Looks like the Janet Jackson foolishness gave Redstone a good excuse to dump Howard Stern's biggest ally ("resigning" in this business means "pushed into it" 99.7% of the time). It wasn't too long ago that Karmazin said that if Howard leaves, he's going with him. Now this - being replaced by the heads of MTV (are they still on?) and CBS Entertainment. Stay tuned to see how this shakes out...
Karmazin Out At Viacom
Mel Karmazin, president and chief operating officer of CBS's parent company, Viacom, is out.
Viacom said Tuesday that its board had named MTV boss Tom Freston and CBS leader Leslie Moonves to share the jobs Karmazin held as co-presidents and co-chief operating officers, effective immediately.
Karmazin became president and COO in May, 2000, when Viacom bought CBS. He had taken over CBS in 1997, by merging his company, Infinity Radio, into CBS and bringing his "genius" - as many people put it - in the business of selling advertising to CBS, reports CBS News Correspondent Dan Raviv.
But at Viacom, Karmazin had to share power with Sumner Redstone, the chairman and chief executive officer who made Viacom one of America's biggest media companies, owning, among other things MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, and Simon & Schuster publishing.
Redstone, 81, and Karmazin, 60, reportedly did not get along. Some people in the company said there was a "power struggle;" and when that happened in the past, Redstone always was the winner.
In a statement, Redstone said Karmazin "leaves with an extraordinary track record of accomplishment."
"We very much regret Mel's decision to resign and we wish him well," Redstone added.
He said Karmazin would stay on as a consultant for two months to help with the transition.
