CEO Mel Karmazin, aka the dude who paid Howard Stern a retarded amount of money, said today that the merger didn't magically fuse together satellite capabilities. Says Automotive News:

Merging XM and Sirius technology and installing it in new vehicles could take as long as 15 years because of the new chips required and automakers' lead time.

Fifteen years—when your car will look like this. Karmazin said other stuff about the subscription business(es), most of it was equally depressing. (No chance of it spreading to Europe and Asia, for instance.) How long do you give satellite radio? I say dead in two years. [Automotive News (subscription required)]

Nothing like making an extra buck on somebody else's good fortune. Especially when it's against the law. But that didn't stop accountant Gary Herwitz and former Sirius executive Tracey Stanyer from cashing in on Howard Stern's big move to Sirius Satellite Radio. Looks like both these deadbeats paid fines and were forced to "disgorge ill-gotten gains"—much like they might disgorge a good steak from the Palm after they drink too much cab and tell dirty jokes—according to the investor protection agency. Herwitz bought stocks in Sirius after he found out about the Stern agreement from someone at accounting firm Mahoney Cohen & Co (of which he was formerly president), while Stanyer heard about it from from a senior Sirius executive. Together, fines added up to about $87,000. Nice going, guys.

Insider trading charges on Sirius/Stern deal [CNet]