Let me ask this: Where on earth would Limbaugh go in this market if WBEN dropped him? When it comes to talk, they're the only player in town.
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Let me ask this: Where on earth would Limbaugh go in this market if WBEN dropped him? When it comes to talk, they're the only player in town.
Who said they're "supposed to" have leverage?
My point was that no host at WBEN, including Rush has ANY leverage in the market. There is nowhere else to go in town so their negotiating ability is severely diminished.
Simple point really.
Rush has less leverage in Buffalo than many other markets. Where would he go? A rimshot? lol
How is that different from any other market? Rochester has one talk station. Where would Rush go if he wasn't on WHAM? Los Angeles for all intents and purposes has one talk station: KFI. The other ones barely get a 1 share. Look at DC. If Rush got dropped from WMAL, where would he go? A rimshot in Virginia.
Exactly. Time to dump these toxic SOB's.
You're right...and the funny thing is, the most recent ratings show that KPCC(L.A.'s NPR affiliate)gets a 1.4 rating in the LA area. For the past few months, it's hovered between that and a 1.8 . Plus, all news KNX pulls a 2.9 .
In what demo? 6+?
Dump away. Rush still makes more moolah in a year than most do in a lifetime.
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dand5780
Guest
What do you mean where would he go? He could go anywhere. Doesn't matter where. Wherever he goes, they will follow. I was listening to the voice of the east side of Buffalo, WUFO. They could get their ratings up if they put Rush on to offset some of that trash. WWKB, WLVL, WBFO.
For many stations, Rush has been a loss leader. Considering the cost of the show and the baggage that comes with it, it may not be worth renewing, especially if there isn't the worry of him landing at another another good signal in the market.
Limbaugh's price puts it well out of WBFO's price range. AND it would wipe out their image as the more sober alternative to WBEN. WLVL is more local during the day, and even with them adding a FM translator at 105.3 in recent weeks, I can't see them picking it up. And, seeing as how WWKB didn't pull even a .1 in the last book, they aren't a viable option either. And WUFO doesn't work for them either.
It was a long time ago, but IIRC, Rush Limbaugh made his Western New York debut on WLVL. Year later, Hannity debuted on WLVL. In both cases, WBEN cherry picked off the shows. At first, WBEN aired only one hour of Rush, and gauged the response, then knocked out their award winning Newsday At Noon news block to accommodate Limbaugh's entire three hour gas fest. True, Limbaugh makes millions, far more than he's worth, but his deal was one of many self-inflicted wounds that contributed to the demise of Clear Channel, and led to a lot of very talented people getting a ticket to the unemployment line. His act wore thin years ago. When Rush's eventual exit comes, a lot of people will applaud. Unfortunately, he'll leave a lasting mark on the business, and not a particularly good one, having spawned countless mediocre local clones and national imitators who contributed to the demise of talk radio and the polarization of America.
Not exactly true, since his deal is with Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeart. That part of the company is apparently doing well. No real connection between Rush and local station layoffs. They're mostly a function of those specific markets not meeting their numbers. And as it's been pointed out here several times, Rush was just renewed by his syndicator.
Most of the cost of carrying Rush is barter.
Even in smaller markets it was a combination of cash and barter.
That's my point. Customarily it's the smaller markets that are more likely to be barter-only----but with Limbaugh even those smaller markets were expected to cough up at least some cash.
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