Posted on 05/05/2013 9:33:57 PM PDT by Nachum
Rush Limbaugh people are saying it’s not El Rushbo’s fault that ad sales have fallen at his flagship WABC — and he made it clear this weekend if the network’s boss keeps declaring it is, he just may pack up his megadittoes and leave.
In New York, that would very likely take him to WOR, which would create the biggest shakeup in city talk radio since WOR scooped up Bob Grant after WABC fired him in 1995.
Limbaugh’s contract with WABC expires at the end of the year.
Lew Dickey, the CEO of WABC parent company Cumulus, has said Limbaugh’s controversial comments have diminished ad revenue for the past year — and the slump remains a “residual hangover” for the station.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Mark davis by far the worst in radio. He loves to hear his own voice .hes an arrogant loudmouth that constantly covers for the lame stream media so as to not lose friends.
We get Ben Ferguson in the Albany NY area for a couple hours on WGY. Like him a lot.. speaks straight out.. no pussyfooting around...he adheres to: “one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” to all people equally.
Wonder how long he will last in this OBAMA IS GOD AREA.
Many people do have satellite.
I love being able to listen to TGO while traveling across the state - without interference.
I do pay to listen to Rush (24/7 member), and I'd love to have the option to hear him on XM/Sirius, as well.
Put me down as owing you 50 cents.
Mark Davis is in love with Mark Davis. . .I can’t stand him. The man loves the sound of his own voice.
Mark Davis is a major boring RINO apologist - UGGGHHHHHHH!
I never realized what an annoying voice Geraldo had until he did radio. His reading of ad copy is horrendous. While I like Mark Simone, he’s too snarky with his callers for me to enjoy. So I go over to Fox (970am) to listen to Mike Gallagher. Then an hour of the annoying Dennis Miller. Rush is the only natural among them.
Granted, those are his. Maybe others are doing like me and flipping to another channel before the WABC ads come on. Seriously, I can listen to an entire segment on another channel and be back before Rush's break is over. (And Sean "I'm up on a hard break" Hannity is worse.)
I listen to Rush on the Internet via various radio stations free apps. Reception on AM is poor here. In the car when static is awful I Bluetooth Rush’s station from my iPhone. This works when I get good 5G service or wifi hot spots which are good in the area.
On road trips is another story. Satellite might be the way to go. But I do not go on enough road trips to make it pay.
I had satellite free for 6 months after buying my explorer in October. I did not like it. Every channel group had at least one channel with Howard stern. Not my favorite. Not crazy about the music channels I got either.
5.56mm
I’ve starting listening to Glen Beck on Sirius before Rush, abandoned the local talk. Tired of Davis, can’t stand Ferguson. Sirius has good conservative programming, although it does carry Hannity.
He doesn’t have the power he used to, but no one else does either.
With the Internet, the message gets out easier.
Remember this. Radio is a business and Lew Dickey Jr is one of the best at leveraging radio stations. His family started with a couple of small stations in the Toledo market and Cumulus started when the Dickey family purchased WCNN in Atlanta for a song.
It’s really all about the money. When Rush got into the dust-up with Sandra Fluck last year, Cumulus started shopping Mike Huckabee as a replacement and actually replaced Rush on a few stations with Huck as Rush’s contract expired. Why? Money. Rush commands a huge clearance fee from stations that carry his show.
If Cumulus can start street buzz that Rush’s numbers are slipping they can either: 1, gain concessions from Rush’s syndicate (Premiere Radio Network)(which is ironically owned by Clear Channel) or 2. replace Rush with cheaper talent.
Cumulus, traditionally has purchased smaller stations that either had reach into major markets or could have their transmitter locations moved to locations that allowed major market coverage.
Lately, they have been buying major market stations such as WABC and WJR (Detroit). These stations have great numbers, but also high costs. Replace your high-priced talent with 2nd tier people and your P&L statement looks good so you can continue purchasing other stations.
Lew Dickey Jr.is a smart businessman. He comes from a long line of radio people. His father, Lew Sr. started in Toledo and his brothers, John and David are involved in radio in the Atlanta market. His strength is the research side of the business, starting Stratford Research with his brother John. They are recognized as leaders in the radio industry with clients all over the US.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Rush leaves WABC. But the reason won’t be because of poor sales, it will be the high clearance fee.
Maybe they could get rid of morning lump “Whorealdo” instead. I end up switching to another channel or just turning the radio off when he opens his mouth.
If WABC dumps Limbaugh, I sure will not be bothering to tune back to Hannity for the drive home. The only reason I listen to that program at all is because the dial is still on 770 after lunch.
And I will not miss ABCNews breaks one little bit. They are the most nauseating parroting of the OFA party line that you can find on the air.
So it will be 660 WFAN for the morning drive, 710 for Rush at noon, whoever in on 710 for evening drive, and back to 770 for The Great One if I’m out at night. But most nights, I’m not listening to the radio, or there is a Yankee Game on 880, so I will not be tuning to WABC very often.
Rush is their lynchpin. Lose Rush, and they lose it all.
Newsmax
Rush Limbaugh May Leave Cumulus in Huge Radio Shakeup
Monday, May 6, 2013 07:33 AM
The Rush Limbaugh Program may end its affiliation agreement with Cumulus Media at the end of this year — a huge radio shakeup that will move like a quake through the talk radio industry.
Politico and The New York Daily News reported that 40 Cumulus-owned radio stations would lose the rights to the most popular talk radio program in the country if the move takes place.
The show, which is the gold standard in political talk radio, also may be picked up by competing regional radio stations in Washington, New York, Chicago, Dallas and other major markets. Limbaugh moving to another network is one of those once-in-a-generation events that will force competing hosts and stations to shake up their own lineups and pending contracts.
Sources told the News and Politico that Limbaugh is angry that Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey has blamed the company’s advertising losses on Limbaugh’s controversial remarks about Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/rush-limbaugh-may-leave/2013/05/06/id/502904
WND EXCLUSIVE
Michael Savage wins landmark case in federal court
Likened to historic lawsuit that led to baseball free agency
Published: 15 hours ago
In a ruling that is being compared to the case that led to free agency in baseball, a federal judge in California upheld an arbitration panel’s decision to release talk-radio host Michael Savage from a contract with his former syndicator, Talk Radio Network.
Savage’s lawyer, Dan Horowitz, called it a landmark case for talk radio.
“Michael is to talk radio what Curt Flood was to Major League Baseball,” Horowitz told WND, referring to the player who challenged baseball’s reserve clause, which kept a player bound to his team even after fulfillment of his contract.
Savage told WND the ruling “should free talent from the threats and extortionist behavior of ruthless Old-Hollywood types who can still be found in the corners of the radio industry.”
“For me, personally, it finalizes a struggle to perform for my audience in an atmosphere of freedom, not working on a ‘radio plantation,’” he said.
Read the federal court order
The judge who issued the order Thursday, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, was appointed by President Obama.
“This should give all of us faith in the legal system,” Savage said, “where there is increasing distrust and cynicism about government in general. In this case, an Obama-appointed judge followed the law without bias.”
Savage said the case cost him $1 million in legal fees “and many lost days and nights.”
“I discovered who decent folks were in my radio life,” he said, “those who would not sign false affidavits despite being threatened and the purely rotten souls who put their signatures to completely false statements in an attempt to stab me in the back, although they lived off my talent and hard work.”
Savage said it is “now time for me to expose these people, and I intend to do so, to prevent them from hurting others.”
http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/michael-savage-wins-landmark-case-in-federal-court/
This is negotiating in the age of modern media.
Rush is a master of the art.
I have listened to WABC for years streaming it on my:
- HTC Touch
- HTC (Something)
- HTC Hero
- iPhone 4
- iPhone 4S
All on internet radio - typically an app called TuneIn Radio Pro - then last year WABC became ‘unavailable’ as a stream.
I listened seven hours a day to WABC.
Now on my:
- iPhone 5 I listen to other stations because I cannot listen to WABC.
What other measures has WABC management done to discourage listenership? Certainly Jerry Rivers does not help.
It is NOT Rush's fault!!!!
WABC is deadly boring on Sundays. The "programming" consists of continual round the clock adfomercials by a bunch of quack health food "experts" thinly veiled as programs. The only 2 programs worth listening to are Jason Mattera and Aaron Klein.
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