Got you! Howard Stern is staying put at SiriusXM, after faking out his audience first. On Monday’s broadcast, Bravo star Andy Cohen opened the show in Stern’s chair and delivered a faux farewell.
“This is, I know, not the voice that you expected to hear, this is not the voice that you probably wanted to hear, but it is I, Andy Cohen, and this is our first day broadcasting on Andy 100. I know you’re expecting a big announcement from Howard and this is actually not how things were meant to go,” Cohen told listeners.
“There has been a lot of talk about what’s going to happen with Howard. Is he fired? I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say except that he’s not here, and I am,” Cohen continued. “Howard and the executive team at SiriusXM felt that it was best to, kind of, part ways now.”, “This was supposed to be a cleaner handoff… I’m kind of winging it.” Moments later, Stern jumped on the mic, praised Cohen’s “Andy 100” gag, and confirmed he’d signed on to continue The Howard Stern Show for “the next few years.”
The bit capped months of speculation about Stern’s future, including chatter about a possible pay cut and his delayed return after the summer. SiriusXM’s president and chief content officer, Scott Greenstein, hinted last week that a renewal was likely but would have to “make sense,” calling Stern “the best interviewer out there” and a singular driver of awareness for the platform.
Stern’s satellite era began after a blockbuster $500 million pact with Sirius in 2004; he renewed in 2020 for another five years at a reported $500 million. Before that, the self-styled “King of All Media” built a massive terrestrial radio footprint beginning in the 1980s, with press estimates pegging his peak audience at about 20 million listeners across 60 markets.
The new deal arrives as SiriusXM and the wider audio industry chase younger, digital-first audiences with splashy podcast contracts. Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy signed a multi-year Sirius pact reportedly worth $125 million, while Amazon’s Wondery inked Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights for around $100 million over three years.
Even Joe Rogan’s headline-grabbing Spotify renewal, widely reported at $250 million over multiple years, averages below $100 million annually—context for why Stern’s compensation has become a talking point two decades into his satellite run.
For now, the prank’s punchline is simple: Stern isn’t going anywhere, and SiriusXM keeps its most famous rainmaker on the air.
Lexi Carson covers the buzziest campaigns, brand beefs, and streaming shake-ups. She’s known for her razor-sharp takes, obsession with 90s ad jingles, and a red bob that’s never once missed a deadline.
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