Posted on 05/09/2013 9:12:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Rush Limbaugh is engaged in a very public war with Cumulus Media, the radio network that runs his show on 40 stations, including WABC in New York.
Limbaugh and Cumulus must renegotiate their contract terms by the end of the year, so it's not surprising that they're jockeying for leverage.
But a source tells us that Cumulus has less to lose in this battle than most people think, and may even gain financially from Limbaugh's departure.
First, the back story: Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey recently told investors that the ad boycott of Limbaugh's show after Rush called a Georgetown college student a "slut" on air because she favored contraception coverage in healthcare may have cost him up to $5.5 million in sales.
Another source in Cumulus just leaked to Radio Ink that 48 out of 50 of its advertisers had "no Rush" instructions on their media placements.
Limbaugh fired back, saying that Dickey is blaming him for his own sales failings. He's threatened to pull his show from Cumulus, which has a reported 15 million-person audience and $363 million in ad sales running on it.
Why would Dickey risk all that cash? Why not just re-sign Limbaugh and keep the business?
Our source says that if Limbaugh left, Cumulus would regain control of a huge chunk of its on-air ad inventory, time that currently belongs to Limbaugh. In that scenario, Cumulus' total sales dollars would actually go up as long as the replacement show Mike Huckabee held at least 50% of Rush's audience. Our source says:
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I like Savage but have the view of Savage’s show as 1 hour of info spread too thin.
And I think I’ll scream if he talks about his dog more.
The libs can’t run an above ground assassination of Rush; so they have resorted to underground.
I wouldn’t listen to Huckabee if my life depended on it. His son hanged a dog at camp. No thanks.
All I know is that if they put Huckabee on during the mid-day time slot, watch for increased vehicle accidents caused by people falling asleep at the wheel (or purposefully running into a wall to stop the boredom)!
Any Freeper lawyers should watch for the correlation and start ambulance chasing! I would like the customary finders fee, since I lead you to these riches!
I think that if Rush goes to WOR AM that will be a BOOM to that station.
LLS
Jeez... 3.5 Million listeners listen to George Nary talk about UFOs, ghosts and other nutty subjects...?
I respectfully disagree with you. Rush has done more to keep Conservatives sane than any man alive.
LLS
So True..
LLS
I disagree. I'm a news junkie, and I've been listening to Rush from the start, and the one thing he HAS been able to do, consistently, is to bring a fresh and often surprising perspective to a news story.
Small example just the other day: when the fool Collins splattered his homosexuality all over the nation, Rush made the point that when it comes to a Clinton or a Weiner(!) or a Spitzer we are supposed to leave the sex to them and their families, blah blah.
But when it comes to a glory-seeker like Collins, then we are supposed to stand up (or bend over, perhaps) in tribute.
Rush also was the first one I heard that day to point out that while Obama ran to the phone to call his new pet gay man, our President has not mustered the stuff to call a single family of those who lost loved ones in Benghazi.
Not huge contributions, I grant you. And I also think Rush has gone a bit stale in recent years, partly because of age, his hearing and health, and just because he's been around so damn long.
But he can still lay down a great line of thought now and then. And he does not simply preach to the choir. There are plenty of others who do that.
Limbaugh should demand that Lew Dickey be fired as part of his new contract, and that any future attempt to blame him for lost advertising revenue be grounds for immediate firing.
Huckabee comes on after Dave Ramsey. Borrrring!
It is a fine old tradition for the “press” to receive envelopes full of cash and/or invitations to parties (in Business Insiders case maybe at Man’s Country) There is a chance that these BI rectums are just lying ideologues and they wish to participate in the destruction of the US financial system. (trillion dollar platinum coin anybody?) Reading these guys is like following a White House press flack who’s got a part time job as gopher in gold trading at Goldman.
Dude’s either got shelf loads of Star Wars action figures or Justin Bieber posters on his basement bedroom wall.
ROTFLMAO
For some reason that I never completely understood, WNTA got into a tiff about syndication fees and dropped Rush. The show was immediately picked up by their rival, WROK, and it's been there ever since. I have no idea why WNTA chose to do what they did, but they're a virtual nobody on the AM dial in our area. WROK carries Rush, Hannity, and Levin back-to-back. That's a tough line up of talkers to fight against.
==If the Cumulus affiliates cut Rush loose, hell just go to their Clear Channel competitor in those locales==
No my friend, If Cumulus lets Rush go he will not have where to go in most of the biggest markets!
WJR Detroit, WBAP Dallas, WLS Chicago, WMAL DC. These are the major stations with no CC competitors! If Rush loses them he is a goner.
EIB Network is Rush Limbaugh.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.