• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 10 hours ago

Howard Stern is staying with SiriusXM after all, after a story about his departure rattled the digital service a bit, with SiriusXM stock taking a bit of a hit.

Can any talent have that kind of impact for, say, a specific legacy TV network, in the wake of a possible or actual departure? Perhaps.

The Stern story revolved around his five-year deal ending this year -- valued at about $100 million a year. Stern has been part of the rise of digital radio and Sirius XM since 2006 and has been a key draw for the service.

Five years ago, the value of Stern to the service was estimated to represent around 15% of SiriusXM's overall subscriber base --  around 2.7 million.

Currently, SiriusXM has around 33 million subscribers -- a number that has declined slightly over the last few years.

Over the last several weeks, the Stern prank evolved into Bravo host Andy Cohen "taking over" Stern’s channel 100 position. It turns out all this was an elaborate ruse, until Stern recently came clean.

High-profile figures associated with and then making a network departure can definitely ding viewership of very popular TV shows -- and in theory, advertising revenues.

Most recently this occurred with ABC. After a racist tweet from Roseanne Barr, the network cancelled the highly rated revival  of “Roseanne” in 2018, soon after its launch.

It revamped the show  “The Conners,” which had a decent but lower-rated run, ending this past April after seven years.

In 2011, CBS’ “Two and a Half Men,” a highly popular sitcom at the time, fired big star Charlie Sheen because of his strange behavior and verbal attacks on Chuck Lorre, the show’s creator.

Fox News Channel witnessed the ouster of Tucker Carlson in 2023 -- with no reason for the dismissal -- just after Fox settled a defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million. Analysts surmised some of this was tied to a lawsuit from a former producer alleging a hostile/ misogynistic behavior as well disclosures around  Dominion.

Fox’s overall roster helped keep its dominant viewership -- for the most part -- intact.

Stern’s possible exit seemed surely planned for a different reason and story -- possibly to give his show perhaps a bit more attention, according to critics. That said, Stern recently said on his show that he would like to retire.

These days with TV networks -- especially hard-hit cable TV channels via cord-cutting -- it is difficult to see what sway, if any, a particular cable TV network personality/performer might have on the channels' overall financial/viewership fortunes.

Promotion, public relations, and pranks... is everything on the table to gain renewed interest?