No way Howard Stern does a quick goodbye
Howard will renew to take the victory laps of all victory laps
Let’s start with Howard Stern, who I have written about before.
Inside Radio reports…citing The U.S. Sun:
While SiriusXM reportedly plans to make an offer, insiders say the company has no real expectation that Stern will accept. “Sirius and Stern are never going to meet on the money he is going to want,” one source told The Sun, adding that “it’s no longer worth the investment” to keep paying the reported $100 million-a-year salary.
SiriusXM is likely to negotiate a deal to retain Stern’s extensive audio library, but the daily show appears to be winding down. “There’s no way they can keep paying his salary,” another source told the outlet.
Howard has spent the last ten years undoing the previous thirty years. He’s all about legacy. He saw what Johnny Carson did when he approached retirement. There’s no way Howard comes back from summer vacation and does a ten week goodbye.
They will do a deal - maybe he will work even less in 2026 (if such a thing is mathematically possible) so that he can take a Victory Lap Farewell Tour allowing every celebrity to come in and kiss the ring and pretend things like “Ted Danson Sketch” never happened.
We used to joke, when I worked at Sirius, that you didn’t even have to actually make the shows, as long as the press release went out. This could be an example of that - maybe Howard works 14 days in 2026, as long as those 14 days have Paul McCartney or Lady Gaga level starts coming by.
If SiriusXM hasn’t already disavowed this report, I imagine they will soon to protect the stock. Also, as someone who writes for Palace Intrigue every day, the U.S Sun is….well…..here’s the lede on their website at 6:53am this morning: US trophy hunter, 52, ambushed & gored to death by 3,000lb ‘Black Death’ buffalo he was trying to kill on $10k safari
Looking at the money, there is plenty to be made in a Howard Farewell Tour. See SNL50 for an example of how that could go, including the live events. If Weird Al can sell out the Garden, I bet Howard could one time with a year of promotion behind it.
In the end, Howard became everything he hated. A Hamptons Celebrity on his second marriage….pretty much everything he busted on “the zookeeper” about.
He won’t go quietly, and the mainstream media will play along and tell tales of The King Of All Media.
Inside Radio is ALREADY doing it:
Though initially branded a “shock jock,” Stern evolved into one of the most respected celebrity interviewers in media. From candid conversations with Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen to last-minute drop-ins by stars like Courteney Cox, Stern’s ability to elicit unguarded moments became a hallmark of his later career.
“Initially” - yeah roughly the 1980-2020 part. Stop. You sound crazy.
Howard isn’t going anywhere just yet. When he goes, it won’t be at all quietly.
On to podcasting….
Yesterday I wrote about Wondery in a piece called Audio Podcasting Isn’t Broken. What’s broken is audio podcasting with 25 names in the credits.
Later in the day, I thought more about this “video podcasting” everyone is hopped up about. What happens if:
YouTube starts gating videos unless you pay for promotion? (See Facebook, TwitterX)
YouTube decides payouts are less?
YouTube decides videos with embedded monetization that isn't YT's get de-algorithm'd.
Just wondering. Anyway, it’s Wednesday and here’s what I have been listening to:
Marc Maron with Seth Meyers from earlier in the year. I’ve started downloading old Marons in case they disappear or get paywalled. Gonna miss him. Gotta love a guy that can’t be bothered chasing video.
I got some new recommendations for L.A. restaurants from California Now.
I love The Police and stumbled across this 2024 episode with Stewart Copeland.
I’m fascinated by “James”
I spent some time writing Season 2 of Crown and Controversy….think of it as What If The Crown made more seasons
There’a a ton of comedy news again - and on this upcoming Saturday I have an hour plus with Mike Chisholm from The Letterman Pod.
Mike fro The Letterman Podcast had on Dave’s old producer Morty AND my friend in real life Alex Bennett.
OK I caused enough trouble for today. See ya.
REMEMBERING DANA PLATO AND HOW HOWARD STERN HELPED DRIVE HER TO HER GRAVE
In May 1999, Diff’rent Strokes star Dana Plato appeared on The Howard Stern Show. She was raw, emotional, and clearly struggling, trying to claw her way back from years of addiction, poverty, and tabloid ridicule. She told Stern she was sober and doing her best. She even brought her fiancé on the air for support.
What did Stern do?
He mocked her.
He let callers humiliate her live on the air. He said he didn’t believe she was sober. He pushed her to take a drug test during the show. She played along at first — maybe trying to show she could take a joke. Maybe trying to save face. But after the segment, she quietly asked for the hair sample back. Stern’s team refused.
The very next day, Dana Plato was dead.
Overdose. Ruled a suicide.
And it doesn’t end there. Eleven years later, her son Tyler Lambert, just 25 years old, took his own life too. Same week as the anniversary of his mother’s death.
This is what happens when you treat real pain as entertainment.
Stern didn’t kill Dana Plato. But he kicked her while she was down, on one of the most humiliating public stages imaginable. He took a vulnerable, broken woman and made her pain into a performance. Because it got laughs. Because it got ratings.
That’s the real Howard Stern. Not the “brave” liberal voice of reason he pretends to be today.
He built his empire mocking the disabled, shaming addicts, degrading women, and gleefully punching down.
He wasn’t edgy. He was cruel.
He wasn’t honest. He was exploitative.
And now, when it’s convenient, he wraps himself in the language of tolerance and justice — while attacking the very Americans who once made him rich.
He used to buddy up with Trump, appearing together on air over 30 times. Now he calls Trump supporters “morons” and “idiots,” from the safety of his multimillion-dollar Hamptons compound — the same place he locked himself inside for over a year, lecturing the country about COVID while mocking anyone who dared step outside.
Howard Stern didn’t go woke. He got soft. He got rich. He got scared.
And worst of all, he got boring.
Now SiriusXM has canceled him. Not because he was controversial — but because no one’s listening anymore. The outrage dried up. The audience moved on. And when your whole act is built on cruelty and self-importance, that’s a one-way ticket to irrelevance.
Dana Plato deserved better. So did her son.
They were real people. With real pain.
Good riddance Howard.