Three of Forbes’ 20 highest-paid podcasters of 2026 are on SiriusXM. The satellite radio service claims SmartLess hosts Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes; motivational speaker Mel Robbins; and Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper.
All signed deals with SiriusXM within the past two years worth at least $32 million each.
Their presence among the top earners underscores the hosts’ proven ability to attract listeners and drive subscriptions. Companies of SiriusXM’s scale do not pay those sums without expecting returns, and the hosts’ choice of the platform over alternatives signals both the company’s forward-looking strategy and the podcasters’ substantial influence.
According to Forbes' contributor Toni Fitzgerald, this success challenges a decades-old narrative of satellite radio’s impending demise. Critics have predicted its end almost since launch, with Time naming it one of the 10 biggest tech failures of the prior decade in 2009 and Datamation delivering similar last rites around the same time.
More recent challenges have included automakers’ growing preference for wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which reduces demand for factory-installed satellite receivers. To retain its large subscriber base, SiriusXM has offered deep discounts—sometimes cutting monthly prices to just a few dollars—which temporarily increased churn when rates later rose.
Yet SiriusXM has navigated these pressures and secured high-profile talent including the SmartLess team, Cooper and Robbins. It remains the longtime home of Howard Stern, still one of radio’s most recognizable voices despite a relative decline in star power. Satellite radio has settled into a defined niche, stabilizing its subscriber numbers through exclusive early and ad-free access to popular podcast content.
That resilience points to a more positive outlook for what increasingly appears to be a durable legacy platform.