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In 2004, before Howard Stern signed a blockbuster deal with Sirius Satellite Radio, he thought about retiring. Instead, he took a "significant risk" and went with Sirius. The moment is captured in a lawsuit filed today in New York Superior Court where Stern's company, One Twelve Inc., and his agent Don Buchwald are pressing charges that Sirius XM Radio stiffed them on promised stock. In 2004, Stern was negotiating with both Sirius and XM, two rivals before they merged in 2008. In the lawsuit, Stern says Sirius got the upper hand by promising him that he would be treated like more than just an employee; that he would share in the company's success. "Sirius needed Stern more than Stern needed Sirius," says the complaint. Sirius signed a deal with Stern whereby One Twelve would be paid performance-based compensation based on escalating stock awards. The promises of stock are said to have been tied to subscriber growth. The rewards were set at high leve

Where Will He End Up? Howard Stern could broadcast live on Sirius XM for the last time on Dec. 16. After that, he heads for his annual end-of-year vacation and there still is no decision as to whether he’ll renew his contract, which expires on Dec. 31 and sets Sirius XM back a hefty $100 million every year. Speaking at a UBS investor conference in New York on Monday, Sirius XM CFO David Frear said he is “hopeful” that Stern sticks with the company, but hinted that if he does it would be for less money. Frear also acknowledged that there could be other offers Stern is considering, maybe even one from Apple to do a show on iTunes . “He could decide that he doesn’t want to get up that early in the morning. That he’d like to do a shorter show. That he’d like to do it somewhere else,” Frear said. “The Internet, whether it’s through iTunes or something else, is always a possibility.” Apple did not respond to requests for a comment. And it's not only Stern who is expected to

Will Howard Stern Return? The Howard Stern Show's final live broadcast on Sirius XM Radio under the shock jock's current contract is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 17 , and the two sides continue to negotiate a possible extension, according to Stern's producer. " Howard is negotiating, but we've never gone this far before," Stern show producer Gary Dell'Abate said in an appearance on radio station WFAN's Boomer & Carton show on Friday, according to radio industry news site FMQB. "I've never gone down to the wire like this and everybody is nervous, including me." Dell'Abate added that Stern wants "to continue here at satellite radio, but if it doesn't work out, the one thing he said is, 'I want to continue to do radio.'" Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin on his firm's recent earnings conference call said the had no update on the Stern situation beyond saying that discussions continue. Deal terms, inclu