The title of this post is misleading. For now, Bongino is only replacing Rush on Cumulus-owned stations. Cumulus has several talk stations in large markets that had been running Rush: WLS Chicago, KSFO Los Angeles, WBAP Dallas, WMAL Washington and WJR Detroit, along with stations in medium and small markets. Plus we know KABC Los Angeles, which was not carrying Rush, will carry this show.
However, Rush was on mostly iHeart stations. WOR NYC, KEIB LA, KTRH Houston, WXKS Boston, WIOD Miami and the list goes on. iHeart clearly has the most talk radio stations in the nation. Just as Cumulus will have its own Noon-3pm host for its stations, when the Rush repeats end, iHeart will likely name someone who will be on all the iHeart stations. I'm sure iHeart will want to give this new host the same clearances on company-owned stations that Rush enjoyed.
And what about the other big owners of talk stations? We know for two of its stations, Cox-Apollo will put local hosts in the Noon-3pm slot. But Cox has other talkers which haven't revealed their plans. What about Entercom? WPHT Philadelphia, KDKA Pittsburgh, KMOX St. Louis, KXNT Las Vegas, WTIC Hartford, etc. Who will those stations go with?
BTW, David Eduardo asked, do any iHeart stations pick up a Westwood One show? Yes, Mark Levin is on a number of iHeart stations at night, KGB San Diego, WTVN Columbus, WHAM Rochester, WKRC Cincinnati and others. Surprisingly, the Premiere Network host in the 6 to 9pm slot, Buck Sexton, doesn't get cleared on most iHeart talk stations. Some opt for Levin. Others might run Dave Ramsey or another syndicated offering.
