HOWARD Stern spoke about leaving Sirius XM for months before it was revealed that he’s reportedly set to retire.
The 71-year-old shock jock is expected to walk when he sits down for negotiations with the broadcasting company in the fall, sources exclusively revealed to The U.S. Sun.
The satellite radio provider plans to offer Stern a new contract when his $100 million five-year deal runs out, but they don’t expect him to take it, an insider said.
“Sirius and Stern are never going to meet on the money he is going to want. It’s no longer worth the investment,” said the source.
Instead of keeping him on air, Sirius is planning on offering him a payout to keep his catalogue, according to the insider.
“But as far as him coming back to doing the show, there’s no way they can keep paying his salary,” the insider said.
Stern’s reported exit comes after media companies have been forced to tighten the reins on spending.
In July, CBS pulled the plug on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert despite cries of protest from the star host, with execs saying it was “purely a financial decision.”
Speaking of this cancellation, the source said, “After you saw what happened with Stephen Colbert, it’s like they just can’t afford to keep him going.”
HOST SPEAKS OUT
The impending retirement should come as no surprise to viewers as the host has been mentioning a potential leave in recent months.
He’s also stressed the positive impact he’s had on SiriusXM’s business, which isn’t out of the ordinary when his contract is about to run up, The Hollywood Reporter reported in October.
The reported end of his show comes as SiriusXM has just made massive investments in up-and-coming talent, possibly signaling its plan for a post-Stern world.
The Howard Stern Show ‘to be canceled’ after nearly 20 years on SiriusXM as ‘$100m’ contract is up later this year
In 2024, the company inked a $125 million three-year deal with podcasting superstar Alex Cooper for her popular show Call Her Daddy.
At the time, the 30-year-old Barstool Sports alum even mentioned Stern by name when she explained why she decided to work with Sirius.
“I chose Sirius because there is a lot of opportunity to go to different places and grow Call Her Daddy into something bigger,” she told THR.
“To see what they’ve done with Howard Stern is incredible.”
RUMORED TIFF
Fans feared there was tension between Stern and the network after Cooper scored an interview with presidential hopeful Kamala Harris before she would sit down with Stern.
This came after the network stopped releasing Stern’s ratings in 2020, according to RadarOnline.
A source told the outlet in October, “This is the latest sign Howard is losing his grip on his mega-money deal as the face of Sirius.
“He was raging behind the scenes Kamala did Call Her Daddy first, and he’s now gripped with fear this could be the start of the end of his career.”
Meanwhile, fans were struck by a Sirius advertisement that they noticed didn’t mention Stern in a list of radio shows.
“Howard isn’t featured in SiriusXM marketing anymore,” wrote the fan on a Reddit thread in 2024.
The radio company has also spent over $100 million on a deal with the podcast SmartLess, hosted by actors Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes.
Plus, it’s added comedian and former late-night host Conan O’Brien and reality TV tycoon Andy Cohen to the growing roster of talent.
According to SiriusXM President Scott Greenstein, the company plans to put its most popular show behind a paywall once it decides the time is right, he told THR in October.
Howard Stern’s Career
Howard Stern has had a prolific radio career, but he’s also had success in film, books and TV.
Stern’s love affair with radio began when he was a student at Boston University, where he worked at the school’s radio station before graduating in 1976.
After college, he had a series of on-air jobs in Hartford, Connecticut, Detroit, Michigan and then Washington D.C., where he met his eventual sidekick Robin Quivers.
It was in D.C. where Stern began honing his shock jock schtick.
They were fired and the pair landed at WNBC in New York City in 1982.
In a few short years at WNBC, Stern butted heads with management and was ultimately axed.
The duo joined WXRK-FM in New York in 1985 and they were there until 2004 when they joined SiriusXM.
Howard has been at SiriusXM since, with his contracts estimated to be between $80 million and a $100 million a year over the last two decades.
He also starred in and was the executive producer of his autobiography and blockbuster movie Private Parts, which debuted in 1997.
He’s also authored several books and was a judge on America’s Got Talent for three seasons.
-By Jessica Finn, Exclusives and Investigations
PRESIDENT SPEAKS
Another insider who spoke with The U.S. Sun suggested that Stern’s politics may have made him unpopular.
The host has been an outspoken critic of Trump and interviewed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris as she ran for president.
The source claimed, “If Sirius isn’t going to give Stern a good offer, I don’t think it would have anything to do with his ratings.”
“It’s more likely everything to do with the political climate.”
Greenstein said months ago that he hadn’t heard anything about the host wanting to leave.
“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,” the president said.
“Nobody will ever replace them. We would never try to replace them. It’s not what is even appropriate, but even practical.
“What you always want to do in anything, whether it’s a sports team or a media company, you want to have a great bench of talent that have their own identity.”
Greenstein voiced the company’s intention to hold on to Stern’s library, and said, “We’ll always have Howard’s voice on our air.”
In 2024, Stern spoke about what he believes was the ticket to getting celebrities to open up live on air for the past 20 years.
“My whole career has been about honest, painful honesty,” he told CBS Sunday Morning.
“Penis size, insecurities, ‘I hate the way I look’ […] When people walk in, they feel that expectation.
“That they should open up.”
