|
“I
am happy to announce that I have figured out a way to have it
all. More free time and continuing to be on the radio. Yes, we
are coming back for three years,” Stern said on air.
Stern, 71, said he was able to create a “more flexible
schedule,” adding: “And I'm excited about it because you know
what. I do still love radio.”
He made the announcement during his last show of the year. He'll
be back live on the air Jan. 5.
Stern joined what was then Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. in 2006.
It helped make him one of the highest-paid personalities in
broadcasting and was a game-changer for both the company and the
nascent satellite radio industry.
He’s recently had newsy and intimate chats with Lady Gaga and
Bruce Springsteen. In August, he tried to convince listeners
that he had left by having Cohen at the top of “The Howard Stern
Show” pretending to be his successor.
Stern said Tuesday he checked in with his co-host, Robin
Quivers, to make sure “she was up for it” before deciding to
stay on another three years.
“If Robin wasn’t up for it, then I wasn’t going to do it,” he
said.
SiriusXM’s subscriber base has been slowly contracting, with the
company reporting 33 million paid subscribers in the third
quarter of 2025, some 100,000 fewer than the year before. It is
battling a saturated satellite market and competition from free,
ad-supported platforms like Spotify.
Stern rose to national fame in the 1980s. He had a 20-year stint
at the then-WXRK in New York. At its peak, “The Howard Stern
Show” was syndicated in 60 markets and drew over 20 million
listeners.
He was lured to satellite radio by the lucrative payday and a
lack of censorship, following bruising indecency battles with
the Federal Communications Commission and skittish radio
executives. His past on-air bits had included parading strippers
through his New York studio and persuading the band then known
as The Dixie Chicks to reveal intimate details about their sex
lives.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
|
|
