(NewsNation) — Howard Stern will continue on SiriusXM airwaves for a few more years, the radio host confirmed Monday after pranking his audience — and news outlets.
Rumors of Stern’s departure have swirled for months, with the buzz of a potential pay cut and a delayed return to “The Howard Stern Show” fueling the fire.
On Monday morning’s broadcast, Andy Cohen took over the mic instead of Stern — delivering a faux announcement about Stern stepping away from his longtime gig.
“I know you’re expecting a big announcement from Howard, and this is not how things were meant to go,” Cohen said. “This was supposed to be a cleaner hand off. I’m kind of winging it.”
Stern then hopped on, thanked Cohen for his “Andy 100” bit, and confirmed he wasn’t going anywhere.
Howard Stern’s $500M SiriusXM contracts
The self-proclaimed “King of All Media,” Stern began his career as a radio host in the 1980s, when “The Howard Stern Show” amassed around 20 million listeners in 60 markets nationwide at its peak, according to the U.S. Sun.
Radio disc jockey Howard Stern on air at WNBC-AM radio station in New York City in this undated 1985 photograph. (Photo by Don Jacobsen/ Newsday RM via Getty Images) 
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 12: Howard Stern attends the 2025 North Shore Animal League America Celebration of Rescue at Tribeca 360 on June 12, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images) 
Howard Stern speaks at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP, File)
He later joined SiriusXM, signing a massive $500 million contract with the subscription-based satellite radio company in 2004.
Stern’s SiriusXM contract was renewed for five years for $500 million in 2020, according to Hollywood Reporter.
Howard Stern’s potential pay cut
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer and SiriusXM, spoke at a Bank of America conference on Sept 3. and said he wanted Stern to stay at Sirius but added the deal would have to “make sense.”
“So Howard, for all these years and right up until now, is as important a content, single piece of content as we’ve had from the sense of being a lightning rod to get awareness for the service and publicity and all of that. He’s the best interviewer out there, period, bar none. And we’ve always had a series, as all of you know, of renewals. With any talent at that level, you’re always going to have an extended period of negotiations. We’ve been pretty lucky all these years. We’d love them to stay. It certainly has to make sense, but we feel pretty good that we’ve done this before, and we’ll see where it goes,” Greenstein said.
A source told NewsNation’s Paula Froelich that “If Howard wants to stay, he’s going to have to take a major pay cut.”
Howard Stern eclipsed by younger podcasters
Stern has been eclipsed in numbers by younger podcasters like “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper, who signed a multi-year deal with Sirius for $125 million last year.
Meanwhile, Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights,” was picked up for a three-year deal by Amazon’s Wondery for $100 million.
While Cooper’s and the Kelce brothers’ deals are eye-popping and have bigger numbers than Stern’s, neither podcaster is getting $100 million per year.
Even Joe Rogan, who regularly leads all podcast rankings, doesn’t make $100 million a year in his current deal. Rogan signed on with Spotify last year for an undisclosed ”multi-year” deal worth $250 million.
NewsNation’s Teddy Grant contributed to this report.