Howard Stern Cuts Show to One Day a Week, Fires Staff—and Somehow Civilization Continues

Howard Stern’s radio empire is reportedly shrinking again, prompting the usual round of breathless speculation over whether a show most Americans stopped following years ago is finally nearing its end.

Approximately a dozen employees were reportedly dismissed from The Howard Stern Show as the SiriusXM program prepares to cut its schedule from three new shows per week to just one after Labor Day. The other days will apparently be filled with reruns and selections from Stern’s enormous archive.

Among those reportedly shown the door were longtime contributors Benjy Bronk, Memet Walker, Jon Blitt and Mike Trainor. Trainor publicly confirmed his departure after 12 years with the program. The others have not all independently confirmed their exits, although multiple entertainment outlets have reported the layoffs. Page Six

The dismissals naturally produced rumors that SiriusXM was preparing to cancel Stern entirely. It isn’t—at least not yet.

Stern signed a new three-year agreement with the satellite-radio company in December 2025, saying he had found a way to enjoy “more free time” while remaining on the air. SiriusXM officially confirmed the extension, although its financial terms were not disclosed. SiriusXM, Associated Press

Apparently, “more free time” now means appearing once a week while archived recordings do most of the heavy lifting.

Stern was once the most influential—and frequently the most controversial—personality in American radio. During his terrestrial-radio career, his employers accumulated millions of dollars in FCC indecency penalties as Stern built an enormous audience with celebrity interviews, feuds, sexual stunts and an endless parade of unusual guests.

In 2004, he announced a five-year agreement reportedly worth $500 million to move to Sirius, where federal broadcast-indecency restrictions did not apply. His satellite show premiered in January 2006 and helped establish Sirius as a serious competitor in subscription entertainment.

That was 20 years ago.

Today, Stern is 72, podcasting has completely transformed spoken-word entertainment, and millions of listeners can choose among endless programs without paying specifically to hear a wealthy radio host complain from his basement.

Stern unquestionably changed radio. He was enormously successful, influenced generations of broadcasters and made enough money to purchase several small countries. But reducing his program to one new episode a week does not exactly suggest that SiriusXM believes America is suffering from an urgent shortage of Howard Stern content.

The show technically remains alive through at least 2028. Whether listeners will notice the difference between one new episode and none at all is another question.

As for retirement, Stern may be gradually approaching it—or he may continue signing increasingly relaxed contracts until SiriusXM pays him merely to think about turning on a microphone.

Either way, America will somehow soldier on.