NEW YORK (AP) -- Howard Stern, the popular radio host who gave a massive boost to the nascent satellite radio business when he signed a blockbuster, multimillion dollar contract for SiriusXM almost two decades ago, has abruptly left the company.

Stern, 71, who evolved from his shock jock origins to become a respected interviewer, did not appear on the channel Monday, with a flustered Andy Cohen replacing him.

"I know you're expecting a big announcement from Howard and this is not how things were meant to go," Cohen said. "This was supposed to be a cleaner hand off. I'm kind of winging it," and calling it a "surreal morning here."

"I can't overstate what Howard has meant to this company and what he did for SiriusXM. He walked so that we could run. I can't possibly fill his void," said Cohen.

Stern joining what was then Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. in 2006 made him one of the highest-paid personalities in broadcasting and was a game-changer for both the company and the industry. His importance was highlighted on the SiriusXM homepage -- tabs included For You, Music, Talk & Podcasts, Sports and Howard.

The news of the split comes after weeks of promos promised a big reveal following swirling speculation that his show would be canceled. "The tabloids have spoken: Howard Stern fired, canceled," one promo video said. "Is it really bye-bye Booey?" Speculation grew after Stern postponed his return from a summer break to "The Howard Stern Show" last week.

SiriusXM in the years after Stern joined has become home to top podcasts "Call Her Daddy," "SmartLess," "Freakonomics Radio," "Last Podcast on the Left," "99% Invisible" and "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" and features such personalities as Trevor Noah, Kevin Hart and Stephen A. Smith.

But SiriusXM's subscriber base has been slowly contracting, with the company reporting 33 million paid subscribers in the second quarter of 2025, a net loss of 68,000 from the first quarter and 100,000 fewer than the same period in 2024. It is a battling a saturated satellite market and competition from free, ad-supported platforms like Spotify.

Stern extended his contract with SiriusXM twice, in 2010 and again in 2020 with a five-year, $500 million deal, Forbes reported. He's recently had newsy and intimate chats with Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen.

"He's been with me and the company going on two decades, and so he's pretty happy, but he's also able, like many great artists, to stop whenever he wants," SiriusXM president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024. "Nobody will ever replace them. We would never try to replace them."

Stern, who has liked to call himself the King of All Media, rose to national fame in the 1980s during his 20-year stint at the then-WXRK in New York. At its peak, "The Howard Stern Show" was syndicated in 60 markets and drew over 20 million listeners. Stern was lured to satellite radio by the lucrative payday and a lack of censorship, following bruising indecency battles with the Federal Communications Commission and skittish radio executives. His past on-air bits had included parading strippers through his New York studio and persuading the band then known as The Dixie Chicks to reveal intimate details about their sex lives.

His 1997 film "Private Parts" became a box office hit and offered a raw, humorous look at his rise to fame. He has also authored several bestselling books and served as a judge on "America's Got Talent" from 2012 to 2015.