Stern said today that he has been approached by several “regular” radio execs about returning to his original turf when his five-year $500 million contract with Sirius XM (SIRI) expires.

“I actually have an offer,” Stern said, according to a report on The Wrap. “Well, not a bona fide offer, but people have been making them.”

Stern’s remarks today follow a public call-and-response negotiation with Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin that began last fall. “It will start with Howard feeling that he is working too hard and doing too many shows and not making enough money,” Karmazin told attendees of the Reuters Media Summit in November. “Our side would say, ‘We want you to do more, and get less money.’ The hope would be that we would come out with Howard staying with our service.”

Stern, of course, is angling for the exact opposite. “I don’t think I’m going to be re-signing. I know exactly what I want to do here,” he said last year, referring to a less busy schedule. “And I don’t know if it would interest [Sirius.]“

Given the size of Stern’s audience and the availability of much of Sirius’s other content on the Internet, my guess is that it would.

Given Sirius XM’s low stock price, Mr. Karmazin said he would love to take the company private. But given the state of the credit markets, ‘How do you find [the money] today?’ If the company were generating positive cash flow, which he expects it to do for the full year in 2009, privatization would become much more feasible, he says.”

– Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15, 2008

Looks like Sirius XM (SIRI) CEO Mel Karmazin won’t be taking the company private anytime soon, although given its current stock price there’s no reason he couldn’t. At its current value, you’d have to sell off more than 70 shares of SIRI to purchase a one-month subscription to Sirius Satellite Radio.

Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York Wednesday, Karmazin said he’s optimistic about the troubled satellite radio provider’s fourth-quarter revenues. Karmazin sees double-digit growth in 2009, despite the current economic environment, which he bemoaned on an earnings call last month with a very blunt, but entirely apt: “This environment sucks.” And though he was happy to discuss privatization with The Journal just a few months ago, that option seems to be off the table. “We don’t feel that we need to be acquired,” he said. “You should assume the company is not for sale.”

For now, anyway.

Given Sirius XM’s low stock price, Mr. Karmazin said he would love to take the company private. But given the state of the credit markets, ‘How do you find [the money] today?’ If the company were generating positive cash flow, which he expects it to do for the full year in 2009, privatization would become much more feasible, he says.”

– Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15, 2008

Looks like Sirius XM (SIRI) CEO Mel Karmazin won’t be taking the company private anytime soon, although given its current stock price there’s no reason he couldn’t. At its current value, you’d have to sell off more than 70 shares of SIRI to purchase a one-month subscription to Sirius Satellite Radio.

Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York Wednesday, Karmazin said he’s optimistic about the troubled satellite radio provider’s fourth-quarter revenues. Karmazin sees double-digit growth in 2009, despite the current economic environment, which he bemoaned on an earnings call last month with a very blunt, but entirely apt: “This environment sucks.” And though he was happy to discuss privatization with The Journal just a few months ago, that option seems to be off the table. “We don’t feel that we need to be acquired,” he said. “You should assume the company is not for sale.”

For now, anyway.