Welcome Back, Eddy

[Warlord]

Well, sort of .... Eddy Hartenstein, the guy who essentially created DIRECTV and ran it until its late 2003 take-over by News Corp, is stepping up his visibility in the satellite industry. This time, he's taking on the troubled waters of SIRIUS XM as non-executive chairman, replacing Gary Parsons. Prior to the satellite radio merger, Hartenstein was board member of XM; he became a director of SIRIUS XM in the summer of 2008.

Never one to decline a challenge, Hartenstein is currently Publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times. Fortunately, SIRIUS XM is in slightly better shape than the newspaper industry. The company lost $149.2 million, or 4 cents a share, on revenue of $618.7 million in the latest quarter but it also added 102,295 subscribers. That's first uptick in sat radio subs since last December. Earlier this year Liberty Media took a 40% stake in the company, saving it from a possible bankruptcy filing.