Overview

• Howard Stern’s five-year, $500 million contract expires late this year and he is in serious talks for a one-to-two-year renewal.
• SiriusXM has indicated it will not meet Stern’s full salary demands, prompting talks to license his extensive show archive for replay channels.
• At 71, Stern has openly contemplated retirement, saying he “may pull the plug” to spare his roughly 95 staffers from sudden job losses.
• The Howard Stern Show’s daily listenership has plunged from around 20 million at its peak to an estimated 125,000, raising cost-benefit concerns.
• Subscriber declines and rising production costs have intensified financial scrutiny at SiriusXM, underpinning its reluctance to extend Stern’s lucrative contract.