Summary
- Howard Stern’s show arrives on HBO Max Sept 17 as weekly filmed adaptations; SiriusXM remains the Monday original.
- HBO Max will air adapted episodes three days after the SiriusXM broadcast; extras are released periodically.
- The move gives HBO Max fresh weekly content to boost engagement and help justify subscription costs.
After years of success with celebrity interviews and social commentary, Howard Stern is bringing The Howard Stern Show to HBO Max. HBO Max partnered with Stern’s production company and SiriusXM to release filmed episodes of the long-running radio program.
The series is to debut worldwide on Thursday, September 17, with new episodes following weekly. However, this isn’t going to be a live simulcast. Stern’s original show will still air on SiriusXM on Mondays like before, and only an adaptation of that will roll out on HBO Max three days later.
Howard Stern heads to streaming television
HBO Max wants something subscribers return to every week
Stern said HBO convinced him to “Pull back the curtains and let the world watch,” according to Variety. In praise for his ability to get revealing answers from guests and build a committed audience, HBO Max CEO Casey Bloys said Stern had “changed radio and media at large.”
In the streaming era, long-form video podcasts are what talk shows were in the 80s and the 90s. Since the line between TV, podcasts, and streaming has, for the most part, become nonexistent, Stern’s decision is not difficult to justify. I think we can all agree cable plans are done for, and YouTube is already replacing conventional TV in many homes. Stern’s HBO Max is another piece of the puzzle that repackages one of conventional media’s biggest institutions as a weekly streaming show.
It also fits with HBO Max’s recent attempts at making its service feel less like a library that viewers visit whenever a new Game-of-Thrones-grade show drops. The company recently added TikTok-style shorts and AI-powered search to its US mobile app, something no one was asking for. Thanks, HBO!
The addition could also help HBO Max justify what it charges.
While I think “desperate” would be a fitting adjective to describe some of these underwhelming attempts, a recurring Stern series feels like a solid move. Subscribers will have a valid reason to open HBO Max every week rather than binge the company’s new sci-fi show and disappear for months.
The addition could also help HBO Max justify what it charges. The streaming service raised the prices of all three subscription plans last year. Stern gives it fresh weekly programming instead of another catalog acquisition that subscribers may never notice.
HBO Max isn’t completely replacing SiriusXM
SiriusXM will remain the first place to hear Stern’s new episodes, with the radio show returning for its new season on Monday, September 14. HBO Max will then adapt each broadcast into a streamable episode three days later and release periodic extras alongside the series.
The companies haven’t said how long the HBO Max episodes will be or precisely how much of each SiriusXM broadcast will make the transition. Therefore, if you’re a dedicated fan, you’d probably still want to tune in to the original Monday program. Nevertheless, anyone who already struggles to justify paying separately for SiriusXM will soon have access to Stern’s biggest conversations through a subscription they may already have.
Stern has spent decades calling himself the “King of All Media.” By turning his radio show into a worldwide streaming series, HBO Max is putting that title to the test.