In essence, Cumulus has gone from being a purchaser of content to a creator of one. Moreover, Cumulus can now shop its content to outside radio station owners, potentially stealing market share from Clear Channel. With a big national footprint and its own network, Cumulus is now able to develop and syndicate its own content as opposed to paying to license it from competitors such as Clear Channel. Now, the family-run company is in seven of the top 10 U.S. Before them, the largest market in which Cumulus had a presence was ranked 125th nationally. Those deals transformed Cumulus from a sleepy small- to mid-market company into a national player. The roots can be traced to two deals: the $1.2 billion purchase of Susquehanna Radio in 2006 and $2.4 billion acquisition of Citadel Broadcasting in 2010. If Rush gets removed from a few, we have plenty of other places to put him.” TWO DEALS REALIZEDĬumulus’ plan to take on Clear Channel in the syndication market were put in motion long before the impending Limbaugh-Huckabee battle. We wish him the best with his new show.”Ī source familiar with Premiere’s thinking put it more bluntly: “We have 900 stations. “Mike Huckabee is the latest in a long line of those who have attempted to compete with Rush. 1 talk radio host in America,” a Premiere spokesperson said in a statement, noting that all his long-term sponsors remain with his show. Limbaugh’s annual income, based in part on licensing fees for his show, is estimated by industry sources at $50 million.Ĭalls to Clear Channel for comment were referred to Premiere Networks, the company that syndicates Limbaugh’s program. Dickey said some of these stations plan to swap in Huckabee once their contracts with Limbaugh expire, though he declined to name which ones or where they were located. More important, only about 45 of those stations are owned and operated by Cumulus, meaning that the other stations that agreed to carry Huckabee’s show have no affiliation with the company. The portly conservative pundit’s program is broadcast on 600 radio stations across the country (20 more stations than Cumulus owns in total), and is heard by about 20 million listeners weekly.Īs of last week, about 140 stations had signed on to carry Huckabee’s show, and Dickey said that number is growing daily. Limbaugh has dominated terrestrial talk radio ever since shock jock Howard Stern fled for the less regulated confines of satellite radio in 2006. Huckabee’s show, which was born out of a dinner conversation between a representative for the former Arkansas governor and Dickey in the fall of 2010, will go head-to-head against Limbaugh from noon to 3 p.m. Cumulus ranks as the third-largest radio company by revenue, behind Clear Channel and CBS Radio. radio network, with 580 stations, behind Clear Channel, which owns about 900 stations. “We have been growing the affiliate base on that fact alone, but recent developments with Rush have put some wind in our sails and accelerated our efforts,” Dickey said.Ĭumulus owns the second-largest U.S. He was referring to how Limbaugh’s contracts typically contain exclusivity clauses restricting him to one station in a market, instead of it being simulcast on multiple stations. “Only one station in a city can offer Rush, so there are lots of other stations that are looking to put up an alternative to him regardless of whether he put his foot in his mouth,” said Dickey. In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Cumulus co-Chief Operating Officer John Dickey described the Huckabee emails as “standard operating procedure” and said the company was “proud to offer up our content to the industry at large.” That the April 9 launch of “The Mike Huckabee Show” comes amid an exodus of advertisers from Limbaugh’s program and an Internet-driven boycott is simply serendipity for Cumulus. Huckabee presented Cumulus with its best chance ever to grow into a national competitor to Clear Channel in the radio syndication market even before Limbaugh on February 29 ignited his latest controversy by calling birth-control activist Sandra Fluke “a slut. “They are positioning Huckabee as the safe, non-dangerous alternative to Rush and saying to station owners, ‘If you are looking for conservative content, we want you to consider our guy instead of theirs.’” “They are going after Rush’s affiliates,” said one radio company executive who received Cumulus’ email and spoke on condition of anonymity. Though the email did not name Rush Limbaugh, the long-running, top-rated talk radio host whose program is nationally syndicated by Cumulus’ rival, Clear Channel Communications, the intent was obvious to some recipients. File photo of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee taken on August 19, 2008.
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