Howard Stern walks away from SiriusXM after two decades

FILE - Howard Stern speaks at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland on April Photo by Michael Zorn Invision AP File FILE - Howard Stern speaks at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland on April Photo by Michael Zorn Invision AP File NEW YORK AP Howard Stern the popular radio host who gave a massive boost to the nascent satellite radio business when he signed a blockbuster multimillion dollar contract for SiriusXM almost two decades ago has abruptly left the company Stern who evolved from his shock jock origins to become a respected interviewer did not appear on the channel Monday with a flustered Andy Cohen replacing him I know you re expecting a big announcement from Howard and this is not how things were meant to go Cohen reported This was supposed to be a cleaner hand off I m kind of winging it and calling it a surreal morning here Stern joining what was then Sirius Satellite Radio Inc in made him one of the highest-paid personalities in broadcasting and was a game-changer for both the company and the industry His importance was highlighted on the SiriusXM homepage tabs included For You Music Talk Podcasts Sports and Howard The news of the split comes after weeks of promos promised a big reveal following swirling speculation that his show would be canceled The tabloids have spoken Howard Stern fired canceled one promo video reported Is it really bye-bye Booey Speculation grew after Stern postponed his return from a summer break to The Howard Stern Show last week SiriusXM in the years after Stern joined has become home to top podcasts Call Her Daddy SmartLess Freakonomics Radio Last Podcast on the Left Invisible and Conan O Brien Requirements a Friend and features such personalities as Trevor Noah Andy Cohen Kevin Hart and Stephen A Smith But SiriusXM s subscriber base has been slowly contracting with the company reporting million paid subscribers in the second quarter of a net loss of from the first quarter and fewer than the same period in It is a battling a saturated satellite territory and competition from free ad-supported platforms like Spotify Stern extended his contract with SiriusXM twice in and again in with a five-year million deal Forbes disclosed He s in the past few days had newsy and intimate chats with Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen He s been with me and the company going on two decades and so he s pretty happy but he s also able like several great artists to stop whenever he wants SiriusXM president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein reported The Hollywood Reporter in Nobody will ever replace them We would never try to replace them Stern who has liked to call himself the King of All Media rose to national fame in the s during his -year stint at the then-WXRK in New York At its peak The Howard Stern Show was syndicated in markets and drew over million listeners Stern was lured to satellite radio by the lucrative payday and a lack of censorship following bruising indecency battles with the Federal Communications Commission and skittish radio executives His past on-air bits had included parading strippers through his New York studio and persuading the band then known as The Dixie Chicks to reveal intimate details about their sex lives His film Private Parts became a box office hit and offered a raw humorous look at his rise to fame He has also authored several bestselling books and served as a judge on America s Got Talent from to Source