Howard Stern Has Nothing To Worry About

Joel Hollander, who knows something about running a radio company that lost Howard Stern, says that for what it's worth, he thinks Stern will stay with Sirius satellite.

"Howard can do whatever he wants and be successful in any medium on any platform," says Hollander, who was running CBS Radio when Stern bolted to satellite in January 2006. "But if I were a betting man, I'd guess that he'd stay," Hollander tells Danvid Hinckley at nydailynews.com.

Stern's five-year deal with Sirius expires at the end of December. As in the past when he approached the end of a contract, he has escalated the drama while insisting that he doesn't know what will happen next.

He periodically references his number of remaining shows. He also told a caller Thursday that he hopes to find a way to stay in radio.

He has all but ruled out terrestrial radio, where he says his employers' fear of FCC sanctions made his show a nightmare. There has been talk, which he acknowledges he has considered, of setting up his own Internet show, sold by subscription.

He also has said he's willing to return to Sirius, but that the money and the hours, among other things, would have to be right.

The man in charge of trying to make that happen for Sirius, CEO Mel Karmazin, recently told Bloomberg News he's still hopeful a deal can be struck.

Karmazin, who earlier acknowledged that compensation and schedule are major issues, told Bloomberg he isn't saying anything more about the Stern issue "until a deal is struck. Or isn't."

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