Dara Altman has been named executive vice president of business and legal affairs of XM Satellite Radio, the company announced Jan. 12. Altman will oversee several departments, including new business development, business and legal affairs, office of the general counsel, human resources and regulatory and government affairs.

Altman joins XM with more than 20 years of experience in business and legal affairs for entertainment media companies, most recently as executive vice president of business affairs for Discovery Communications Inc. Prior to joining Discovery, Altman served as senior vice president and general counsel of Reiss Media Enterprises Inc. Altman also held several positions at HBO, including senior counsel, West Coast programming.