty will run the company. And this is good news for fanboys and girls of satellite radio, as long as they can handle wholesale change.

All year there has been a well-publicized fire sale by insiders and institutions on shares of Sirius XM. Karmazin entered in the middle of it as he decided, coincidentally, it was time to get his charitable endeavors in order. Whether Karmazin decided to up his contributions to Unicef, the National Association of Radio Broadcasters or whomever, this is probably not mere happenstance. Well, maybe it is -- I cannot say for sure -- but a sane and logical person could "sanely" and logically believe a backstory exists.

Karmazin said it himself: I'm not really good at working for somebody, I just could not be a No. 2. Knowing Karmazin's history, I can get with that, but it's also a nice way set up his ouster so it does not look so much like an ouster.

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