CC Re-ups Hannity; Looks Like Sean Not Going Away Anytime Soon

[fred flintstone]

All Access:

Clear Channel Inks Three-Year Renewal For Hannity On 80 Stations

CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO renews SEAN HANNITY's syndicated show for 80 of its stations for another three years. The deal includes clearances on WPGB/PITTSBURGH, KPRC-A/HOUSTON, KFYI-A/PHOENIX, WIOD-A/MIAMI, WKRC-A/CINCINNATI and KTLK-F/MINNEAPOLIS, among others. The renewal is effective JANUARY 1 and runs through 2010.

"SEAN has done an incredible job producing great ratings and, most importantly, desirable demographics for our stations," said VP of Programming SEAN COMPTON about the deal.

Hannity is distributed by ABC Radio/Citadel. Clear Channel's Premiere Radio does not even have a political talk entry in PM drive. In a you-scratch-my-back kind of arrangement most ABC Radio talkers take Clear Channel's Rush; and most CC talkers take Hannity. Glenn Beck (Clear Channel) and Mark Levin (ABC Radio/Citadel) do not appear to be included in this cozy arrangement. With the exception of KGO, ABC Radio (heretofore part of Disney) devotes its assortment of historic Class I-A AM stations (and others) to mostly syndicated right wing talk.

 

[raccoonradio]

>>Hannity is distributed by ABC Radio/Citadel.

there were rumors recently he might jump to another syndicator...
NewsMax reported in Dec of '04 that ABC radio, "fearing that Hannity would be lured away to Fox's growing radio network..."quietly" signed the conservative talker to a reported five-year, $25 million deal."

but more recently:
Brian Maloney in Inside Radio, on 9/14: "...news that Sean Hannity is extremely likely to leave ABC Radio Networks, as soon as it is contractually possible. That means Hannity, one of the country's most important talk show hosts, would be free of the combined operation as soon as one year from its completion date. Or, by mutual agreement, it could happen even earlier."

but is this deal (CC stations re-upping with SH Show) a sign that Hannity is staying with the fairly lucrative ABC (now ABC/Citadel) deal? Or does
Citadel's entry into the picture change things, and Maloney's "sources" told him?

 

[Infidel]

Looks like Maloney was right on the money :

 

[jcolletta275]

Does CC re-upping necessarily mean Hannity isn't jumping ship? Let's say he moved to Premiere. CC obviously would still retain their re-upped contract... so what's to say this means he's not making a move?

 

[raccoonradio]

>>Does CC re-upping necessarily mean Hannity isn't jumping ship?

Exactly. It could still happen. If he did jump to Premiere, Fox NewsTalk (maybe the former more likely),
or CBS (highly doubtful--they're cutting costs, not adding to them!), there might eventually be affiliate
changes or they could have CC-owned stations continue to run him...who knows.

 

[kaufcom]

Hannity is the only major talk radio host who does not publish a list of his affiliates. I wonder if that is his choice of ABC syndication?

 

[jellyeggs]

There`s a list at Hannity`s site i`m sure. Just type in the zip code (if that feature`s still there) for a list of stations in that area.

 

[kaufcom]

There`s a list at Hannity`s site i`m sure. Just type in the zip code (if that feature`s still there) for a list of stations in that area.

That would not be very efficent. How many thousands of zip codes are their in the US?