SiriusXM’s president and CEO is holding Howard Stern in the air amid rumours of his looming retirement.
Scott Greenstein struck at a Bank of America meeting on Wednesday that radio legends are “lightning rods” to boost Sirius’ recognition and publicity, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“He’s the best interviewer out there, period, no bar,” the president added, further praised Stern, 71.
Greenstein, who is also the broadcasting company’s chief content officer, explained that negotiation discussions with someone, especially at Stern’s level, are not new.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate over the last few years,” he admitted. “We want them to stay, and that certainly needs to make sense, but we have done this before.
SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Wittt, recognized during the meeting that Stern was the “core” of the platform “for over 20 years,” adding, “I’m sure I’ll go to the right place.”
Page 6 contacted the “Howard Stern Show” representative for comment, but received no response.
Since August, there have been rumblings that the show could end since Stern’s contract rose in the fall.
“Sirius and Stern will never meet the money he wants. It’s not worth investing anymore,” an insider told the US Sun at the time.
“But as long as he comes back to the show, there’s no way they’ll continue paying him. After seeing what happened with Stephen Colbert, they don’t seem to have the chance to continue him.”
In October 2004, Stern signed a first five-year contract with Sirius Satellite Radio for $500 million, which came into effect two years later. He later signed another five-year contract in 2020 for the same amount.
At the time, there was a rumble that SiriusXM was considering increasing Stern’s payday to $120 million a year, but the shock jock shot down those rumors, saying he and his agents were “confusing” by those numbers.
This time, there are rumours that Stern is nervous with fellow SiriusXM star Alex Cooper and is plagued by the Mega $125 million deal.
“They are desperately trying to move this and try to get it viral to raise his numbers for his return (in September),” a source told the Daily Mail last month. “His numbers are so low that they’re trying… they’re trying to get people to tune what he’s saying about “dismissing” Sirius (XM). ”
Stern was set to deal with all the chatter this week on the show, but cancelled last minute due to a family emergency. He is currently scheduled to talk about the issue on September 8th.
