Even if there is no Cumulus or Clear Channel station that can host Rush Limbaugh in a large market, if they really want him on the air in that market, they can easily find an AM station.
When the show first started, it was distributed on a barter basis. That means the local station doesn’t pay for the show, but gets to sell some of the ad time and keep the revenue. (The show’s producer sells the remaining ad time and keeps the revenue.) As the show grew in popularity, they demanded payment from the stations.
In the worst case, they can broker air time. That’s how the Air America network (the short-lived liberal radio talk network) got on the air: they bought brokered time from AM stations around the country. In a brokered arrangement, you pay the station typically a few hundred dollars an hour and put anything that isn’t illegal on the air. You get to sell all the ad time and keep the proceeds. (Even major stations do some brokering on weekends and perhaps overnight, although they may have higher programming standards.)
Most big cities have a few major AM stations, but the dial is crowded (some would say irresponsibly over-crowded) with smaller stations scraping by. If Rush’s producers outbid the Moldavian News Hour or the Colon Cleanse infomercial, they can easily get back on the air in the worst case. It won’t be a particularly happy way to get on the air, but it would beat losing your base in a big city.
So, Chicago and New York, I’m betting you’ll still be able to get your fix of Rush over the air.
It will be filled by Rush and Hannity on another station.
He was probably too happy for words. He may or may not believe his schtick so he could have been personally unhappy about the results. But he is smart enough to know it was good for his show. And he certainly couldn’t been surprised. It’s a lot easier to attack than defend. I haven’t listened in years but the rattling papers thing is part of his on air style.
Yeah poor guy. Unqualified for any other job. He’ll have to go on the unemployment line with nothing. Except $350 million. I’m sure he is very scared.
Yeah, but it’s a funny thing about money; you kind of get used to whatever amount you earn and then when you take a pay cut, it really messes with your finances and personal life. I hope he socked some away in the Caymans or someplace. I often wonder about folks like Trump or Limbaugh, like if Trump put Melania on say, a $60,000 a day limit, would she hang around long?
True enough. But a quick search showed that Rush has three years left on his contract at $40 mill a year. I didn’t look for Hannity. Their success bred a lot of imitators. Neither of them seem to have the influence they once had. The market has spread. But it’s way too early for schadenfreude.
Three years left with Clear Channel and Premier, I guess.
But if Clear Channel and Premier are not making the big bucks anymore due to Rush being dropped by Cumulus, I wonder if they will be very happy to keep him? I hear Rush is causing a loss of income to Cumulus and is somehow getting millions through The Heritage Foundation to support the show. Will The Heritage Foundation also keep paying the same amount for smaller audiences after Rush gets dropped from the 40 big and medium sized markets?
I’m pretty sure Clear Channel is still the biggest radio conglomerate in the country. Even if he is dropped from those 40 channels he will still be on hundreds of other channels (his site says 600). I’m no expert but it seems like this deal is a hold over from when the show was not owned by CC. It looks like Cumulus is in the position of having to pay a competitor big bucks for their programming. And they are playing hardball. That is understandable. I have no doubt that profits are probably down from his heyday. The entertainment market is much more splintered. Maybe his next contract will not be as big. But it won’t be because of Cumulus.
He could, of course, go the Glenn Beck route and market an online-only show to paying subscribers. He wouldn’t have to worry about mainstream advertisers and ratings; as long as people fork over the monthly subscription fee, he’s golden.