Politico: Rush may leave Cumulus

[raccoonradio]

Currently headline story on Drudge

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/05/rush-limbaugh-may-leave-cumulus-163282.html

>>The Rush Limbaugh Program is considering ending its affiliation agreement with Cumulus Media at the end of this year, a move that would bring about one of the biggest shakeups in talk radio history.
Should the move take place, 40 Cumulus-owned radio stations would lose the rights to the most popular talk radio program in the country. In addition, the show might be picked up by competing regional radio stations in Washington, New York, Chicago, Dallas and other major markets.

 

[FredLeonard]

Rush is distributed by Clear Channel's Premiere Radio. Some Cumulus-owned stations carry the show. But to talk about Rush "leaving" Cumulus is misleading.

Clear Channel and Cumulus have shown signs of drifting apart for some time. They have stations competing head to head in several markets - including New York. Cumulus has an alternative host waiting in the wings - Mike Huckabee. Clear Channel has a history of pulling shows off other company's stations to put those shows on their own stations.

Politico may know politics but they are not up to speed on the workings of the radio business.

 

[raccoonradio]

Well the Politico article does mention it involves affiliation agreements with some Cumulus stations,
fairly big ones, and "Clear Channel, which distributes the Rush Limbaugh Program through its Premiere Radio division, also declined to comment."

>>Cumulus has an alternative host waiting in the wings - Mike Huckabee. Clear Channel has a history of pulling shows off other company's stations to put those shows on their own stations.

Yes:
Prov RI: Pulled off WPRO (Cumulus I think) to put on CC's WHJJ
Boston: Pulled off WRKO (Ent.) to put on their WXKS. However a bit over 2 yrs later, WXKS wasn't
getting any traction so Rush and C2C went back to RKO and other shows like Hannity aren't
heard on a Boston station (WXKS tried comedy and is now Bloomberg financial)

 

[jnkiii]

http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/05/0...behind-his-likely-leaving-of-wabc-and-cumulus

This article provides a great explanation plus this news is very old and the switch to WOR has been anticipated for months now.

Salon, Philly.com and other 'haters' are out there today with misleading information. But what else is new.

Curious, if Beck is picked up by WOR as well as Rush and Hannity.

 

[FredLeonard]

http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/05/0...behind-his-likely-leaving-of-wabc-and-cumulus

This article provides a great explanation plus this news is very old and the switch to WOR has been anticipated for months now.

Salon, Philly.com and other 'haters' are out there today with misleading information. But what else is new.

Curious, if Beck is picked up by WOR as well as Rush and Hannity.

"Haters?" Both stories just rehash Politico's Rush-leaves-Cumulus spin. The story you posted indicates Rush is Clear Channel air talent and is a pawn in a business decision way over his head. Politico and the rest make it sound like Rush is calling the shots and that Cumulus is his "network." Where's the hate?

Besides, nobody disputes that sales revenue for right-wing talk is down - way down. They are only arguing over whom to blame.

Now, as your Showbiz411 story suggests, Clear Channel has talk stations up against Cumulus talk stations in New York and some other markets. It makes sense for them to bring Rush (And Beck and Hannity) to their own outlets. It makes no business sense for Cumulus to drop the shows from all their stations wholesale - even to get clearances for Huckabee - or for Clear Channel to yank the show from Cumulus stations "just because."

What this does show is how many "journalists" are willing to lift stuff from some blog or story and recycle it, without checking and without even thinking twice.

 

[TheBigA]

What this does show is how many "journalists" are willing to lift stuff from some blog or story and recycle it, without checking and without even thinking twice.

That's a good point. Obviously the same unnamed "source" that spoke with Hinckley also spoke with Politico, since the quote is the same. My question is since when did one unnamed source become acceptable journalism? I was taught you need to get a second source.

These are all pre-existing agreements, going back to the days when Disney/ABC Radio owned these stations. They got sold to Citadel, and now to Cumulus. Costs have escalated, meanwhile ad rates are down. Even Premiere admitted they lost money last year, and CC's Bob Pittman says that Premiere and Total Traffic were the two laggards for the company. So Cumulus isn't the only company in trouble because of Rush.

 

[KeithE4]

CC's biggest problem would be Chicago, assuming he'd move to WOR in NY, and he's already on KFI in LA. Clear Channel has no AM presence in Chicago other than weak-outside-the-city gospel station WGRB 1390, and I'd be surprised if they blew up one of their FM stations for talk. They don't have many options there other than WIND or WGN, who'd often preempt it for Cub games.

 

[MC]

Drudge may have a bone to pick. After all his website is used as show prep for a lot of talkers, yet his show went off the air.

It may not be so much "ratings" as selling ads to the right demographic groups. Maybe Huckleberry is more advertiser friendly.

 

[Nate Wesley]

http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/05/0...behind-his-likely-leaving-of-wabc-and-cumulus

This article provides a great explanation plus this news is very old and the switch to WOR has been anticipated for months now.

Salon, Philly.com and other 'haters' are out there today with misleading information. But what else is new.

Curious, if Beck is picked up by WOR as well as Rush and Hannity.

A tidy explanation for what will happen in New York City. There is no such easy in-house option for Washington D.C., Chicago, or even Dallas--that market's 1190 just isn't a replacement for WBAP (For THE talk radio show, is 'any' market clearance really better than none at all?). Even if CC uproots FMs in theses markets, that still puts it into the position of spending money to play catch-up.

 

[FredLeonard]

CC's biggest problem would be Chicago, assuming he'd move to WOR in NY, and he's already on KFI in LA. Clear Channel has no AM presence in Chicago other than weak-outside-the-city gospel station WGRB 1390, and I'd be surprised if they blew up one of their FM stations for talk. They don't have many options there other than WIND or WGN, who'd often preempt it for Cub games.

In Chicago, Clear Channel could do what they did in Philly. In Philly, CBS had dropped Beck and Hannity. Clear Channel made a deal with Merlin to put both shows plus Rush on a former religious station Merlin had just acquired. Merlin bought it out from under CBS, probably paid too much, and was originally going to put their FM News format on the station. When it became obvious FM News wasn't working in New York and Chicago, Merlin went with FM Talk in Philly.

Merlin has two FM stations in Chicago, neither of which is exactly a rip-roaring success. In Philly, Merlin's FM Talker with Clear Channel's conservative host line-up has been beating the CBS talker which used to carry those shows (now it has a local-live schedule).

I could see Merlin getting in bed with Clear Channel in Chicago, too. I don't see Salem dropping their own host line-up or Tribune scuttling WGN (again) for Clear Channel. Besides, WGN already beats Beck-Rush-Hannity in Chicago; why go with a weaker schedule. Baseball games aren't an issue. Clear Channel requires stations to run the spots even stations preempt their shows.

Chicago isn't a problem. But, yes, there will be markets where Clear Channel will have a problem getting its shows cleared (except maybe on weak sticks and rim shots). Rush used to bring in money for stations that carried him. Not any more (and he still costs stations a hefty fee).

Rush is good for maybe one more contract renewal with Clear Channel.

 

[KeithE4]

In Chicago, Clear Channel could do what they did in Philly. In Philly, CBS had dropped Beck and Hannity. Clear Channel made a deal with Merlin to put both shows plus Rush on a former religious station Merlin had just acquired. Merlin bought it out from under CBS, probably paid too much, and was originally going to put their FM News format on the station. When it became obvious FM News wasn't working in New York and Chicago, Merlin went with FM Talk in Philly.

Merlin has two FM stations in Chicago, neither of which is exactly a rip-roaring success. In Philly, Merlin's FM Talker with Clear Channel's conservative host line-up has been beating the CBS talker which used to carry those shows (now it has a local-live schedule).

I could see Merlin getting in bed with Clear Channel in Chicago, too. I don't see Salem dropping their own host line-up or Tribune scuttling WGN (again) for Clear Channel. Besides, WGN already beats Beck-Rush-Hannity in Chicago; why go with a weaker schedule. Baseball games aren't an issue. Clear Channel requires stations to run the spots even stations preempt their shows.

I forgot about Merlin. Could happen.

Chicago isn't a problem. But, yes, there will be markets where Clear Channel will have a problem getting its shows cleared (except maybe on weak sticks and rim shots). Rush used to bring in money for stations that carried him. Not any more (and he still costs stations a hefty fee).

Rush is good for maybe one more contract renewal with Clear Channel.

His deal is up at the end of 2016. He'll be 65 then. He could very well retire, especially if his "influence" wanes by that year's election even more than it's starting to now.

 

[wadio]

Drudge may have a bone to pick. After all his website is used as show prep for a lot of talkers, yet his show went off the air.

I thought that was his choice. OTOH, Drudge's show had devolved into Drudge reading his site's headlines over and over and over for three hours with no real depth or discussion. It was terrible radio so perhaps that's why it was cancelled.

 

[Come on]

Rush is leaving Cumulus? That's a funny spin on the situation.

How about... Cumulus hired Huckabee to replace Rush on it's stations. They will save on the expense of carrying Rush on the stations by spreading the cost of Huckabee's salary over all it's stations.

Or, if you want to spin it another way, Rush and the political talk thing is over. People are tired of being yelled at by talk show hosts and told what to think politically. That act got stale years ago and the numbers - both listener wise and sales wise - reflect it.

 

[FredLeonard]

Rush is leaving Cumulus? That's a funny spin on the situation.

How about... Cumulus hired Huckabee to replace Rush on it's stations. They will save on the expense of carrying Rush on the stations by spreading the cost of Huckabee's salary over all it's stations.

Or, if you want to spin it another way, Rush and the political talk thing is over. People are tired of being yelled at by talk show hosts and told what to think politically. That act got stale years ago and the numbers - both listener wise and sales wise - reflect it.

Or put another way:

Dittoheads left the money demos.
Advertisers left Rush.
Money left Cumulus.
Cumulus stockholders unhappy.
Cumulus getting ready to fire Rush.
Rush does his own version of "you can't fire me, I quit."


Question is: Why isn't Mitt Capital - Bain Radio - Clear Channel looking to lose some 300 pounds of fat and hot air?

 

[del_griffith]

CC's biggest problem would be Chicago, assuming he'd move to WOR in NY, and he's already on KFI in LA. Clear Channel has no AM presence in Chicago other than weak-outside-the-city gospel station WGRB 1390, and I'd be surprised if they blew up one of their FM stations for talk. They don't have many options there other than WIND or WGN, who'd often preempt it for Cub games.

Wouldn't that be ironic if Rush ended on on a signal similarly situated to many of the lib talk stations. It happened in Boston and the results were disastrous. Probably same would happen in the Windy City.

 

[Come on]

CC's biggest problem would be Chicago, assuming he'd move to WOR in NY, and he's already on KFI in LA. Clear Channel has no AM presence in Chicago other than weak-outside-the-city gospel station WGRB 1390, and I'd be surprised if they blew up one of their FM stations for talk. They don't have many options there other than WIND or WGN, who'd often preempt it for Cub games.

Wouldn't that be ironic if Rush ended on on a signal similarly situated to many of the lib talk stations. It happened in Boston and the results were disastrous. Probably same would happen in the Windy City.

Rush's options are limited in Chicago. He is not going to the all news station, WBBM and why would WGN Radio change to Rush? WGN kicks his ass in his time slot now!

That leaves WIND Radio. It's owned by Salem, but they currently run Dennis Miller which is not a Salem product. If I'm betting, I'm saying that Rush's future in Chicago is with WIND Radio. A much smaller stick in the market!

 

[KeithE4]

That leaves WIND Radio. It's owned by Salem, but they currently run Dennis Miller which is not a Salem product. If I'm betting, I'm saying that Rush's future in Chicago is with WIND Radio. A much smaller stick in the market!

Miller is syndicated by Dial Global, but is aired on Salem-owned stations in many major markets.

 

[umfan]

Another option is that CC just clears his show on some FM or strong AM, and leaves the rest of the format untouched.

His listeners will follow. I see him working until 2018 when he'll have had 30 years with his national show.

While he's not hitting the money demos, his show still does rake in cash and can, and does, make money for the stations that clear it.

This brouhaha with Cumulus is more about them trying to develop their own stable of talkers instead of paying Premiere.

Discounting the value of cume on the local advertising market would be an unwise business move. The local spots sold to small/medium businesses want, often, to know how many people will hear their ads. Period.

Huckabee, who presumably would assume Rush's slot on Cumulus stations should this come to pass, is angling for more money by suggesting he may not do radio much longer, unless it is 'insanely profitable' for him to do so.

This could be a negotiation strategy by Cumulus to pay less for the show than they've been doing.

There's no mystery as to why Limbaugh's audience is older. He's older. His show will endure as long as it makes economic sense and he wants to continue doing it. I believe he'll retire before the the economics no longer work.

CC will clear the show in all markets where it's cleared by Cumulus now. Cumulus numbers will be more adversely impacted if they drop Limbaugh and then Dickey won't have him to blame.

 

[Come on]

Another option is that CC just clears his show on some FM or strong AM, and leaves the rest of the format untouched.

His listeners will follow. I see him working until 2018 when he'll have had 30 years with his national show.

While he's not hitting the money demos, his show still does rake in cash and can, and does, make money for the stations that clear it.

This brouhaha with Cumulus is more about them trying to develop their own stable of talkers instead of paying Premiere.

Discounting the value of cume on the local advertising market would be an unwise business move. The local spots sold to small/medium businesses want, often, to know how many people will hear their ads. Period.

Huckabee, who presumably would assume Rush's slot on Cumulus stations should this come to pass, is angling for more money by suggesting he may not do radio much longer, unless it is 'insanely profitable' for him to do so.

This could be a negotiation strategy by Cumulus to pay less for the show than they've been doing.

There's no mystery as to why Limbaugh's audience is older. He's older. His show will endure as long as it makes economic sense and he wants to continue doing it. I believe he'll retire before the the economics no longer work.

CC will clear the show in all markets where it's cleared by Cumulus now. Cumulus numbers will be more adversely impacted if they drop Limbaugh and then Dickey won't have him to blame.

Dickey won't be effected adversely by dropping Rush. The company can put a live and local show on the air for the same amount of money that Rush costs. That will deliver more cume, as you say. It will also generate MORE money! Rush is a tough sell. Many advertisers don't want to be associated with his banter anymore.

 

[del_griffith]

umfan: Here's my two cents. I'm not so sure that Cumulus audience numbers will be impacted if Rush leaves. It will depend on the quality of the stick Rush finds a home on and I also point to KDKA vs WPGB. KDKA appeared to begin faltering when Rush left, but now seems in the 6+ beauty pagent to be doing just fine post Rush. In Chicago, Cincy and Nashville for example, while there is no post Rush situation, there are other talk stations that beat the Limbaugh affiliate handily even though the Limbaugh affiliate is a well signaled station. In 2 of the three, 50 kw.

Also, I'm not sure if Rush will recognize when it's time to step away with dignity. It's difficult to seperate the on air persona and the private Rush since we don't have a good picture of that aspect of his life. But if his private persona is like his on air, I'm not sure he could walk away.

All that is not to say Rush, even though he may be showing signs of faltering, has faltered. He is still a talk radio force and has an audience and influence most talkers drool over.

Question: Are the demos for Rush and Glenn Beck different. I see Rush as a top 40 talker while Beck is more of a morning zoo approach. IS tht reflected in the demos?