Clear Channel Loses $424 Million in 2012, StopRush Rolls On

[appleannie1]

Buried on the business page of mysanantonio.com today, so brief you could easily have missed it, was the news that Clear Channel Media Holdings just reported losses for the last quarter of 2012 of $191 million, and $424 million for all of 2012.

Clear Channel has been in trouble for a long time for a variety of reasons, but one factor that contributed to their losses in 2012 was the death spiral of their golden boy radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Just shy of a year ago, Limbaugh launched a cruel 3 day attack on Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, following her testimony before a Congressional panel regarding health care and birth control. His advertisers have been heading for the doors ever since, thanks in large part to groups like The Flush Rush Facebook community and #StopRush Twitter. Here are the current number of sponsors who have voluntarily removed their ads from Limbaugh's show:

Inactive Victory: Week = 35 Month = 247 Total = 2484
Clear Channel has been firing radio employees all year in an effort to stanch the bleeding--to no avail. Limbaugh has a $400 million contract which expires in 2016. The question now is whether Clear Channel will tolerate this albatross around its neck for that long.
You can lend your voice to the StopRush movement in the following places:


Join: The Flush Rush Facebook community
Visit: The StopRush sponsor database
Tweet: #stoprush Twitter campaign
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/20/1188686/-Clear-Channel-Loses-424-Million-in-2012-StopRush-Rolls-On

Best news I have heard all week.

[House of Roberts]

1. Clear Channel First Quarter Earnings - May 2nd after the Market closes.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cc-media-holdings-clear-channel-165700589.html

Actually, I think they are losing money because Bain Capital is bleeding them out. Can't wait to see the next report Thursday.

[narnian60]

2. 400 million?????

Is that a misprint?

[Major Nikon]

9. Nope, and the really poetic part is the role Bain had to play

They ran up CC's debt in typical vulture capitalist fashion. You can't make shit up this funny.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/CC-Media-Holdings-losses-rise-to-191M-last-4291592.php

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. I'd like to see them and Rush go belly-up.

[Major Nikon]

13. Seems to be the direction they are going

No company can sustain those kind of losses indefinitely, and their losses are getting bigger, not smaller.

It seems as if Rush and CC are swirling the bowl.

[Dawson Leery]

4. k/r

[wercal]

5. Their Revenue Actually went up

Last edited Sun Apr 28, 2013, 09:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Per the link below:

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/115514/clear-channel-media-ccm-e-revenues-both-up-4-in-q4

There is the parent company - Clear Channel Mcommunications which had a 4% increase for the quarter and 3% for the year.

Subsidiary to that is Clear Channel Media Holdings (Radio, etc), which grew at 3%.

And there is also Clear Channel Outdoor, subsidiary to the parent company (billboards). This isn't addressed in the story, but it looks like that also grew at 3%.

These massive losses are due to the repayment of debt, from prior years, accrued to make huge purchases to get into the 'iheart Radio' business and other stuff.

Bottom line - these losses are not a meaningful way of judging Limbaugh's success or failure, or even the success of Clear Channel Media Holdings.

So, how is Limbaugh doing? I have no idea...and you'd probably have to be an investor to be 'in the know' on that. One way to judge would be to listen to the program and record the number of local vs Limbaugh advertiser spots...and do the same with a recording of the program from 2011. And compare. But I don't want to do that.

[eridani]

6. Wondering how this compares to similar media companies n/t

[L0oniX]

7. I hope they die and rot in hell. n/t

[Arugula Latte]

8. Oh hell yes. There's the Free Market at work!

The Invisible Hand is strangling Clear Channel.

[bulloney]

10. They keep firing the little guys but the cancer-Limbaugh-stays.

I realize Clear Channel has a contract with Limbaugh. It begs the question on whether CC will renew his contract when it's time. Even where I live, you're seeing people distancing themselves from Limbaugh because of the outrageous, tasteless, contradictory, misinformed and incoherent remarks he's been making. And that's on his good days.

[awoke_in_2003]

11. ...

[benld74]

12. They began cutting shows in certain markets I can attest to that here in STL,

but the contract with Slush is the big pole in the tent. I cant recall the number of years he was signed for nor for how much. But yes they are hurting most definitely and it is working.

[SpearthrowerOwl]

14. Bain Capital

As some people have said, I think it has to do more with Bain Capital obtaining Clear Channel in 2008. I haven't researched it, but I would suspect that before looking into the Rush Limbaugh connection.

One of these days I'm going to research Michael McCaul (the richest politician in America - congressman (R) from Texas), he married the daughter of Clear Channel executive and co-founder Lowry Mays. I'm sure McCaul is a model citizen/legislature..... Before the selling of Clear Channel, he was intimately involved with the family that owned Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, etc... It's probably like having Rush himself in a legislative position ._.

[Blue Owl]

15. Hitch your wagon to Rush, and watch it sink to the bottom of the cesspool

n/t