In announcing the news, Stern staged a "fake" announcement that he wasn't coming back resulting in some humorous moments this mornings, especially at the expense of one of his staffers who broke out in tears on the air live before he was told the real news.
Stern came over to Sirius back in 2006 and was paid a reported $500 million for the first five year contract that was to expire at the end of this year.
In the time Stern has been with Sirius, there has been two channels dedicated to his brand on Sirius, a pay-per-view television channel, a merger with XM Radio (the other competing satellite radio outfit which was absorbed by Sirius a couple of years ago) and a growth in listeners/subscribers from reported a 600,000 at the time Stern started on Sirius, to over 20 million subscribers today.
Stern briefly shared with listeners this morning that his new 5 year deal will give him some more flexibility in his schedule. He is currently heard live 4 days a week from 6AM to 11AM on Sirius. His has hinted on air for some time that he wants to reduce his schedule to have time for other things.
As well, he had also been hinting that he wanted to explore other broadcasting options as the landscape has changed over the last 5 years since he started on Sirius.
With the growth of alternate media delivery channels, especially through the internet and a perceived challenge being faced by the satellite radio model, many thought he was going...but other believed he was just posturing and negotiating on air to get the deal he desired.
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