After contract stunt, Howard Stern says he is nonetheless in talks with SiriusXM over new deal

Howard Stern, the shock jock and self-anointed “king of all-media,” is not about to vanish from the airwaves. 

The radio persona behind SiriusXM’s long-running “Howard Stern Show” mentioned Monday he stays in talks with the leisure firm over a brand new contract after a prank left some listeners questioning whether or not he was leaving the platform. 

“SiriusXM and my team have been talking about how we go forward in the future, they’ve approached me. They’ve sat down with me like they normally do and they’re fantastic,” Stern, 71, mentioned throughout his present. “We’ve been talking.”

A SiriusXM spokesperson would not handle the corporate’s talks with Stern. 

The feedback got here after a stunt Stern pulled on his present in collaboration with Andy Cohen, a fellow SiriusXM host and TV persona. Instead of the traditional kickoff from Stern on Monday morning, listeners had been greeted by Cohen telling them he was taking up the slot and rebranding it as “Andy 100.” 

“This is, I know, not the voice you expected to hear,” mentioned Cohen. The host of “Andy Cohen Live” went on to say that this was not how issues had been meant to go.

“This was supposed to be a cleaner hand off,” Cohen mentioned. “I’m kind of winging it.”

Fifteen minutes later, Stern returned to the airwaves and thanked Cohen for his assist pulling off the hoax. “Lest anyone think that was real, that was all masterminded by me,” Stern mentioned.

Addressing rumors concerning the present getting canceled, Stern added: “Everything you’ve been reading in the paper about me or about Robin is completely false.”

Stern’s contract with SiriusXM expires on the finish of this 12 months. The radio host has prolonged his contract with SiriusXM twice earlier than, in 2010 and once more in 2020 with a five-year, $500 million deal, according to Forbes.

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.