Howard Stern Did Not Save Sirius Satellite Radio, and May Have Hurt It

Howard Stern lashed out against Sirius Radio. With his contract set to expire on December 31, he told listeners yesterday, “I am not taking a f---ing pay cut. Who is this guy to say this in public?”

CFO David Frear has suggested a pay cut might be in order. Why shouldn't it be? Howard Stern never delivered on the hype he brought to Sirius. Before the merger with XM, Sirius was called one of the ten most likely businesses to go out of business in 2009, which meant my lifetime contract just took a huge hit.

Stern, in familiar form, showed his total disregard for management even though he has become irrelevant on Sirius. Stern boasted he has 60 percent of the listening audience of Sirius. Ratings have suggested Stern has about 12 percent even though Sirus doesn't release that information.

What saved Sirius wasn't Howard Stern. Sirius struggled to gain listeners even after Stern was announced and was always second, despite better programming, to XM. What saved Sirius was the merger with XM which created an audience of 20 million subscribers.

At this point, where is Howard Stern going to go? He really is a grizzled old has been who is too bitter to enjoy anymore and couldn't possibly love life heading back to live under the iron fist of the FCC.

Stern makes $100 million a year at Sirius and signed a five-year contract. That contract expires December 31.