This could simply be two giants jockeying for postition before the next round of contracts. Limbaugh and his syndicator, Premiere, an arm of Clear Channel, would be foolish to leave Cumulus' chain of Talk stations. (By the way, there is NO E.I.B. Network. It's a figment of Rush's imagination. He's been syndicated by a number of companies over the years but none was named E.I.B.) And Cumulus would be foolish to oust Rush, especially since there's no one out there to replace him, including Cumulus' own Mike Huckabee.
It's true, if the two sides can't agree, Rush's show could easily wind up on 50,000 watt 710 WOR in NYC, rather than Cumulus' 50,000 watt WABC. WABC is an original Class I-A station but WOR is an original Class I-B... two almost equal signals. But in Dallas, where would Rush go? He's on WBAP-AM (another Class I-A) and also on 92,000 watt WBAP-FM. He'd trade that in for a lesser Dallas AM signal and no FM simulcast in Market #5?
In Washington DC, Rush is carried on Cumulus' WMAL-AM-FM (10,000 watts on AM and a full-power FM signal). If he leaves he'll wind up on a lesser AM with no FM simulcast. In Detroit, he's on WJR, another original 50,000 watt, non-directional Class I-A. There's no AM signal equal to that in Motown. And Clear Channel isn't going to sacrifice an FM music station to put Rush on.
In fact, Clear Channel last year threw the Conservative Talk format off a couple of FMs it owns, one in San Diego and one in Tuscon, leaving Rush and his pals only on AM stations in those markets. Two years ago, it did the same in Minneapolis.
I'm sure Premiere and Cumulus will see the light while there's still life in the Conservative Talk format. I'm no fan of Rush but I do realize he's the cornerstone of the format. Its demos keep increasing, and in many markets, the ratings have been dropping. But no one has figured out what to do with AM stations that does any better, other than very expensive All-News. So for now, Rush and Cumulus are stuck with each other.
