Howard Stern and satellite radio broadcaster SiriusXM (SIRI) have agreed to a new five-year deal that will keep the shock jock with the company until 2020.
The agreement also includes a 12-year licensing deal for content spanning Stern’s more than 30 years in radio along with plans for more video content.
Sirius had been at risk of losing its biggest star as contract negotiations continued until the 11th hour. (Stern’s current deal was due to expire after Wednesday.) As recently as Monday, Stern told CNNMoney, “I’d like to know what’s happening, honestly.”
Industry analysts cited by CNNMoney estimate Stern’s last deal signed in 2010 paid him $80 million a year and that Sirius could lose up to $240 million if he left the broadcaster. Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.
Never one to mince his words, Stern said of the deal:
As a broadcaster, it does not get better than working at SiriusXM and I’m truly excited for the future with this great company … I happen to think that its best days are ahead. So, if you are not listening to SiriusXM and The Howard Stern Show, then you are really more like a zombie, a rotting corpse monster, living half a life, deadened and blackened inside. It’s as if you were still watching black and white television while shopping in actual stores on your way to the post office to fax a memo.