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The radio shock jock and Sirius could part ways in as little as six months. Will the radio personality stay, or explore new options?
It is the news no morning commuter wants to hear — Howard Stern‘s contract with Sirius Radio will be up in just six months! Now this does not mean the much beloved Howard will be leaving, or even that he won’t renew, but it does give him the option to explore many other paths!
Jo Piazza over at Popeater points out, “He’ll be free to re-sign a contract with Sirius XM Radio, free to retire, free to return to terrestrial radio or free to start an entirely new career” — possibly with American Idol she points out!
As it currently works, Howard is paid $100 million a year and foots the cost of his own show, which in the end makes him roughly $70 million a year. A very, very healthy sum of money. He could be making even more however some point out if he simply started his own web based show!
Stern’s former program director at WXRC, Anthony Michaels tells Piazza, “You can go to the gym, plug headphones in, you get Howard, at work at home, as long as you have Internet, you get the show. If Howard charges $4.99 a month for his site, and just 2 million people follow him, that’s $10 million a month.”
The choice will of course be all his, but many may need to prepare themselves for the possible end of an era come the end of the year! Something tells us however that even if Howard leaves Sirius, he will still be dominating the airwaves somewhere!
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View Comment
Mattyboy
Posted at 4:25 PM on July 14, 2010
Love Howard, I listen to his show more then I do anything else in my life, except working. He has a loyal base of 7 million listeners. I hope he stays at sirius! Every person I know who hates Howards doesn’t listen to him, give him a try. Best broadcaster in the history of radio!!
Pam
Posted at 6:01 PM on July 10, 2010
I am a female fan of Howard’s and I will continue to listen for as long as Howard chooses to broadcast a show. Love you Howard and all your talented crew. I’m so thankful for the many years of entertainment you’ve given and I wish you much happiness in whatever you choose to do.
Pam in Nova Scotia, Canada
Milania
Posted at 5:47 PM on July 4, 2010
Just listening to his show I get the impression he’s getting a little tired of it. I will be sorry to see him go. I just have a feeling he is going to pull the plug on Satellite Radio.
ghostwriter
Posted at 9:44 AM on July 4, 2010
I’m a huge Stern fan. When I first met my current girlfriend a few years ago (who was 26 years old at the time), she claimed to “hate” Howard Stern. Of course, she had never actually LISTENED to his show; she simply went along with the typical opinions expressed by women who know nothing about his show.
I bought her a Sirius receiver with the condition that she listen to the show on her morning commute for one month. After that, he was free to stop listening if she chose. As a fan of a local Tampa morning show (MJ In The Morning) she was reluctant, but she relented.
As I knew would happen, she fell in love with the show. We began to talk about it over dinner, catching up on what had transpired that morning. She also began to realize what a total douchebag MJ is, and how NOT funny he is, and how unoriginal he and most other radio personalities really are.
She even grew to love the show so much that when she adopted a kitten, she named it “Artie” (in honor of Stern’s former sidekick Artie Lange).
My girlfriend is young (and quite beautiful, if I do say so myself) doesn’t exactly fit the stereotype of the “middle-aged guy” average listener. But she recognized how funny and original Stern is. His show got better than ever when he moved to satellite, and my Sirius subscription was worth every penny.
Your predictions about his earning power are way offbase, in my view. Who can compete with him in the morning-radio market? Everyone who tried failed miserably. Stern is as funny as ever, and I for one hope he sticks around for a few more years.
Anonymous
Posted at 5:55 AM on July 4, 2010
Remember, that was right after he started appearing on satellite, when the idea of him being able to swear on the air was a novelty. His numbers are way down since then, about 250,000 per day according to most reports — and that figure includes listeners who tune in for part of the broadcast, no matter how briefly.
So this geezer has lost more than 11.5 million listeners since 2005, when he last appeared on terrestrial radio.
Yet this article calls him “beloved,” and claims he continues to “dominate the airwaves” when a few simple Google searches reveal he’s exiled himself into irrelevance.
Anonymous
Posted at 5:45 AM on July 4, 2010
He’s no longer relevant, and he hasn’t been for a long time. As Alex noted, these dudes are geezers — only fellow geezers are amused by hearing a morning show comprised of men and women in their 60s, giggling about strippers.
Stern’s heyday was about 20 years ago. The only people who followed him to satellite are mustachioed men in their 40s, 50s and 60s, the same crass ‘tards who call in like, “Hey, Howaaad, tell that strippah to … ”
Stern has been doing the same sex and fart jokes, and forcing the same tired laugh, for four decades. He is *not* gonna get anywhere near the same amount of money he did in his last deal. And if he charges access to a live web show, as this retarded article suggests, then he’s shooting himself in the foot. He’s not getting 2 million subscribers to a web show, because there aren’t 2 million people who care enough to purchase a subscription.
But if he streams a free web show with minimally intrusive — yet valuable — commercials, he can actually have an audience again and make halfway decent cash from the ad sales.
I doubt he gets it, though. His audience will get smaller and smaller until it’s not even worth it for pr0n stars to make the stop in his studio.
staubber
Posted at 8:59 PM on July 3, 2010
I like Howard, I can’t wait to see what he does next
Alex
Posted at 8:37 PM on July 3, 2010
It’s time for old geezers like him, Don Imus, Jay Leno and David Letterman to get the hell out, there time has come and gone.
LG
Posted at 8:05 PM on July 13, 2010
And you should learn the correct “there” or “their” to use….. retard. Howard is great and always will be.