Howard Stern at crossroads with Sirius
Ahead of 2010 contract talks, Howard Stern, 55, is threatening to leave Sirius XM Radio Inc.
Satellite provider Sirius gave America’s most famous shock jock its most lucrative ever contract: a five-year deal in 2006 that paid him $500million in cash and stocks.
Market conditions now mean Stern will find it harder to command the same level of contract/salary. Sirius has absorbed the only other satellite competitor, XM, while budgets at free radio stations have shrunk in the tight economy.
But like the proverbial boy who cried wolf, Stern has made threats to leave in the past that now ring hollow. Brett Harriss, analyst at Gabelli & Co., whose parent Gamco Investors Inc. owns 1.1 million shares of Sirius said: “It’s probably positioning for contract negotiations. I don’t think he would give up his bullhorn.”
Sirius chief executive, Mel Karmazin, recently said he wanted to keep Stern on. Elsewhere observers noted Stern could retire or launch his own venture.
“Who else can afford Howard Stern?” noted Harriss.