If you were costing your employer over a million dollars a week, in lost revenues and bloated salaries, your job might be a cause for concern, too.
In Standoff With Cumulus, Rush Limbaugh Won't Blink First
by Jeff Bercovici, Forbes Staff -- July 29, 2013
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The next few days should give a good indication of who, if anyone, was bluffing. Cumulus Media is reportedly on the verge of telling Premiere Networks that it won’t continue to carry either Limbaugh or fellow conservative talker Sean Hannity past the end of the year.
Cumulus is the second-largest radio broadcaster in the U.S. after Clear Channel; Premiere is Clear Channel’s syndication arm. Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey has been setting the stage for a tough renegotiation for months, publicly saying that the ongoing boycott, which started after Limbaugh called reproductive rights activist Sandra Fluke a “slut,” was still costing his stations millions of dollars in lost ad revenues as recently as the first quarter of 2013.
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Struggling Clear Channel And Rush Limbaugh's $400 Million Payday
by Eric Boehlert, mediamatters.org -- March 16, 2012
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And now comes the Limbaugh debacle. Like Fox News when it was hit with a sweeping advertising boycott of Glenn Beck's show (a boycott that eventually drove him off TV), Clear Channel executives are downplaying the impact of the current controversy. A company source told the New York Times that the advertising action had only cost the company $1 million per week in lost revenue, stressing the pain to the company's bottom line has been minimal. The source also suggested the company is simply taking advertisers who want off Limbaugh's show and finding spots for them on other Clear Channel programs.
But the boycott is only in its third week and shows no signs of abating. Worse, Clear Channel pays Limbaugh an astounding $38 million annually, or approximately $750,000 each week. So right now, Clear Channel's paying Limbaugh $750,000 weekly for a show that's shedding $1 million from its bottom line every seven days.
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But then, if you are a dispenser of Rightwing pablum, you have this small "cash void" problem on your ledgers, once you decide to put your old "Cash Cows" out to pasture -- namely, What over-rated, over-the-top, Hate-flingers do you slam in there, in their place?
Well, it seems Cumulus radio, has that Rightwing chickens-still-roosting conundrum finally fixed on paper, anyways.
Cumulus planning to drop Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity
by Dylan Byers, politico.com -- July 28, 2013
In a major shakeup for the radio industry, Cumulus Media, the second-biggest broadcaster in the country, is planning to drop both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from its stations at the end of the year, an industry source told POLITICO on Sunday.
Cumulus has decided that it will not renew its contracts with either host, the source said, a move that would remove the two most highly rated conservative talk personalities from more than 40 Cumulus channels in major markets.
The decision comes after negotiations between Cumulus and Premiere Networks, the division of Clear Channel that distributes Limbaugh and Hannity's shows, broke down due to disagreements over the cost of the distribution rights, the source said. Cumulus is known to drive a hard bargain on costs, and Clear Channel is known to seek top dollar for big names.
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Woo hoo! Rush and Sean are gone!
Ugh! The replacements of Micheal and Huck, hardly qualify as an improvement in drive-time discourse.
Cumulus -- Investor Information
09/26/13 -- Michael Savage To Take Over Key Drivetime Slot (pdf)
ATLANTA, September 26, 2013 – Cumulus Media Networks, with more than 5,500 affiliate radio stations reaching 129 million listeners every week, announces that Michael Savage’s The Savage Nation® will move to the highly coveted 3p-6p ET timeslot beginning in January 2014 – bringing his unique brand of “News, Views and Reviews” to drivetime on top radio stations nationwide.
The Savage Nation® will air on more than 200 affiliates of Cumulus Media Networks, including 60 stations owned and operated by Cumulus. Some of the cities where The Savage Nation® will air during drivetime include: New York (WABC), Chicago (WLS), Dallas (WBAP), Washington (WMAL), San Francisco (KSFO) and WJR (Detroit).
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The Savage Nation --
Listen Here
So we get to exchange one drive-time 'shock and awe' Jock, for another. One 'awe shucks' maroon, for an 'awe shuckster' one? Yup that's progress.
The more things change ... eh?