Howard Stern Defends Epically Long Summer Vacation from Outraged Fans: ‘We Still Do the Best Radio Around’

Despite signing a new contract with SiriusXM worth a reported $500 million, Howard Stern is routinely criticized for being less outrageous and creating less content than ever before.

Earlier this week, the famous shock jock stunned his fans, announcing an epically long summer vacation that will keep him off the airwaves until after Labor Day. The mellowed “King of All Media” already worked a reduced schedule during his last contract, hosting shows just three days a week with plenty of vacations mixed in. But according to Stern, his new five-year deal came with the ability to work even less.

“When this last contract was up, I took a look at my life and was like well OK, maybe it’s time,” Stern told his audience before saying goodbye for two months. “But when they (SiriusXM) came up with this plan of instead of doing 112 shows, do 100, I thought OK I could do that and I can still be connected to my fans.”

In the decades preceding his tenure with satellite radio, Stern created a community of and contributors and listeners who weaved into his show as well as any person in radio. When the global pandemic hit 15 months ago, Stern began working from home. After building a studio in his basement, the audio quality sounded great, but it’s difficult to feature the show’s varying voices from afar.

“I happen to believe we still do the best radio around,” Stern said, vouching for his own product. “I’ve listened to the other stuff. It ain’t that great.”

“For those of you who have written me, I know, I’m sorry you want more shows,” Stern added.

According to the “King of All Media,” most listeners understand the two-month break and are just happy he’s going to be on-air for five more years. But do a quick search on social media and it’s easy to find fans who are far from “happy” about the two-month hiatus.