Sink or Swim Part II

Should an old radio guy be in charge of a satellite radio platform?

Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin could be facing his biggest challenges: More than $1 billion in debt bearing down on the company, a seriously sagging stock price, and ensuring that satellite radio remains a relevant medium among all of the other audio choices available to consumers, whether it's traditional radio or HD Radio, an iPod or MP3 player, or the internet.

Unfortunately for XM listeners, the innocent victims in the summertime Sirius/XM merger, the first casualty is content.

Last week, Sirius reportedly laid off 80 people at the former XM headquarters in Washington, D.C. Those cut from the payroll include popular DJs and program directors for XM streams like the Decades channel, '80s on 8, Deep Tracks and XMU.

The employee layoffs may be an unpopular move in some people's eyes. But it was probably the only course of action for a company that may not have other options.

Nonetheless, rumors started to swirl after the layoffs, including suggestions that Sirius content may take over any duplicating streams delivered by XM. Thus, Sirius streams offering the same content will absorb similar stations available via XM. The consolidation of channels is reportedly set for Nov. 5.

Yet, probably the most unsatisfying aspect of the content takeover is that the new satellite radio behemoth won't get rid of promotional channels for artists. Satellite radio customers are stuck with the AC/DC channel or Shade 45 from Eminem. Guess the company has to make some money, somehow.

The moves to consolidate content will not be popular with some customers. The changes will undoubtedly turn off listeners, a good number of which will convert to competing radio sources for programming. If the company comes up short in one area, competitors will no doubt pick up on that.

And as the changes continue to develop at Sirius, hopefully the old radio guy that's Mel Karmazin won't commit the same crime traditional radio guys have been found guilty of, and that's the homogenization of content.