After a week of rumors, shock jock Howard Stern has re-signed with Sirius XM. Above, Stern conducts an on-air news conference during his debut show on Sirius Satellite Radio, in New York, in 2006.With just about four days left on his contract, shock jock Howard Stern has re-signed with Sirius XM Radio.
It's been a rocky in Sternland of late. Last week, a wild web rumor had him taking his show to iTunes for roughly $600 milllion and on Tuesday, he lashed out against the satellite company's CFO David Frear for making public statements his contract.
But the wait is over and fans will get to hear the radio personality for five more years. After his next contract runs out, Stern says he is hanging up the mic for good.
"I have come to the conclusion that the real innovators, the real geniuses are the people here at Sirius," he said on his show. "I can say with almost certainty that this is my final five years on radio."
So did Stern get that wildly rumored $600 million that Apple was supposedly dangling in front of him? He did not disclose on the show how much he'd be getting in his new contract. Stern did say, however, that it was "very fair."
Stern also said today that after years of frustration from fans about not being able to hear his program on their mobile phones, the program will now be available on any mobile device. He said the new Sirius XM mobile app was one of the key factors to re-signing with the company.
In 2004, Stern boldly signed a five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius that gave him $100 million per year to produce content on two channels -- Howard 100 and Howard 101 in January of 2006. The move turned out to be genius and gave him the flexibility to produce the kind of show without FCC restrictions and fines.
The deejay also noted that the statuses of Stern show regulars Robin Quivers, Fred Norris and Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate are all still pending.