Howard Stern has officially handed one of his SiriusXM channels to Andy Cohen.
Stern, 72, and Cohen, 58, confirmed the move during Tuesday’s “Radio Andy” broadcast, settling the question two days after a Friday press release announced that “Howard 101 [will] leave the lineup” and Cohen’s show would shift from Channel 102 to 101. The “Watch What Happens Live” host immediately tested whether history was repeating itself.
“Last year, we pranked the world. We made everybody think that I was taking over Howard 100. It was the best morning,” Cohen said on Tuesday’s show. “Now, the carrot is being dangled. Radio Andy will be taking over 101. Is this a prank? Am I being pranked?”
Stern insisted listeners are “not being pranked” this time around, then laid out his single condition for the transfer.
“Andy has been gracious enough to take over 101 and I have one request: Please continue the tradition of doing a lot of gay antics,” Stern said during the broadcast. He told Cohen to “up the gay on air” — prompting Cohen to fire back that the “Howard Stern Show” was “gayer than” his own program.
Stern offered a parting warning wrapped in praise for his longtime friend. “I feel Howard 101 is in very capable hands. Enjoy it, take good care of it. And if you blow it, I will be the first one to laugh at you. Don’t screw it up,” he said on the show.
The broadcaster made clear he is “not giving up” Channel 100, his flagship outlet. Cohen’s previous home on Channel 102, meanwhile, will go to Sebastian Maniscalco’s Comedy Radio under the reshuffled lineup.
The handover carries extra weight because the duo pulled an elaborate gag last September, pretending Stern was retiring and Cohen was seizing control of Howard 100. At that time, Cohen said Stern had left a big “void” to fill and expressed regret over not executing a “cleaner handoff” with the shock jock. Stern quickly cut in to assure listeners he wasn’t going anywhere, and the episode exposed how seriously fans had taken the retirement rumors Stern himself had been teasing through promises of a “big announcement.”
Those fears proved unfounded when Stern signed a contract in December 2025 for three more years with SiriusXM — though with more “flexibility” built in since he wants “me time,” he shared at the time.
The channel shuffle arrives alongside Stern’s newly revealed streaming arrangement. A Saturday press release announced that “for the first time, the ‘King of All Media’ will bring his signature, long-running SiriusXM show to HBO Max by adapting his live SiriusXM show into a streamable episode for HBO Max, along with periodic extras.” The release framed the move as taking Stern “to the pinnacle of prestige television” and giving fans “a long-desired ‘seat in the studio’ to see what they just heard.”
Details of the HBO Max deal emerged over the weekend ahead of the new season’s Sept. 14 release.
Stern’s show has generated steady headlines throughout 2025. His ex-assistant filed a lawsuit against him that has since been dismissed, and he fired numerous staffers in July before Friday’s news that Channel 101 was being dropped from his portfolio entirely.
Cohen’s expanded radio footprint caps a year of professional momentum for the Bravo executive, who has built “Radio Andy” into a fixture of the satellite network since its 2015 launch. The channel takeover represents his largest platform expansion yet.
Stern’s reduced SiriusXM obligations come as he pursues the HBO Max venture and continues to scale back his broadcasting schedule. The three-year deal he struck in December already signaled a shift toward fewer demands, and the Channel 101 transfer completes that streamlining.
The new season of Stern’s adapted show for HBO Max begins streaming Sept. 14.