NEED TO KNOW
Howard Stern made his debut on Sirius Satellite Radio, now known as SiriusXM, in 2006
On Aug. 5, rumors began swirling that ‘The Howard Stern Show’ was getting canceled
Stern’s most recent five-year contract is expected to expire at the end of 2025
Is there change happening at The Howard Stern Show?
Howard Stern began his career as a radio host in the 1980s, making his debut on Sirius Satellite Radio (now SiriusXM) in 2006. Over the years, the self-proclaimed “King of All Media” has amassed a massive fan base, was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012 and made Forbes‘ 2022 list of the highest-paid entertainers.
During a December 2010 episode, Stern told one of the show’s writers, Sal Governale, that he had a “difficult” announcement to make: he had plans to quit. But turns out, it was all a prank.
Stern continued his beloved radio show and surpassed the five-year contract that he did extend in 2010 — and then some. Most recently, in 2020, Stern renewed his SiriusXM contract on a five-year $500 million deal, per Forbes. But now that the contract is nearing its end, rumors are swirling that the radio show is on the chopping block.
So, is The Howard Stern Show getting canceled? Here’s everything we know so far.
Is The Howard Stern Show getting canceled?
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Howard Stern at the ‘America’s Got Talent’ season 10 red carpet event on March 2, 2015, in Newark, N.J.
On Aug. 5, several outlets reported that The Howard Stern Show was getting canceled. While his latest contract is nearing its end, Stern has not confirmed himself that his beloved radio show is coming to an end.
However, if it is, SiriusXM could face some repercussions. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Credit Suisse analyst Brian Russo released a report around 2020 in which he estimated that 15% (roughly 2.7 million subscribers at the time) of Stern’s listeners could cancel their SiriusXM subscriptions if the longtime radio show host retired or left the company.
In October 2024, SiriusXM president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein told The Hollywood Reporter that he had not heard from Stern about 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,” he said. “Nobody will ever replace them. We would never try to replace them. It’s not what is even appropriate, but even practical.”
Further, during a Q&A on a 2024 earnings call, Greenstein said he hopes Stern “continues forever.”
“As for Howard, he’s a singular talent. No one pretended when Johnny Carson or others retired that the new group would replace them. They were just simply filling in on those slots,” he said, adding that Stern “continues to excel, get us awareness and everything else that goes with what he does.”
PEOPLE has reached out to SiriusXM for comment.
Has Stern spoken about retirement?
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Howard Stern attends the ‘America’s Got Talent’ press conference on May 10, 2012, in New York City.
Though Stern has yet to publicly acknowledge the cancellation rumors, he has spoken about the possibility of retiring in the past.
In a 2019 episode, Stern told his co-host Robin Quivers that he was “pretty sure” he was “almost out the door,” per Far Out Magazine.
“When I get out of radio. I’m getting out man,” he said, according to the outlet. “I’m getting out anyway because I realize that radio is affecting my health. When I’m home on the weekends I’m fine. And then when I come here all kinds of shit happens.”
However, per the magazine, he later denied having plans to retire and urged his fans not to take his words seriously at all times. Additionally, after signing his 2020 five-year extension, Stern made a statement in which he praised SiriusXM for how the company “liberated” him, adding, “now that I can work from home, I simply don’t have an excuse to quit.”
What would happen to Stern’s catalogue if he retired?
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Howard Stern during ‘The Daily Show With Jon Stewart’ on Dec. 13, 2005, in New York City.
If Stern were to retire, SiriusXM would continue to own his library of content for several years. Greenstein told The Hollywood Reporter that SiriusXM would “always have Howard’s voice on our air.”
Additionally, as part of Stern’s five-year extension deal in 2020, SiriusXM secured the rights to continue licensing the Howard Stern archive of audio and video content for an additional seven years, per SiriusXM.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, SiriusXM has been preparing for the day the radio icon retires, given that he is in his 70s. The company has plans to have a roster of audio talent, per the outlet, that includes James Corden, Andy Cohen, Conan O’Brien and Alex Cooper, whose podcast Call Her Daddy made the move from Spotify to SiriusXM in 2024.
“I chose Sirius because there is a lot of opportunity to go to different places and grow Call Her Daddy into something bigger,” Cooper told The Hollywood Reporter in October 2024. “To see what they’ve done with Howard Stern is incredible.”
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