NEW YORK (AP) — Howard Stern, the favored and extremely paid radio host, returned to SiriusXM’s airwaves Monday after trolling listeners into considering he had departed his long-running present.
Stern, 71, who developed from his shock jock origins to turn into a revered interviewer, enlisted a seemingly flustered Andy Cohen on the prime of “The Howard Stern Show” to faux to be his successor. “This was supposed to be a cleaner hand off. I’m kind of winging it,” stated Cohen.
Stern then got here on the air and thanked the Bravo persona, who has his personal SiriusXM present and podcast, for agreeing to do the bit. The stunt was the end result of weeks of promos that promised a giant reveal, following swirling hypothesis that Stern’s present can be canceled. “The tabloids have spoken: Howard Stern fired, canceled,” one promo video stated. “Is it really bye-bye Booey?” The hypothesis grew after Stern postponed his return from a summer time break final week.
Whereas he did return Monday, Stern didn’t announce that he had reached a brand new contract with SiriusXM. His present deal expires on the finish of 2025.
“Here’s the truth: SiriusXM and my team have been talking about how we go forward in the future. They’ve approached me, they’ve sat down with me like they normally do, and they’re fantastic,” Stern stated.
Stern becoming a member of what was then Sirius Satellite tv for pc Radio Inc. in 2006 made him one of many highest-paid personalities in broadcasting and was a game-changer for each the corporate and the nascent satellite tv for pc radio trade. His significance was highlighted on the SiriusXM homepage — tabs included For You, Music, Speak & Podcasts, Sports activities and Howard.
SiriusXM within the years after Stern joined has turn into residence to prime podcasts “Call Her Daddy,” “SmartLess,” “Freakonomics Radio,” “Last Podcast on the Left,” “99% Invisible” and “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” and options such personalities as Trevor Noah, Kevin Hart and Stephen A. Smith.
However SiriusXM’s subscriber base has been slowly contracting, with the corporate reporting 33 million paid subscribers within the second quarter of 2025, a internet lack of 68,000 from the primary quarter and 100,000 fewer than the identical interval in 2024. It’s a battling a saturated satellite tv for pc market and competitors from free, ad-supported platforms like Spotify.
Stern prolonged his contract with SiriusXM twice earlier than, in 2010 and once more in 2020 with a five-year, $500 million deal, Forbes reported. He’s lately had newsy and intimate chats with Girl Gaga and Bruce Springsteen.
“He’s been with me and the company going on two decades, and so he’s pretty happy, but he’s also able, like many great artists, to stop whenever he wants,” SiriusXM president and chief content material officer Scott Greenstein informed The Hollywood Reporter in 2024. “Nobody will ever replace them. We would never try to replace them.”
Stern, who has appreciated to name himself the King of All Media, rose to nationwide fame within the Nineteen Eighties throughout his 20-year stint on the then-WXRK in New York. At its peak, “The Howard Stern Show” was syndicated in 60 markets and drew over 20 million listeners. Stern was lured to satellite tv for pc radio by the profitable payday and an absence of censorship, following bruising indecency battles with the Federal Communications Fee and skittish radio executives. His previous on-air bits had included parading strippers by his New York studio and persuading the band then referred to as The Dixie Chicks to disclose intimate particulars about their intercourse lives.
His 1997 movie “Private Parts” grew to become a field workplace hit and provided a uncooked, humorous have a look at his rise to fame. He has additionally authored a number of bestselling books and served as a decide on “America’s Got Talent” from 2012 to 2015.
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This story first was revealed on Sept. 8, 2025. It was up to date on Sept. 8, 2025, to right that Howard Stern will not be leaving SiriusXM and an announcement of his departure was a prank.
