After months of rumors and tense contract negotiations, Howard Stern announced Thursday on his radio show that he had cut a deal with Sirius XM to stay on satellite radio for another five years. While the amount he'll be paid hasn't been disclosed, Stern joked, "I signed for $100 billion. I now own Rupert Murdoch." Some details surrounding the deal are known, however. Here, a brief guide:
$500 million
Total value of the 5-year contract with Sirius that Stern signed in 2005, or $100 million annually
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$40 million
The approximate amount Stern himself was estimated to be taking home each year. The rest of the $100 million covered salaries for Stern's team and the other costs of producing his morning program.
600,000
Number of subscribers Sirius had when the shock jock first signed on
20 million
Number of subscribers it has now, although "much of that growth came from the [2008] merger between Sirius and XM," says Joe Flint in the Los Angeles Times
More than 1 million
Estimated number of Stern's "faithful listeners." He's the "company's biggest marquee name and customer draw among its more than 135 channels of commercial-free music and talk," says the Associated Press.
12 million
Number of weekly listeners Stern drew at the height of his broadcast on terrestrial radio, when his show was carried by 62 stations across the country
$3 million
Total fines the Federal Communications Commission imposed on Stern over his 30 years on traditional radio, before he jumped to Sirius
6.5 percent
Amount Sirius XM stock went up in early-morning trading Thursday. "That means at the stroke of Stern's pen on a new contract, he's helped add $315 million to Sirius' market value," says Shira Ovide in The Wall Street Journal. Yes, "the wildly popular loudmouth, foul-mouth radio talk-show host" is "saving Sirius XM Radio Inc.," says Jon Friedman at MarketWatch.
$175 million
Debt Sirius XM faced in early 2009, when it was on the brink of bankruptcy. At the time, some urged the company to dump Stern to get in the black.
Several months
Length of time Stern had been "locked" in "stormy negotiations" with Sirius XM
$600 million
Amount Stern reportedly would have received in a rumored deal with Apple, for a three-year contract to move his show to iTunes. Reports about such a deal were "bogus," says Dylan Stableford at The Wrap. "Why would family man Steve Jobs give Stern's signature smut a platform?"
4
Number of days per week Stern now does a live show
3
Number of days per week Stern might do a live show under the undisclosed terms of his new contract. The show might also stay at four days a week, but with fewer hours. "I'll have more flexibility," Stern tells E! Online. "But I'll get into that in the future."
57
Howard Stern's age. "I can say with almost certainty that this is my final five years on radio," he says.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Wrap, Market Watch, The Wall Street Journal, The Week, The New York Times, Associated Press, E! Online
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