Howard Stern has delayed his expected comeback to The Howard Stern Show by a week

But his programme's official social media accounts told listeners: "Howard Stern will now speak Monday, September 8... stay tuned."

A source confirmed to Page Six Howard informed staff on Monday (01.09.25) he would not be returning as planned because of a family emergency.

The announcement follows weeks of reports suggesting Howard's $500 million contract with SiriusXM is in jeopardy as its expiration approaches this autumn.

It comes after a source told The U.S. Sun in August: "Stern's contract is up in the fall and while Sirius is planning to make him an offer, they don't intend for him to take it.

"Sirius and Stern are never going to meet on the money he is going to want. It's no longer worth the investment."

The insider added the streaming audio entertainment service may bargain for Howard's library.

But they added: "As far as him coming back to doing the show, there's no way they can keep paying his salary. After you saw what happened with Stephen Colbert, it's like they just can't afford to keep him going."

A second source told the outlet Howard, who has publicly broken ties with former president Donald Trump and now identifies as a Democrat, may struggle to secure favourable terms because of the "political climate".

Another insider told the Daily Mail Howard "will likely sell his catalog of shows to replay" on the dedicated channels Howard 100 and Howard 101.

The paper also reported claims Howard and his team were responsible for fuelling speculation about his job security as part of a "desperate hoax".

One source told the Daily Mail: "They're desperately trying to make this thing go viral to try to boost his numbers for his return (in September.)

"His numbers are down so low that they're trying ... to get people to tune in to see what he's going to say about getting 'fired' from Sirius."

The source added: "The whole scheme was allegedly something they came up with on a viral scale to get people to tune in again since Stern's numbers are pathetic."