Howard Stern is bringing his radio show to streaming. The iconic “Shock Jock” inked a new deal with HBO Max amid speculation that his show was ending. However, his streaming debut has hit a roadblock. It’s allegedly a “disaster” amid staffing issues. Keep reading for all the details.
Howard Stern Inks Shocking Streaming Deal
Howard Stern has been on the radio since he was in college. He earned the label of a “shock jock” after his move to K-Rock in the mid-1980s. Howard Stern was with the station for 20 years before moving to satellite radio. He signed a $500 million contract with Sirius in 2004. While Sirius had been around for a while already, signing Howard Stern gave it a huge boost in subscribers.
The beloved radio voice extended his contract with SiriusXM in 2025 for three more years. However, the contract came at a surprising cost. Dozens of staffers were laid off in sweeping firings in February and July 2026. Howard Stern cut back his weekly live radio shows to just once a week and no longer needed a huge staff. Beginning on Monday, September 15, the radio show will release only one new live episode a week. The rest of the week will be filled with classic clips and old celebrity interviews.
In another shocking move, the radio host signed on with HBO Max. Howard Stern hosted a late-night talk show on the E! Network for eleven years. Now, he’s taking his show to streaming. The live show he broadcasts on Mondays will be filmed and streamed on HBO Max every Thursday starting on September 17.
His HBO Max Debut Headed For ‘Disaster’ Amid Mass Layoffs
40 studio cameras will capture Howard Stern’s three-hour live show and then staff will edit it down for streaming. But who is going to do all of that now that the staff has been cut? The staffing issues have reportedly turned his HBO Max deal into a “disaster.”
“No one knows anything. Things are being removed from the studio that shouldn’t have been,” a source told The U.S. Sun. “It’s all been general chaos, and I don’t think anyone is happy there.”
The remaining staff who survived the layoffs reportedly didn’t find out about the HBO Max deal until a few days after it went public. But as a vet in the radio industry, Howard Stern does his best work under pressure. Don’t miss his HBO Max debut on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger