Howard Stern is set to cut back his broadcast schedule to one new show per week this fall, a shift that has prompted layoffs affecting roughly 12 staff members.
‘He just doesn’t need that much content anymore,’ an insider told Page Six on Tuesday of the veteran media personality, 72.
The revised lineup is expected to take effect when Stern returns from his summer break, with the remaining four weekdays filled by previously aired material.
Employees impacted by the cuts were told about the decision during a Zoom meeting on Monday, sources told the outlet, adding that they were sent home afterward.
According to the report, the departing staffers will qualify for severance based on how long they have worked with the satellite radio company.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Sirius XM seeking additional comment on the matter.
Howard Stern is preparing to reduce his schedule to one new show each week this fall, resulting in layoffs of about 12 staffers. He is pictured in Miami in 2024.
The news of Stern’s lighter schedule and the staff reductions quickly sparked strong responses from longtime fans of the show.
An X/Twitter user under the handle @bringbackjackie, who liveblogs The Howard Stern Show as it airs, told the Daily Mail that the sharp decline in output is tied to the departure of former SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer in 2020, and the 2024 passing of Stern’s longtime agent Don Buchwald.
Both issues were described as key factors that “only accelerated Stern’s downfall” at the company, contributing to “pay cuts,” “less days worked” and a smaller staff.
‘If the Stern Show were a publicly traded company,’ @bringbackjackie said, ‘it would be delisted.’
A user on the Stern Show’s subreddit said, ‘I worshipped Howard back in the day. I didn’t just think he was hilarious – I admired him for always seeming to make the right moves and say the right things. That’s why it’s so disappointing to see what happened to his legacy.
‘He could have walked away as an undisputed legend, but instead he overstayed his welcome by at least a decade. It feels like his inability to step away overshadowed so much of what made him great in the first place.’
The shift comes about eight months after Stern inked a new three-year deal with SiriusXM – his home for two decades after leaving terrestrial radio – late last year.
‘I am happy to announce that I have figured out a way to have it all,’ he said on his program upon inking the pact.
The veteran media personality pictured in LA in October 2019
Stern has focused on celebrity interviews in recent years, with A-list names such as Cher. Pictured 2024
News of the reduced schedule and staff drew sharp reactions from longtime listeners
Stern said the deal’s ‘flexibility’ appealed to him, as it offered him ‘more free time and continuing to be on the radio.’
He added, ‘I do like my days off. You know me, I’m never bored. I’m busy every minute.’
Prior to the 2025 contract, Stern’s most recent deal was for five years and $500,000,000, Page Six reported.
In May, Stern’s wife Beth, 53, was asked about what impact she had on his call to come back, while appearing on Andy Cohen Live.
Cohen asked Beth, ‘Every time there’s a renegotiation that comes up with Sirius, what is your role in that? Do you try to steer him in a certain direction?’
Beth said, ‘Yes – and I feel I’m very influential. I feel that it’s very good for him to continue [broadcasting] … he still enjoys doing it; he’s still, I think, very good at it.’
Beth said she feels that her husband continuing with his show – which he has done from home since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic more than six years ago – keeps him ‘connected’ into what’s happening in the world.
