2. So what if they did move? It would just mean Cumulus no longer wished to operate at a profit.
They’re just negotiating terms.
RUSH RESPONDS TO REPORTS OF SPLIT WITH RADIO STATIONS
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3048730/posts
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Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh on Monday responded to reports that Cumulus Media, the second-largest broadcaster in the country, is considering dropping his radio show.
“This program and the radio stations that it is on, it is going to be on in the future. And someday, someday, I am looking so forward to being able to detail all of this for you,” Limbaugh said.
“But suffice to say, nothing is going to happen that you will notice. Nothing is going to change. You are going to be able to get this radio program on as many — if not more — radio stations down the road than it’s on now,” he added.
The show host went on to explain that the story is nothing more than a business negotiation that has been made public.
7/29/2014
ATLANTA, Ga: Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) filed for bankruptcy protection today as profits for the year fell 425%. In the shareholders' conference call, Cumulus officials stated: "Starting in summer/spring of 2013 we saw a startling drop in revenue that we have not been able to reverse. We still are mystified as to why."
Business negotiation. Cumulus will not drop Rush Limbaugh.
wouldn’t it be cool if they joined The Blaze?
Sharpton and David Brock are proclaiming this as the end of Rush and Hanity
Cumulus has been struggling financially for several years, and their acquisition of Citadel (which owned the former ABC stations) didn’t help. Now, they’re looking to dump Rush and Sean Hannity in favor of their “own” talent, and hoping to save a few dollars.
As I’ve posted before, Rush and Hannity are rather unique in the world of talk radio. Most syndicated shows are offered for “free,” in exchange for a split of the advertising time. With over 500 affiliates each, Rush and Sean command programming fees for the right to carry their show, and a healthy cut of the advertising revenue. Cumulus believes they make more money by putting their own shows (programs they syndicate) in the slots now occupied by Limbaugh and Hannity. No programming fees and they get to keep all the revenue.
Only one problem with that theory. Huckabee has been competing directly against Rush for over a year, and has done nothing in the ratings. Michael Savage (who was also signed to a long-term deal with Cumulus) has a better track record, but in many cities he’s airing after Mark Levin.
In fact, if you polled a number of talk radio program directors, most would rather have Levin in the early evening slot instead of Savage. Some of Savage’s rants about cooking or holistic medicine drive listeners away; Levin is much more focused, sticks with politics and the law, and does a better job retaining his audience. Savage would not work at an earlier hour, and don’t look for Cumulus to try him in afternoon drive.
What happens to Rush and Hannity in markets where they will be dropped by Cumulus? That blueprint was designed a long time ago; in cities like Pittsburgh, Raleigh and New Orleans, Clear Channel (which syndicates their shows through Premier Radio Networks) moved them to one of their under-performing FM stations in the market, and flipped it to a talk format. All of these FM talkers have done very well, and you’ll see a similar move in cities where Cumulus currently airs Rush and Sean.
One possible exception is New York City, where Clear Channel just purchased WOR-AM, the station that dominated the local ratings for years, up until the 1980s. When Rush and Hannity become available, they will move down the dial and WOR will become a conservative talk station. That move will absolutely destroy WABC, the Cumulus flagship, but no one is willing to tell the company’s CEO (Lew Dickey) that he’s making the biggest mistake in radio since CBS switched WCBS-FM to the “Jack” format. That experiment lasted less than two years before the oldies returned, and WCBS-FM is among the top five stations in New York.
There has also been some speculation about the stations that will pick up Rush and Hannity in Washington DC and Chicago. There are several candidates in the nation’s capital, including CBS-owned WNEW-FM, which launched an all-news format in 2012, but hasn’t made a dent against Hubbard’s WTOP. CBS could flip the station to talk, pick up Rush and Sean, save a ton of money (all news is probably the most expensive of all radio formats) and kill WMAL in the process.
CBS also has a struggling FM station in Chicago that could shift to conservative talk, and I’ve even heard rumblings that Rush could wind up on WGN-AM. The Tribune outlet prefers local personalities, but they could use a boost in the early afternoon, and Rush would bring a ton of listeners from WLS. The only problem is WGN’s broadcasts of Cub baseball; doubtful that Rush would allow his program to air on a station that would pre-empt him multiple times for baseball in the spring and summer.
Rush and Hannity will be fine; Cumulus is digging its own grave.
I read the full Politico article this morning. The gist is that Cumulus went on a buying spree and bought more stations that it could actually afford. Then it milked them for profits, changed programing by firing popular, local, ‘high cost’ hosts and replacing with music or less competent hosts. Folks responded by turning to other stations, advertisers responded by shifting their advertising dollars to where the audience was. End result, Cumulus began to loose revenue.
The two brothers that own Cumulus then blamed Rush & the tarnished lady for their loss of profit, when it was their own business decisions. Another article I recently read, intimated that the brothers bought the stations to milk them dry for their own personal bank accounts, and then get rid of the stations.
Rush posted on Face Book this morning: I am not going anywhere, you will see little to no changes, I will talk more about it in the future. end quote.
Not that it is particularly relevant, but Rush Limbaugh spent 2 hours today BASHING the RINOs that run the Republican Party but when a caller mentioned the idea of starting a third party for conservatives Rush threw the guy off the radio.
Rush Limbaugh IS a Republican and will always BE a Republican and he needs to stop BASHING his colleagues like Juan McCain and Linda Grahamnesty because when you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.
And he and Hannity and Levin are part of the problem. They are happy enough spewing complaints on the radio and getting filthy rich doing it and not RISKING A THING in the process.
WPHT here in philly dumped Rush and move Michael Smerconish in that slot (he moved thru the beck slot prior to that) and within days a new station picked him up, then Hannity, levin and Beck, Q106 IQFM. Very conservative and funny ads against liberalism. IT a treat to listem to. They are located in Fishtown and i think are using a license of a local former religious station. After some sound bugs it’s working great and i’m sure these guys are now reaping the benefits of the capitalist system. PHT wants to do local so they have Dick Morris and require him to spend a day or two in philly. other popular local conservatives as well.