Howard Stern has secured an additional three-year tenure with SiriusXM, sharing with listeners on Tuesday that he has “discovered a way to have it all.”
Representatives confirmed that this announcement is genuine, unlike the prank in August when Andy Cohen was brought on as a pretend successor. This time, Stern delivered the news earnestly, though he did not divulge extensive details about his new contract extension.
“I’m thrilled to announce that I have found a way to balance everything. More leisure time while still being on the radio. Yes, we are returning for another three years,” Stern declared during his broadcast.
At 71, Stern revealed he has managed to arrange a “more adaptable schedule,” adding, “And I’m enthusiastic about it because, truth be told, I still have a passion for radio.”
He shared this update during his final show of the year and is set to resume live broadcasts on January 5.
Stern originally joined the then-named Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. in 2006, a move that not only elevated him to one of broadcasting’s top earners but also significantly impacted both the company and the fledgling satellite radio industry.
He’s recently had newsy and intimate chats with Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen. In August, he tried to convince listeners that he had left by having Cohen at the top of “The Howard Stern Show” pretending to be his successor.
Stern said Tuesday he checked in with his co-host, Robin Quivers, to make sure “she was up for it” before deciding to stay on another three years.
“If Robin wasn’t up for it, then I wasn’t going to do it,” he said.
SiriusXM’s subscriber base has been slowly contracting, with the company reporting 33 million paid subscribers in the third quarter of 2025, some 100,000 fewer than the year before. It is battling a saturated satellite market and competition from free, ad-supported platforms like Spotify.
Stern rose to national fame in the 1980s. He had a 20-year stint at the then-WXRK in New York. At its peak, “The Howard Stern Show” was syndicated in 60 markets and drew over 20 million listeners.
He was lured to satellite radio by the lucrative payday and a lack of censorship, following bruising indecency battles with the Federal Communications Commission and skittish radio executives. His past on-air bits had included parading strippers through his New York studio and persuading the band then known as The Dixie Chicks to reveal intimate details about their sex lives.
