The "King of All Media" (the title was a joking reference to Michael Jackson's appellation "The King of Pop") has been dubbed a shock jock for his highly controversial use of scatological, sexual and racial humor, and exploitation of his guests. Stern and many of his fans hate the term "Shock Jock." He has said himself, "The show was never about shocking people." Some of his commentaries are perceived by many to include bigoted, misanthropic and misogynistic remarks about various religious and ethnic groups, women and men - though one of his trademarks is that he makes fun of everyone equally, even himself. He is both the highest-paid radio personality in the United States and the most fined personality in radio broadcast history.

He is best-known for his national radio show, which for many years was syndicated on FM radio stations (and a few AM stations) throughout the United States until his last broadcast via terrestrial radio on December 16, 2005. After a brief hiatus, he began broadcasting via the subscription-based Sirius satellite radio service on January 9, 2006.

His national television shows include The Howard Stern Show on WWOR-TV, which ran in the early 1990s; Howard Stern, consisting of segments from his radio show, which ran from 1994 to 2005 on E!; and The Howard Stern Radio Show, which ran from 1998 to 2001 in syndication. The Howard Stern Show was a weekly skit-driven show that was produced in the Secaucus, New Jersey studios of WWOR-TV and shown in selected markets. The other shows were produced from video footage of his live radio broadcast.