It is beginning to look like shock jock Howard Stern's transition from broadcast radio to an upstart satellite service will be anything but smooth, prompting Mr. Stern to explore whether he can make the leap earlier than expected. With a little more than a year until Mr. Stern jumps to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. from Viacom Inc.'s Infinity Broadcasting, the popular radio host has gone on the warpath against his current employer. The issue …showed first 75 words of 388 total…

…showed last 75 words of 388 total…trying to goad Infinity into taking him off the air, which the company doesn't want to do unless Sirius ponies up to buy out his contract. At the end of June, Infinity and Mr. Stern filed a $10 million breach-of-contract suit against Clear Channel for dropping Mr. Stern's show earlier in the year. In July, Clear Channel countersued for $3 million, alleging Mr. Stern broke his contract with the company by not conforming to federal decency standards.