Another chunk fell from Rush Limbaugh’s crumbling empire. Cumulus Media, the nation’s second-largest radio programming distributor, kicks Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to the curb by year’s end, according to forwardprogressives.com.
Cumulus Media’s decision not to renew Hannity and Limbaugh’s contracts will take the conservative talking heads out of 40 markets. However, contrary to popular belief, dwindling advertising dollars or ideology allegedly aren’t the culprits.
Talks between Clear Channel and Premiere Networks went nowhere. Premiere Networks oversees Hannity and Limbaugh’s shows. Premiere usually demands premium prices, but Clear Channel pinches pennies. There’s good reason for that, though, as?Limbaugh’s major advertiser losses give Clear Channel all the justification it needs for frugality.?Cumulus lost $2.4 million in the first quarter of 2012, Politico reported, in the wake of Limbaugh’s controversial comments about Sandra Fluke. We’ll learn about recent earnings in an upcoming call with Dickey. It’s unknown whether negotiations are on the agenda.
Reportedly, Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey’s near-constant blame pushed Limbaugh toward leaving Cumulus. The radio network is expected to look to other conservative stars like Mike Huckabee, Michael Savage and Mark Levin to fill in the gap.
The turn of events could help Huckabee finally overtake Limbaugh this time. Huckabee took advantage of ?The Sandra Fluke Effect? and launched Huckabee a ?civil? alternative, as the Los Angeles Times reported in April 2012.?Huckabee said in an interview with Politico:
Our tagline is, ?More conversation, less confrontation. I’m going to treat every guest with respect and civility. Nobody is going to come on and get into a shouting match with me. That’s just not my style.
It turned some conservatives cannibalistic. They did everything from celebrating his low ratings to alleging he planted calls. Savage, according to askmen.com, reaches 8 million listeners on 400 stations. Levin averages 5.5 million listeners on more than 150 stations and satellite radio, according to conservapedia.com.
Edited/Published by: SB
