SiriusXM exec Scott Greenstein is weighing in on the status of Howard Stern’s show as questions loom about the future.
While Greenstein — the president and chief content officer of SiriusXM — noted that the intention is for Stern, 71, to stay within the company, he explained that 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,” Greenstein said at the Bank of America conference on Wednesday, September 3, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Greenstein continued, “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 explained that the company looks into hours listened, ad revenue, social media and publicity and other factors when making decisions about signing new talent or renewing contracts. CEO and director Jennifer Witz also weighed in on Stern’s future with the company, adding, “I think he’s been core to our platform for over 20 years. So I’m confident we’ll get to the right place.”
Multiple outlets reported last month that Stern’s show was getting the axe. Stern, for his part, has yet to address the rumors of the show’s cancellation. Us Weekly reached out to The Howard Stern Show and Stern’s lawyer for comment at the time.
Stern — who began his radio host career in the 1980s — was set to address the speculation on the Tuesday, September 2, episode of his show. However, he delayed his return until Monday, September 8.
Howard Stern has gotten into feuds with David Letterman, Lena Dunham and many more stars throughout his career. Stern and Letterman started off as friends in the ‘90s — until the radio host started bashing the former late-night host. The two had a falling out and did not patch things up until 2018 when […]
Stern renewed his SiriusXm contract in 2020 for a five-year deal worth $500 million, according to Forbes. Stern said at the time that SiriusXM “liberated” him, adding per People, “Now that I can work from home, I simply don’t have an excuse to quit.”
Four years after signing the deal, Stern’s longtime agent Don Buchwald died at age 88. After news broke of Buchwald’s death, the official Howard Stern Show Facebook account shared an image of the pair embracing.
