Howard Stern signs a new five year deal

Staff Writer

An absolute motza of cash, it’s the deal that will see Howard Stern on SiriusXM in the US for another five years.

It will keep the Howard Stern Show on satellite radio through to at least 2020. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, under his previous contract, Stern earned an estimated $80 million a year according to Variety.

The signing came down to the wire with his listeners wondering whether he would re-sign or retire as in 2010 he called that contract his “final five years in radio”. With Bloomberg estimating that losing The Howard Stern Show could cost SiriusXM $240 million USD in annual revenue, is was possibly an easy decision on their side.

“This morning I am very, very pleased to announce — and excited to announce — that in fact we will be here for the next five years,” Howard said On-Air our Wednesday.

Howard also shared some details of what’s to come as part of the deal. “Now let me tell you why I’m excited about this. This deal that I have with Sirius … enables us now to move really into the future – not only to continue to bring you radio for the next five years, but there’s an excitement about an app we’ll be developing that will now include video streaming of the show!”

{youtube}i2mFboz09G8{/youtube}

“We look forward to working with Howard to offer the Howard Stern experience through new platforms,” SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer said. “In 2006, when Howard launched his two uncensored satellite radio channels – Howard 100 and Howard 101 – he transformed how people listen to radio. We are thrilled that Howard is staying and expanding his relationship with SiriusXM to include video.”

“As a broadcaster, it does not get better than working at SiriusXM and I’m truly excited for the future with this great company,” Howard added. “I happen to think that its best days are ahead. So, if you are not listening to SiriusXM and The Howard Stern Show, then you are really more like a zombie, a rotting corpse monster, living half a life, deadened and blackened inside. It’s as if you were still watching black and white television while shopping in actual stores on your way to the post office to fax a memo.”

Howard Stern initially signed with Sirius in 2004 (before the company merged with XM in 2008) and his show began broadcasting on satellite radio in January 2006. While on traditional terrestrial radio, the Howard Stern Show became the #1 morning program in several markets around the US. After Howard’s move to Sirius, the company’s subscriptions jumped from less than 500,000 to nearly 20 million by 2009. The company’s subscriber numbers have continued to climb with Stern at the mic, with current subscription figures at just shy of 30 million.

Comment Form

Your email address will not be published.

Recent comments (0)
Post new comment

Jobs

See all