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There’s something to be said for going out on top.
And that something can’t be said for Howard Stern.
The one time “King of all Media” has been limping along like an aging star athlete desperately clinging to his youth and glory.
This week it was reported he laid off about a dozen staffers on Zoom, telling them his Sirius show was being cut down to once a week after Labor Day. The rest of the time will be filled with archives.
But other than inflating his ego and filling his already overflowing bank account, what’s the point in going on with the show?
His reign has long been over, so his best idea would be to simply pack it in already.
Stern is now 72. He’s been at it since the late ’70s and for decades he not only dominated radio and entertainment but managed to stay on the cutting edge. Now, in 2026, he’s just another voice in a crowded podcast space.
Last summer, rumors about his retirement flew as the $500 million contract he signed in 2020 was nearing its end. However, reports of the pioneering shock jock’s demise were untrue.
In December he said, “I am happy to announce that I have figured out a way to have it all.”
But there’s no way to have it all. Maybe he has money and the adoration of the snooty Hamptons set, but he no longer takes up much oxygen in the entertainment space.
He’s lost his edge, his touch and, it seems, much of his audience. While other podcasters are on the ascent, unique viewers to his YouTube page fell from 4.5 million in June 2024 to 3.1 million last year.
It’s tough to stay on the throne for so long, but he precipitated his own fall by turning into what he mocked. He embraced a slavish devotion to therapy, and his own celebrity. He locked himself into a self-induced two-year quarantine during COVID while lecturing others who went on with their lives.
The man of the people became a man in an ivory tower.
His past due date was solidified in 2024 when he fawned over then-Presidential candidate Joe Biden, speaking to him like he was a toddler. Then when Kamala Harris became the candidate, he bitched about “Saturday Night Live” lightly mocking her, saying “I hate it. I don’t want you being made fun of.”
He also gushed, “When I met you out in the hall, I said, ‘I’m really nervous because I want this to go well for you.’ “
Stern was once a glorious force for good in our culture. He was raunchy, playing bongo on people’s bare bottoms and hosting ridiculous live events like, “US Open Sores” at the Nassau Coliseum in 1989.
He was irreverent and surrounded by a court of certifiably insane people. He kept a lot of folks, especially famous people who were used to being fawned over, on their toes with his unpredictability during interviews.
With the FCC as his foe, he championed the underdog. He built his loyal audience honestly.
But we must give him his due. Podcasters of today couldn’t hold a candle to Stern in his prime.
Stern was spontaneous and offensive in all the best ways. He was able to sit across from a celebrity and coax out personal details that no one else even dared. For that boldfacer, surviving Stern was a badge of honor.
Nowadays, every actor is a whore selling their lifestyle brand or trying to get a piece of the attention economy. They are lined up, ready to reveal their deepest darkest secret to anyone with a microphone, in the hopes a two-minute clip will go viral and keep their name in the headlines.
In sharing some tawdry story, it’ll make them come across as authentic and edgy.
These saucy revelations aren’t organic by any stretch. And mining them doesn’t require any real skill by the interviewer.
Stern was singular in his chutzpah.
Of course, people are allowed to evolve or change.
But the dude has hung around the party far too long.
There are so many titans of entertainment who packed it in or shifted while they were riding high. Jerry Seinfeld famously turned down $100 million to produce another season of “Seinfeld.” And even David Letterman retired at 68, but comes out now and again with special projects.
As Neil Young sang, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
English (US)