Rush gone from WRKO

[Scott Fybush]

On 5/20/2015 3:28 PM, billohno@gmail.com wrote:
> It's all about market clearance even if the numbers tank
>

At one level, yes.

But at another level, the numbers tanking create a problem for Premiere, 
because it's still paying Limbaugh on a contract that was negotiated 
when both the clearances and the numbers were good. It's hard to imagine 
a show with "big-market" clearances like WMEX or KEIB in Los Angeles 
making anywhere near enough money to justify the kind of money Limbaugh 
is reportedly being paid.

There's not much Premiere can do about it while the contract is still in 
effect aside from eating whatever it's losing (and it's almost certainly 
losing significant money on the show now). But the Limbaugh deal is 
within its last year or two. The real story here, as I've been saying 
for some time now, will come when Limbaugh and Premiere sit down to 
negotiate their renewal.

I don't think Limbaugh will want to keep working for whatever money his 
show will be worth to Premiere by 2016-17. Will his ego compel him to 
take a lower number to stay on the air...or to refuse one penny less 
than he's making now? Nobody else is likely to be matching Premiere's 
numbers, either. And if Premiere's financial interest in keeping the 
show afloat goes away, there go all those clearances on iHeart stations.

Whatever happens in Boston is just a preface to a much bigger conflict 
in a year or so. Get that popcorn ready.