SiriusXM Might Cancel 'The Howard Stern Show' After Two Decades on Air

Few radio personalities have been on the air longer than Howard Stern. The shock jock has been with SiriusXM for nearly two decades and on the radio even longer.

In that time, Howard developed a reputation as a "shock jock," a host who is unafraid to express controversial opinions and offend some in his audience.

Although Howard is no longer as shocking as he once was, plenty who listen to him regularly were still surprised to hear rumors that his show might be canceled.

Here's what we know about Howard's future on the radio.

There has been no official announcement from the host himself or SiriusXM that the show is getting axed, but fans are concerned that The Howard Stern Show is disappearing.

According to a report from The US Sun, industry insiders expect Howard's contract with Sirius not to be renewed after it expires in the fall of this year.

According to this insider, Sirius plans to make the long-time host an offer they know he'll reject.

"Stern's contract is up in the fall, and while Sirius is planning to make him an offer, they don't intend for him to take it. Sirius and Stern are never going to meet on the money he is going to want. It's no longer worth the investment," the source explained.

Howard has been on the radio since the early 1970s, and joined SiriusXM with his own channel, Howard100, in 2006.

"However, SiriusXM is anticipated to work out an agreement to keep access to his vast production library even if Stern stops creating new content," the source added. "But as far as him coming back to doing the show, there's no way they can keep paying his salary. After you saw what happened with Stephen Colbert, it's like they just can't afford to keep him going."

Howard has continued to be on the radio in an era when podcasts have become an increasingly dominant mode of listening for many people.

According to another source speaking with The Sun, though, Howard's potential cancellation might have less to do with declining ratings than with the political climate, suggesting that Howard's liberal politics might not align with Sirius's goals.

“If Sirius isn't going to give Stern a good offer, I don't think it would have anything to do with his ratings. It's more likely everything to do with the political climate," they said.

For now, though, all of this is still just a rumor. We don't know for sure that Howard's show has been canceled, and if it has, he certainly hasn't said anything to that effect.

It's undeniably true that the world of radio has been radically transformed by both music streaming and podcasts, but Howard still commands an audience, and his clips have sometimes been known to travel on social media. While fans are understandably concerned about Howard's potential disappearance, we shouldn't worry too much just yet.