MW Howard Stern and his 1 million listeners still have value for Sirius with contract extension

By Lukas I. Alpert

The terms of Stern's deal were not disclosed, and while he commands a far smaller audience than in his heyday, it is still larger than most

Howard Stern has seen his audience decline significantly since he switched to satellite radio nearly 20 years ago, but he still commands an impressive number of listeners.

Howard Stern's kingdom may be smaller, but it still has value.

The self-proclaimed King of All Media has announced that he has signed a three-year contract extension with SiriusXM Holdings, continuing his radio reign despite commanding an audience that is far smaller than what he drew during his heyday.

"I'm happy to announce that I figured out a way to have it all - more free time and continuing to be on the radio," Stern said during his broadcast Tuesday, which is his last scheduled show for the year. "So, yes, we are coming back for three years."

The 71-year-old Stern did not disclose the terms of the deal, but it was widely expected to be smaller than his previous five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius, which was set to expire at the end of this year. Representatives for Sirius declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal.

Sirius shares $(SIRI)$ rose just under 1% in early morning trading on the news but are down 3% since the beginning of the year, underperforming the S&P 500 SPX, which has risen nearly 16% since Jan. 1.

Since Stern signed his last contract, the satellite-radio broadcaster has seen a slow but steady erosion of its subscriber base as listeners have switched to streaming-music platforms and free podcasts, raising questions of just how valuable Stern is anymore.

When Stern moved to Sirius from terrestrial radio in 2016, he commanded a huge audience estimated at 20 million listeners a day. That number has dwindled significantly in recent years, with analysts estimating that it amounts to no more than a mid-single-digit percentage of what he drew at his peak - which would put it somewhere around 1 million listeners per broadcast.

Stern, who practically created the radio shock-jock format, has mellowed with age, focusing more on extended interviews. Some have speculated that his politics - he has been vocal in his opposition to President Donald Trump - may have also alienated some of his listeners, who, like him, are getting older.

Since Stern signed his last deal in 2020 - worth a reported $100 million a year - SiriusXM has seen its subscriber growth stall. At the end of the third quarter of 2020, the channel reported having 34.4 million subscribers. That figure now sits at 32.8 million and has been sliding each year.

At the same time, music-streaming service Spotify Technology (SPOT) reported that at the end of the third quarter, it had 281 million paying subscribers globally and nearly 450 million more listening to its free ad-supported service each month. Pandora, the music-streaming service owned by SiriusXM, had 5.7 million subscribers paying to listen to music without ads at the end of the third quarter this year.

Meanwhile, podcasts have taken off, with stars like Joe Rogan drawing huge audiences to their broadcasts and video feeds and inhabiting much of the edgy space Stern used to own.

Stern said earlier this year that he had considered retiring, but that news reports suggesting that he might be unceremoniously dumped led him to reconsider.

"I still do love being on the radio. I think the show is better than ever. I really do believe that in my heart," he said during his announcement.

-Lukas I. Alpert

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December 16, 2025 10:49 ET (15:49 GMT)

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