BREAKING: CUMULUS PLANNING TO DROP RUSH LIMBAUGH, SEAN HANNITY

[AllINeedIsCoffee]

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.

As industry insiders caution, Cumulus and Clear Channel have come to the brink before during contract negotiations only to resume talks. But the source told POLITICO that Clear Channel was unlikely to reduce the cost for distribution rights to a level that would satisfy Cumulus.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/07/cumulus-planning-to-drop-rush-limbaugh-sean-hannity-169371.html#.UfWxAAR0nQU.twitter

[warrior1]

1. I like it

but why wait till the end of the year. Just do it, like ripping off an bandaid.

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. Contracts are just that...

Contracts.

[socialist_n_TN]

26. Not if it's a contract between a city or company....

and it's workers. Then it's just so much toilet paper.

[47of74]

29. No shit.

[daleanime]

65. Unfortunately right.....

[mick063]

2. Rush's big mouth

priced himself right out of a job.

Don't worry Limbaugh fans. He will retire to a life of luxury.

The cause for celebration is the diminished influence of his radio show. I expect it will tone down a bit although there are plenty more, just like him, waiting to fill the void.

[Thinkingabout]

8. Hell, I got excited a few years back when he said he was going to move to Costa Rica if

Healthcare passed. Big dummy, he hated healthcare act but was going to a country where they have a national health care. The real reason why he did not move there was they did not want him.

[meow2u3]

35. Soon his radio show will be behind a paywall

So only the dumbest dittoheads with money to burn will be able to listen to him spew his shit. All I can say is, "I can't wait for the day Rushbo is off the air permanently."

[Gothmog]

3. This is great news

Boycotts work

[BumRushDaShow]

4. THANK GOD.

[VanillaRhapsody]

6. bout damn time!

Is he still on Armed Forces Radio?

[Gman]

7. It's over 5 months to the end of the year

My bet is they sign a new contract they can both live with.

[MotherPetrie]

9. +1

[quakerboy]

14. Maybe not

Im guessing it would be a lot cheaper to dump them and hire some unknown little clones who will say the same things to the same audience for a lower cost. Its not like theres a serious shortage of people who can say dumb and offensive things into a microphone for better than average pay.

[Gman]

16. Their time slots are AM "prime time"

I suspect Cumulus will eventually pay close to the asking price and jack up advertising rates rather than take a chance on a lesser known. OTOH, where will the listeners go?. But, who knows these days?

[quakerboy]

61. Can they sell those ad spots?

Maybe its been exaggerated, but i was under the impression that people are going out of their way to avoid having their ads run during Rush.

If that's true, raising the prices seems like an exercise in futility.

[Jenoch]

47. There may be a lot of unknowns

willing to say bullshit for money, but they do not have the same numbers of listeners these two yo-yos get every week.

[LTR]

17. But affiliates are having a hard time selling ads during his show

Meaning that carrying Rush is a money-losing proposition.

In other words, a big Cumulus station like, say, WLS in Chicago, would make more money with three hours of polka music instead.

Speaking of Chicago, this would mean that Limbaugh and Hannity could be totally shut out of the market. Beyond WLS, there aren't many options. No chance with WGN. WIND is a possibility, but I don't see them being willing to pony up much money.

As for New York, Clear Channel conveniently purchased WOR last year. In LA they already own KFI.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. His flagship was WABC in NY

where I heard his first show when Lynn Samuels was bumped to make way for him in 1988. I hope they don't try to pick him up on WOR. As it is, Clear Channel has all but destroyed WOR.

[LTR]

25. WOR has been dead for years

CC is just making WOR less relevant. But the arrival of Fats and Asshat is pretty much a given.

And I just realized that if they're dropped from WMAL, they're essentially shut out of Washington, DC!

[BumRushDaShow]

36. I listened to Ralph Snodsmith's garden show on Sunday mornings

for almost 30 years on WOR. When he died, they brought on various fill-ins and finally brought in Mark Viette as the replacement. Then when Clear Channel bought the station, they took away the 2nd hour of Viette's garden show to put on monkey boy and Meet the Press... and I could only hear that last hour streamed. Then they dumped the whole garden slot completely and that was it.

My mother still listens to Joan Hamburg but I wouldn't be surprised if her time slot was jettisoned.

All I can say is thank goodness for internet streaming radio.

[Historic NY]

43. Ever since Joe Franklin left.

[Jenoch]

48. What is your source

about the affiliates?

[LTR]

59. The large volume of PSAs...

...and the many advertisers that have bailed on Limbaugh are dead giveaways. Many ad agencies and sponsors are also telling affiliates not to play their ads during his show.

Add to that the hefty fee each affiliate pays to air Rush and then it's just simple math. Not much of a return on investment.

As for the speculation for which stations will pick him up in Chicago, it's just that - speculation. But WOR, now owned by Clear Channel, is the obvious landing spot in New York. This possible scenario is part of what led CC to buy the station last year.

[Jenoch]

60. Which affiliates are we discissing here?

I'm not denying there are advertisers bailing, I'm just attempting to figure out how widespread the problem, and where, the problem may be.

[ca3799]

68. 90 percent

One of the multiple news stories on this potential change reported that 90 percent of advertisers have a 'no Rush, no Hannity' request.

[Jenoch]

69. 90% of what?

I would like to see a link. I'm in the advertising business. 90% of national buys, local buys? Where is that figure coming from. I saw a link to a website that kept track of some of the ads on some of the stations broadcasting Limbaugh's program. I don't know how accurate it is. If an advertiser has run ads in the past on Rush but is not currently advertising on the program, that in and of itself does not mean they are participating in a boycott.

[zappaman]

10. I'll believe it when I see it.

Or, more to the point, when I don't hear it!

[shenmue]

11. Such good news, I'm going to have ice cream

Whenever something bad happens to the Republicans, I have ice cream. I get fat-free chocolate.

[CatWoman]

12. THERE IS A GOD!!!!

*bows and scrapes*

that's ALL the yahoos here listen to!!

[Javaman]

13. I won't believe it until I see it. nt

[valerief]

15. I guess they've found a couple assholes worse than them to replace them. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

18. They have been grooming Huckabee

since the very first call (using a Cumulus exec as a staged caller) to his then brand new show in 2012.

[pangaia]

52. In the wings...

Mike Huckabee, Mark Levin, and Michael Savage

[BumRushDaShow]

62. The triumverate from hell!

I laugh the most about Levin because he fancies himself a "young" version of Bob Grant, the original "Get off my phone you jerk!!!!" talk show host.

[valerief]

64. Why do the Three Stooges and their Women Haters Club come to mind now? nt

[Mnpaul]

19. Probably two cheaper assholes

You have to remember that Bain is bleeding Clear Channel dry. Clear Channel is already grabbing funds from its parent company to keep afloat and needs every dime. There is a huge payment due in 2014.

*grabs popcorn to enjoy the show*

[indivisibleman]

20. I can only wish.

It's high time these propaganda weasels were relegated to the dark corners of society that they deserve to exist in. If they were gone, saner voices would be tuned into and perhaps we could escape this present mind-fuck that we are seeing in a large part of our population.
bye bye Rush, bye bye Hannity. It was certainly creepy seeing how easily fascism and bigotry can infiltrate a healthy society via what you traitors have done. The guillotine is the most fitting place for your talking heads. Perhaps one day we can have the joy of seeing them there.

[Botany]

21. Rush just had to go after Ms. Fluke didn't he?

[Nanjing to Seoul]

22. Wow! On the day I leave for my honeymoon, Limpballs and the dweeb get canned.

This will go on the Top 10 I will write next week as a "time to celebrate!"

[renate]

27. congratulations!

[deutsey]

24. Very cool, if true n/t

[calimary]

37. I'll wait and see. Keeping my fingers crossed, though, that both of 'em are given the ol'

HEAVE-HO!!!

Couldn't happen to a "nicer" pair of schmucks!

Not ready to pop open the champagne yet, though. I wanna see proof. I want them both driven off the air.

[jaysunb]

28. Head fake....

I wish I could cheer, but I don't believe it.

[Politicalboi]

30. Michelle Bachmann is free

Well, not totally free, but she has the time, and the people want her.

[socialist_n_TN]

31. Most probably they lost their effectiveness....

as mouthpieces for the 1%. I'm sure they've got somebody else lined up that's probably cheaper.

[NuclearDem]

32. I'll believe it when I see it.

But if it's true, this is great news.

[Logical]

33. I bet this ends up not being true. n-t

[wercal]

34. Could be a signal to the advertisers that left

The prerequisite 'waiting period' is up and its 'now or never' time to get back on board.

[hrmjustin]

38. Good!

[Hoyt]

39. Zimmerman waits in the wings if they don't come to terms.

[mountain grammy]

40. I'll take this as a good sign that Americans are tiring of hate talk.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

41. Their job is done. It was to convince the stupid conservative pawns that there

is a vast number of people who are living off the government despite charity being only 9-11% of the budget. Now, This group of people do not care one iota about the poor, the hungry, the sick. By constantly drumming this hatred into
them, they effectively made Obamacare a dirty word that they spit out of their mouths. fuck
the 23 million who can't see a doctor.

Absolutely brilliant brainwash tag team - conservative slime radio and the House. -- Job well done, Rush and Sean !!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

42. Where will they go next?

[dusty trails]

46. Where will they go next?

Well, they've already been in the sewer.

[KansDem]

44. Limbaugh and Hannity will go independent...

...and re-emerge as:

[Jamaal510]

45. There's always going to be some jackass to replace those two

if they do end up getting the heave-ho.

[DonCoquixote]

49. Hey Rush, learn what many people have known

The Oligarchy has no love for you once they think they cannot use you anymore. Now you will be led to the Glue factory and boiled down like so many of the people you condemned.

At least you are too stupid to turn left, that way, the DLC will never have to accommodate you to welcome you under the big tent, and have Obama and Hillary shower you with praise, and offer you a seat at our table that was normally reserved for old liberal warriors.

[nolabear]

50. Imagine. No Limbaugh. No Hannity. Their asshattery a thing of the past.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

58. Don't worry. The RW will replace their asshattery with more inane fucknuttery.

[pangaia]

51. it's all about money.

Has nothing to do with the filth and lies.
In the wings are...Mike Huckabee, Mark Levin, and Michael Savage.

[WinkyDink]

53. Crap. That doesn't affect the station they are on where I live. Check yours:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_radio_stations_owned_by_Cumulus_Media

[weaselbit]

54. He give his show away to drive ratings up

He's been giving away his shoe for free for years to boost his stats. Cumulus probably found out, wondering why they should have to pay for it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mann/limbaughs-dirty-little-se_b_185965.html

[thesquanderer]

55. Back in May, scuttlebutt was that CC *wanted* to get Limbaugh onto WOR

They want them on their New York flagship. So this move to price him out of Cumulus' reach fits with that strategy. CC wants them on their own channels, and maybe the only way it doesn't happen is for Cumulus to pay a ridiculous sum.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/05/06/rush-limbaugh-the-real-story-behind-his-likely-leaving-of-wabc-and-cumulus

I would not assume, as many posters seem to think, that this necessarily has anything to do with boycotts or advertisers.

[Beartracks]

56. More evidence of the liberal media run amok.

Just kidding -- that's just so obviously what dittoheads are going to say.



===================

[alfredo]

57. Greed is good. Yup.

[Scurrilous]

63. K & R

[AtheistCrusader]

66. Not sure why everyone is excited.

This isn't about a company doing the right thing, or kicking hate off the airwaves, or getting rid of a lunatic commentator.

This is all about dollars. Nothing more, nothing less. Rush is being used as a commodity, not being disposed of as the radioactive waste that he is.

[Vietnameravet]

67. Not so quick

I have heard from a radio consultant in a position to know that they along with Glenn Beck are moving to WOR in NY,..

[VA_Jill]

70. I do hope

they follow through. Schadenfreude is good sometimes.

[totodeinhere]

71. Limbaugh and Hannity will probably be replaced by other right wingers who will be just as bad

if not worse.

Speculation about possible replacements at WABC for Limbaugh's noon-3 p.m. show and Hannity's 3-6 p.m. show has focused on Mike Huckabee and WABC evening hosts Mark Levin and Michael Savage, who signed with Cumulus last year.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/rush-hannity-leaving-cumulus-wor-article-1.1411314#ixzz2aSkyA09s

Michael Savage and Mark Levin are two of the worst right wing hatemongers and certainly no better than either Limbaugh or Hannity.

[PoliticAverse]

72. Followup: Limbaugh re-ups with Cumulus for 3 years...

As expected, Rush Limbaugh has re-upped with Cumulus Media, bringing an end to months of heated, often public contract negotiations.

"On Wednesday night or Thursday, we completed our negotiations with the Cumulus Broadcasting Co., and there will not be any changes. I will continue to be on radio stations for the next three years," he told his listeners on Friday.

Read the rest at: http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/08/limbaugh-reups-with-cumulus-171120.html?hp=r5