After waiting a long 18 months for former rivals Sirius (NSDQ: SIRI) and XM (NSDQ: XMSR) to come together, it’s natural for CEO Mel Karmazin to be feeling excited about the possibilities. Speaking at the 2008 Merrill Lynch Media Fall Preview Conference in Marina Del Rey, CA., Karmazin shared his excitement, boasting that the merger will produce savings of $425 million, up from the $400 million he predicted earlier in the year, Radio and Records reported. So far, Sirius XM is on track to bring in $2.4 billion in revenue this year, with $2.7 billion expected in 2009, Karmazin said. So far, the company has pro forma revenue growth of 17 percent 2008, he added. Some of the other attributes of the deal that Karmazin gushed about included:

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—Adding up the savings: Karmazin specifically pointed to $145 million in cost savings, including $20 million related to telco expenses and $50 million for subscriber acquisition costs, reducing senior management and outside advisers for another $50 million, and $25 million by eliminating the “innovation center” in Boca Raton, Fl.

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