Stern Extols the Pleasures of Satellite

It's been almost two years since Howard Stern switched to satellite radio, and the never-modest shock jock is reveling in his success on Sirius—and the woes of his former network, CBS, and rival, Don Imus, back in terrestrial radio. In a sit-down with the AP, Stern crows that his show is funnier than ever, now that he can tell jokes without the punchlines being bleeped.

Stern admits he still tunes in to CBS when he wants a laugh—at their misfortune.The number of Sirius subscribers has mushroomed from 600,000 to more than 8 million since he came on board, living up to the boasts Stern made when he announced the leap, although he confesses now that they were mostly wishful thinking. "This is crazy," he said. "I just didn't want to be embarrassed." (More radio stories.)