Cumulus and the Rush Boycott

I guarantee that my exit from the world of Cumulus will not spark some episode of Disgruntled Ex-Employee Syndrome, in which I obsess about how these people could ever live without me.  I trust they will do fine.  I know I will, and as I say often, more on that soon.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t weigh in on what the company does in my industry, or individual things a CEO says that are just silly.  In fact, I may be an ideal voice for comment on such things, because I can now share my thoughts without risk.  What are they going to do, fire me?

The quote in question comes from this story, in which Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey willfully energizes every Rush Limbaugh enemy by claiming that his company lost a couple of million dollars in each of the first two quarters of 2012 because of the lame advertiser boycott launched against Rush by haters who sought to chase him from the air because of the Sandra Fluke incident.

By his own admission, Dickey says the losses amounted to about one percent of total revenue, a sliver of money that might have been lost due to a number of things.  It is impossible to assign the loss of two million out of 245 million to a single cause, especially when the economy is still sputtering and your company is withstanding the the fits and starts of gobbling up all of the formerly ABC-owned radio giants?

Unless it’s on purpose.

The narrative grows that Cumulus just doesn’t like Limbaugh.  Even though he is a massive ratings magnet on most of the bigger stations they have just bought, they have chosen to float the Mike Huckabee show directly opposite Rush, running it on various stations they own, perhaps waiting for Rush contracts to lapse on their other stations so they can boot Limbaugh and run their own product.

There is a certain business logic to that, but one thing makes it ridiculous:  we’re talking about the Limbaugh show here.

Rush is that rarest of syndicated shows, in that many stations pay-- a lot-- to carry him.  Most network shows are provided for free, taking up some of their affiliate stations’ commercial time to sell network spots to make money.  

Rush does this as well, but also asks a hefty fee, which he is able to do because the minute a station runs him, it runs the biggest radio talk show in the history of the world.

I’ve never heard of one station saying “damn, that Limbaugh fee is killing us.”  Of course, I had never heard anyone complain about paying me, either.  Coincidence?

I am a tiny matter compared to what Cumulus does with Rush, but the Dickey comments baselessly assigning a tiny revenue loss to the inept Limbaugh “boycott” make no sense unless there is an underlying agenda.

Why would a CEO empower a small band of hopped-up activists who live to harass the highest-impact radio show in America, which is carried on his own stations?

Look at the numbers.  Cumulus owns just 38 of the 600-plus stations that air Limbaugh.  Many of them are iconic titans like WABC in New York,  WLS in Chicago, WJR in Detroit and WBAP in D/FW.

The Dickeys would not have put Mike Huckabee in front of the M1 Abrams tank of the Limbaugh show if they did not envision it as a rival.  Adding to the fantasy of the “boycott” impact, Lew Dickey suggested the protests “put some wind in the sails” of the Huckabee push for affiliates.

It may well be that a few people in cubicles in Atlanta got jazzed about offering stations Huckabee as a gentler, tamer alternative to Rush, but that is a million miles away from having a show that actually slows the Limbaugh ratings and revenue locomotive.

The Huckabee show may do just fine, and I hope it does.  Gov. Huckabee is a wonderful man and a valuable voice.  But the media coverage asking if that show would become a threat to Rush was just absurd.  So is a CEO trashing the most noteworthy show carried on any of his stations.

Unless, again, there is a Master Plan.  I confess to a certain empathy for Huckabee here, who should be able to enjoy the reward of his rollout  and any ripples his show makes, without feeling the hot breath of corporate voices who clearly pant at the prospect of him knocking Rush from the mountaintop.

That will not be happening.  

I can understand if inattentive souls fail to grasp that boycotts and trumped-up controversies only add to Rush’s impact and ultimately his revenue.  But when people in the radio business don’t get that?  Wow.

And, of course, I would have said every word of the above even if I were not filling in for Rush next Monday, May 14.

 

Comments

[Hoosierky]

With Huckabee's first caller a Cume-less exec not exactly adding to his creditbility, Huck has a FAR way to go.
Look for Cume-less to switch formats of some stations just to carry Huck and Red-Eye, so they can claim market clearences.

[Jill]

I love you Mark, you are so right! I miss hearing from you everyday on WBAP. It was a big mistake letting you go. I am going to miss your reports during the legislative session. What are those guys thinking?

[Marjorie]

Mark, we know you will do fine, and we want you to do fine, but we want you on the radio in the morning. It sure is quiet here in our house (all seven radios off!) till 11:06 when Rush comes on.
I have even re-set the dials on our car radios! Can you tell I'm mad at Cumulus?

[Kathy L.]

... ...

Looking forward to the 14th, but it sure is nice to hear your voice, even if it is the printed version.

[JLB]

Huckabee is a nice guy, I guess. But listening to him is like sipping lukewarm ice tea. His program is boring.

[Scott Robison]

Cumulus seems to be moving to the next 'logical' step of radio consolidation. First radio groups bought up a ton of radio stations and eliminated costly local originated programming in favor of syndication and voice tracking. Now start eliminating the 'costly' syndicated programming too! I'm sure some other stations will be more than happy to pick up Rush should Cumulus drop him from their stations.

[Kev]

Cumulus wants the money that Rush provides but not Rush, hence offering the "gentler, tamer" Huckabee version. They are out of their skulls however if they think that is what the rest of us want and we will vote with their ratings. ...same goes with your replacement.

[Brent]

I wonder if your old employer realizes the main reason listeners tuned in was for the morning guys and you. They continued to listen for Hannity and Levin, they didn't tune in for them. You can get them on most smart phones and many other stations. I already found my "replacement" on another station, I use my smart phone to listen to Hannity and Levin. WBAP lost me, and I'm willing to bet several others.

[Troy Bobby Bell]

So what the hell is going on with “BAP?
It’s like the station is slowly being reprogrammed by the C-team or F-troop to be skiers behind the Tidy Bowl Man ... As a former OM / PD and number one air talent on several stations, I know you probably cannot respond... But if Cumulus thought this last ratings book was bad, just wait till the grating and whiny voices of the lesser talent become the norm and the station sinks further into the ratings abyss... The on-air talent right now is swimming in the shallow end of the talent pool... It is as if management has settled for “The mediocre are always at their best”
and "they don't ask questions" or “we can control them” – The overall sound of the station
sounds like it’s floundering... like their “give a damn” is busted ... Do they not understand it takes YEARS to get the station up there –
but only one or two “non-candy bars in the punchbowl” to pull it down in a hurry?
I’m so disappointed in the new owners and/or management... These are perilous times – and your voice needs to be heard... It is a sad sad day in radio... very sad indeed... and there is NO
replacement for the Mark Davis Show...

[Dismuke]

Mark - thank you for saying this. Somebody needs to say it.

What Cumulus did to you is just penny wise/pound foolish stupidity. But their playing tag team with Media Matters falls into an entirely different category. Media Matters exists for one purpose: to silence dissenting viewpoints by any and all means necessary. And yet the very foundation of radio and all other forms of media and the careers of everybody who works in media rests upon freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

Cumulus is willing to sell their freedom and everybody else's along with it just because doing so will knock out a larger and more prestigious competitor. This goes beyond being an example of mere stupidity and short-term thinking - it is morally reprehensible.

Cumulus is no different than certain large corporations which cynically supported Obamacare knowing that, even though it would have a negative effect on them, the regulations would most likely bankrupt their competitors thus enabling them to pick up market share. It is the same short-term mentality that led Italian industrialists of the '20s who knew full well that Mussolini was the devil to, nevertheless, finance his party's rise to power on the premise that, at the end of the day, they could manipulate him and cut a deal with him. But, as they eventually found out through the destruction of the Italian economy and the blood of their fellow countrymen, if you cut a deal with the devil, at the end of the day, the devil always has the upper hand.

I wish you success at whatever you do next. And please keep speaking out about about Cumulus's betrayal of its own industry and of our freedoms whenever something substantive needs to be said.

[WarrenWhitaker]

Is history repeating...kinda reminds me of the KLIF implosion. So long WBAP.

[Bryan Wicks]

You've hit another home run with your current inning of inside baseball discussion, Mark! Thanks again for a great column, and I look forward to hearing you on May 14th.

[clay]

Mark,

Will you teach some of us up-and-comers how to do a great talk show??

[Jim Hazlett]

Absolutely spot-on, Mark. Will understand if you can't discuss it, but have noticed that BAP's on-air presentation of Levin's show has suddenly become "dirty" (missed open cues, ad clusters appearing out of nowhere, etc on a DAILY basis). Now that a large segment of the listening audience has learned what we've got here, it's become too easy to imagine the worst. Stay the course...

[me.yahoo.com/a/.zlDgG831pMxlqFcGotPS3IFQ.qPaGs-]

While I didn't listen to the Mark Davis Show daily, I consider myself a frequent listener, if not Live then through his Podcasts.

I am dumbfounded to hear that WBAP. Cancelled. Mark. Davis ?!?

What a HUGE mistake. I will follow Mark wherever he goes. His talent easily rises above the pack, which is why he is entrusted to fill in for Rush.

I am bookmarking this site NOW, to follow Mark to his next successful venue.

[Don Hornsby]

Thanks for the enlightening column. I am missing my daily habit of listening to you in the morning. Looking forward to the 14th...

[David]

Well... crap.

I moved to Dallas and got here the first day without Mark Davis. One of the radio things I looked forward to was listening to the local Mark Davis, since I appreciated his work filling in for Rush (and I like that Rush's fill-ins all approach their work differently.)

I spent 36 years in the biz, and finally gave up the ghost in 2005. I thought I had seen a lot of really foolish managerial moves in those years, but what I have seen lately from Cumulus and Clear Channel (disclaimer: CC alum, 4 years in St. Louis) really has me shaking my head. Thank goodness for SiriusXM.

[Zach]

I'm pretty sure Cumulus doesn't really care about ratings...as has been observed over the years of them taking perfectly good radio stations and destroying any and all credibility they have had with their community of license. It's all about debunking the basis of broadcast stations in the first place, ever more about political support, and less about public interests. I've been in broadcasting 30+ years and see the industry being trashed more now than ever before. "Walmart" style marketing doesn't work for the media...even though corporate bigwigs are busy trying to ram it down everyone's throats that it does. Companies like Cumulus and Clear Channel should be ashamed of themselves for destroying the core of the media values in the country. It's been 15 years since deregulation...the average listener has forgotten what real broadcasting is, and could care less with all the new gadgetry available to them. Quite simply put, the magic is gone, and these companies refuse to acknowledge that cookie-cutter "one-size fits all" programming is a lost cause. But hey, upper management banks a ton of cash each year, so what do they care what happens.

[steve riley]

Hello Mark,

You are great. I'll keep checking back here to see where you pop up on the air next.

[Nancy]

Hi Mark,

I have Mark Davis withdrawel! ! There isn't a day that I have wished to have you back on air. Ben Ferguson just doesn't have it! ! He never will, CEO's in this case will try to destroy our freedom.
Please Keep us updated. I know you will be fine, but, what a lose to the air waves.

[Dean Taylor]

I fully expect the dimwits of the Cumululus heirarchy to drop Rush off WBAP and replace him with Huckabee. Any bets on how fast KRLD (or someone) will snatch the Limbaugh show up. Then we get to watch the Cumulus bean counters explain away the resulting 'BAP ratings drop accompanied by a decrease in revenue. Huckabee if fine, but he ain't no Rush Limbaugh....as Ben Ferguson is fine(although boring) but he ain't no MArk Davis.
I spent 25 wonderful years in the radio biz....but I just don't get the logic these media giants run with these days. But I'm old skool...I played the hits on vinyl 45s with the little plastic thingy in the middle. And we walked 5 miles in the snow uphill both ways to the transmitter to take readings!!!

[Chris]

Spot on as usual Mark. Miss hearing your voice to start my work day. Hope you find a local home soon. Cumulus is alienating themselves from their base... I'm moved on from Cumulus owned stations. I get my Rush from an out of market station now.

[jordan 14 candy cane]

I think Erika Napoletano is especially spectacular at pulling this off. She’ll talk about some awesome/shitty/outrageous that happened to her or someone she knows and leads with what happened and then shows you what you can learn from it.

[Jack Mason]

Thanks for this. I was looking for rush printing in Calgary and was looking for suggestions.