What’s the fastest someone could sign their name on a piece of paper? Whatever it is, Howard Stern implied on his radio show Thursday he would and could do it faster if the purported $120 million per year contract offer from SiriusXM actually existed and was placed in front of him.
“I have seen no contract, I have heard nothing about this money,” Stern said about the Bloomberg report that the satellite radio company was close to signing Stern to that gargantuan new deal.
“I’m ready to take that deal if I can get it,” Stern told co-host Robin Quivers. “It sounded awesome.” He could be bluffing. Even though Stern said he and his agent were baffled by the report Tuesday, it’s hard to believe Bloomberg would get duped to that degree. Stern told his listeners he’s not a good negotiator, and he wasn’t trying to drive the price up by talking about it Thursday. But he is a good actor, and the discussion made for a fun and entertaining bit. “I am telling you with my hand over my heart, I don’t have anywhere near a deal,” Stern said.
Laughing with Quivers, he said if it did exist, he’d love to come back another five years. “I’m telling Sirius now, ‘Whatever I read, I want. I’ll take that, right now.’ I’m a bad negotiator. I’m like, ‘OK, I’ll take it, I’m in, let’s do it.’”
Whether the contract exists or not, time is running out on Stern’s current deal signed in 2015. It expires at the end of 2020, and the longer he can draw it out in a public fashion, the more zeroes and commas will probably get added because SiriusXM simply can’t afford to lose him.
And if you think $120 million per year sounds impressive, keep in mind that Howard takes about 17 weeks off each year and does roughly 112 shows. An advanced math degree isn’t needed to figure out that’s a million bucks per show. Kind of makes it worth it to get up at 3:30 in the morning.
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