Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is repelling blame for the revenue woes of the parent company of stations in a number of the top markets. Limbaugh has broadcast on what he calls "Excellence In Broadcasting Network", "behind the golden EIB microphone" for over 23 years, and has become an American icon on the conservative battleground.
Considered the EIB's flagship station, WABC Radio in New York City is one of many owned by Cumulus Media. Prior to moving to Palm Beach, Fla., Limbaugh broadcasted almost exclusively from their studios. Cumulus also owns affiliates in Washington and other major cities that air the "Rush Limbaugh Program", almost always live at Noon Eastern. WABC is also said to be Limbaugh's biggest affiliate, as the New York market is the number one media market in the country.
Cumulus' CEO said Limbaugh was to blame for the financial hit they reportedly took in the financial quarter following Limbaugh's comments on Sandra Fluke. Fluke herself made controversial remarks as to what specifically should be covered by federal healthcare legislation.
On February 29, 2012, Rush Limbaugh criticized the Georgetown University graduate student on-air for comments she made supporting the idea of public funding of contraception through the recent healthcare legislation. Limbaugh and many conservatives and moderates nationwide found the suggestion Fluke made to be outrageous. In the context of the relative cost of contraception at a pharmacy versus the reasons Fluke would want the cost of such items covered by taxpayers, he referred to her as "a slut".
The day following his statements on Fluke, he acknowledged that his detractors had already been criticizing him for the remarks. He reiterated his explanation for the remarks, describing the situation once again, saying in part: "a law student [testifies before] a Congressional committee asking for us [taxpayers] to pay for the things that make it possible for her to have sex. Therefore we are paying her to have sex...What would you call this?" Limbaugh asked rhetorically.
He later quipped sarcastically that the next time Fluke could not afford something she wanted, she would ask Congress for taxpayer aid once again. "What's next that you can't afford [that] you [are] going to go to [then-Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and say we need to buy? A mink? A [Chevy] Volt? A Prius?"
Following Limbaugh's comments, partially at the goading of the progressive-liberal group Media Matters, a number of sponsors dropped their financial support of Limbaugh's program, effectively hurting Cumulus stations in the process.
Cumulus' CEO Lew Dickey said the company lost $5.5 million from its August 2012 earnings report. He attributed it in large part to the departure of a number of sponsors following the Sandra Fluke controversy. "[Cumulus' radio arm] has been challenged...due to some of the issues that happened a year ago," Dickey said of the findings, according to Politico.
However, the New York Daily News reported that a source close to the situation said Dickey was using Rush Limbaugh as a scapegoat for his network's recent financial troubles. "Lew needs someone to blame, [so] he's pointing fingers," the source told the paper, "[Cumulus] stations have long lagged behind their competitors in sales by a substantial margin."
The Daily News reported Dickey's account proffered that revenue for Cumulus' revenue dropped 3.5 percent that quarter, and believed about 1 percent was a result of sponsorship boycotts after the Limbaugh-Fluke situation.
Clear Channel networks, which also owns a number of Rush Limbaugh's affiliates reportedly said that despite the boycott, "virtually all of its long-term sponsors" maintained their support of the program. In the New York Metropolitan CSA area, should Limbaugh be dropped by Cumulus' "77-WABC", the only other stations that broadcast his program are a pair of smaller affiliates in western Connecticut and WAEB, a Clear Channel station in Whitehall, Pa.
Nonetheless, the situation of Limbaugh's program reportedly being on the hot seat at Cumulus may have major consequences for talk radio nationwide. In New York, if "El Rushbo" as some call him, is dropped, the EIB may later appear at rival WOR, a conservative radio talker owned by Clear Channel as well, which hired veteran commentator Bob Grant after his firing from 77-WABC.
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