Rush is back!

[Papageorgio]

Ratings are money to radio, as long as Rush is the most listened to talk radio show in the country, he will have a place on the radio. We be retires, he will retire as the man that changed radio. Love him, hate him, he was a radio pioneer.

 

[Pogo]

Well Cumulus will be paying Rush a huge sum of money if they replace him next year since Rush's current contract runs through 2016.

No, I believe it ends this year. You may be thinking of Lush's contract with Premiere.

Lush works for Premiere, which syndicates his show (and others, including some of the former Air America hosts, but we digress). So his contract that ends in 2016 is the one that pays him to supply shows to Premier.

Premiere, in selling the show, then enters into individual contracts with individual stations and station groups - contracts to carry the show. One of those groups is Cumulus, to carry the Limblob show on those (Cumulus) stations. That contract is what I refer to that ends at the end of this year. The question is whether it will be renewed or declined at that time. The story that spawned this thread kinda makes noises that it will not be renewed, but they won't say for sure at this piont (nor should they).

Yes, you're right. The 8-year contract was with Premiere. (I shouldn't work from memory on stuff that happened five years ago.)
But it was a $400 million dollar contract through 2016.

As the second largest media conglomerate of FM and AM radio stations though, do you really believe Cumulus will voluntarily give up the No #1 nationally rated syndicated show? Rush indeed may have the clout to refuse to do business with them, but I don't see Cumulus choosing to give up Rush to their competition and probably their #2 spot. And I sure don't see their station managers wanting to lose their high ratings when they can no longer run his program.

I'm always right, Foxy, you know that by now...

What Cumulus will do, damned if I know but just as this fantasy of Lush "refusing to do business with them", it will be driven by money, we can count on that. Now Cumulus has complained that Lush is costing them... it seems to me if they were planning to renew the contract, that wouldn' t be wise, whereas if they were planning to let it go, it would make more sense. Meanwhile Lush has made noises about taking his ball and going home. Given the positions of those players, I'd give Rush as much credence as I give the rest of his bloviating. He's just not in a position to do that.

Then again perhaps Cumulus is baiting Premiere to dump them so that they can cut their losses sooner. That would make sense too.

But if Cumulus' complaints are to be believed, it doesn't matter what the ratings are. Ratings, as you well know, are the measuring stick that tells the station how much they can sell ads for. But if you have advertisers shunning the program, all the ratings in the world won't sell ads. And since ads are money and money is the bottom line, well do the math. Ad revenue from low ratings still beats no ad revenue from high ratings.

Again, that's all either party will say, so we'll see at the end of the year.

 

[Foxfyre]

No, I believe it ends this year. You may be thinking of Lush's contract with Premiere.

Lush works for Premiere, which syndicates his show (and others, including some of the former Air America hosts, but we digress). So his contract that ends in 2016 is the one that pays him to supply shows to Premier.

Premiere, in selling the show, then enters into individual contracts with individual stations and station groups - contracts to carry the show. One of those groups is Cumulus, to carry the Limblob show on those (Cumulus) stations. That contract is what I refer to that ends at the end of this year. The question is whether it will be renewed or declined at that time. The story that spawned this thread kinda makes noises that it will not be renewed, but they won't say for sure at this piont (nor should they).

Yes, you're right. The 8-year contract was with Premiere. (I shouldn't work from memory on stuff that happened five years ago.)
But it was a $400 million dollar contract through 2016.

As the second largest media conglomerate of FM and AM radio stations though, do you really believe Cumulus will voluntarily give up the No #1 nationally rated syndicated show? Rush indeed may have the clout to refuse to do business with them, but I don't see Cumulus choosing to give up Rush to their competition and probably their #2 spot. And I sure don't see their station managers wanting to lose their high ratings when they can no longer run his program.

I'm always right, Foxy, you know that by now...

What Cumulus will do, damned if I know but just as this fantasy of Lush "refusing to do business with them", it will be driven by money, we can count on that. Now Cumulus has complained that Lush is costing them... it seems to me if they were planning to renew the contract, that wouldn' t be wise, whereas if they were planning to let it go, it would make more sense. Meanwhile Lush has made noises about taking his ball and going home. Given the positions of those players, I'd give Rush as much credence as I give the rest of his bloviating. He's just not in a position to do that.

Then again perhaps Cumulus is baiting Premiere to dump them so that they can cut their losses sooner. That would make sense too.

But if Cumulus' complaints are to be believed, it doesn't matter what the ratings are. Ratings, as you well know, are the measuring stick that tells the station how much they can sell ads for. But if you have advertisers shunning the program, all the ratings in the world won't sell ads. And since ads are money and money is the bottom line, well do the math. Ad revenue from low ratings still beats no ad revenue from high ratings.

Again, that's all either party will say, so we'll see at the end of the year.

You probably didn't read the OP did you.

 

[Foxfyre]

Yes, you're right. The 8-year contract was with Premiere. (I shouldn't work from memory on stuff that happened five years ago.)
But it was a $400 million dollar contract through 2016.

As the second largest media conglomerate of FM and AM radio stations though, do you really believe Cumulus will voluntarily give up the No #1 nationally rated syndicated show? Rush indeed may have the clout to refuse to do business with them, but I don't see Cumulus choosing to give up Rush to their competition and probably their #2 spot. And I sure don't see their station managers wanting to lose their high ratings when they can no longer run his program.

I'm always right, Foxy, you know that by now...

What Cumulus will do, damned if I know but just as this fantasy of Lush "refusing to do business with them", it will be driven by money, we can count on that. Now Cumulus has complained that Lush is costing them... it seems to me if they were planning to renew the contract, that wouldn' t be wise, whereas if they were planning to let it go, it would make more sense. Meanwhile Lush has made noises about taking his ball and going home. Given the positions of those players, I'd give Rush as much credence as I give the rest of his bloviating. He's just not in a position to do that.

Then again perhaps Cumulus is baiting Premiere to dump them so that they can cut their losses sooner. That would make sense too.

But if Cumulus' complaints are to be believed, it doesn't matter what the ratings are. Ratings, as you well know, are the measuring stick that tells the station how much they can sell ads for. But if you have advertisers shunning the program, all the ratings in the world won't sell ads. And since ads are money and money is the bottom line, well do the math. Ad revenue from low ratings still beats no ad revenue from high ratings.

Again, that's all either party will say, so we'll see at the end of the year.

And, to all - as some posted on this forum, it's amazing how some posters react to negative reputations. Just received this from Pogo =

Re: New reputation!
Quote: Originally Posted by longknife
Hi, you have received -256 reputation points from longknife.
Reputation was given for this post.

Comment:
Do you ever stop being a grumpy lefty?

Regards,
longknife

Note: This is an automated message.
Are you ******* shittin' me??

I put out a neutral analysis of a radio contract and you see "grumpy lefty"?? Are you insane?

Count on return fire. And it'll hurt you more than me.

Dumbass.

Notice the erudite prose?

Well do you expect polite communication from somebody you just neg repped? I too think Pogo is mostly wrong, he's stubborn as a mule, and he is NEVER going to agree with me, but he holds his own in mostly civil discourse--at least for USMB-- and that's all I expect from anybody on a message board. You're lucky you only got blessed out and not neg repped in return. (Though that might be coming.)

 

[Pogo]

Yes, you're right. The 8-year contract was with Premiere. (I shouldn't work from memory on stuff that happened five years ago.)
But it was a $400 million dollar contract through 2016.

As the second largest media conglomerate of FM and AM radio stations though, do you really believe Cumulus will voluntarily give up the No #1 nationally rated syndicated show? Rush indeed may have the clout to refuse to do business with them, but I don't see Cumulus choosing to give up Rush to their competition and probably their #2 spot. And I sure don't see their station managers wanting to lose their high ratings when they can no longer run his program.

I'm always right, Foxy, you know that by now...

What Cumulus will do, damned if I know but just as this fantasy of Lush "refusing to do business with them", it will be driven by money, we can count on that. Now Cumulus has complained that Lush is costing them... it seems to me if they were planning to renew the contract, that wouldn' t be wise, whereas if they were planning to let it go, it would make more sense. Meanwhile Lush has made noises about taking his ball and going home. Given the positions of those players, I'd give Rush as much credence as I give the rest of his bloviating. He's just not in a position to do that.

Then again perhaps Cumulus is baiting Premiere to dump them so that they can cut their losses sooner. That would make sense too.

But if Cumulus' complaints are to be believed, it doesn't matter what the ratings are. Ratings, as you well know, are the measuring stick that tells the station how much they can sell ads for. But if you have advertisers shunning the program, all the ratings in the world won't sell ads. And since ads are money and money is the bottom line, well do the math. Ad revenue from low ratings still beats no ad revenue from high ratings.

Again, that's all either party will say, so we'll see at the end of the year.

You probably didn't read the OP did you.

? Of course I did. Long time ago, along with other stories, both in threads here and elsewhere. I follow this stuff y'know. It's what we've been talking about. What did I miss?




And about Dong-knife and his dirty laundry, the post he negged was #362. He conveniently seems to have left that part out since it wasn't exactly neggable. And of coarse I dumbed down the dialogue to a level he could understand, although his repost considerably "enhances" the PM. He then began sending a stream of PMs that make no discernible sense and I won't bore y'all with 'em, but as you say Foxy, haters gonna hate. And neggers gonna neg. The last neg I got was for contributing the address of the building that collapsed in Philadelphia. I don't try to figure these idiots out any more.... (/offtopic)

 

[Pogo]

Ratings are money to radio, as long as Rush is the most listened to talk radio show in the country, he will have a place on the radio. We be retires, he will retire as the man that changed radio. Love him, hate him, he was a radio pioneer.

Unless, again, those ratings don't translate to ads because of the ad buyers' exclusions.

What Rush Limbaugh Costs Cumulus Media (not new, I think we did this before)

But there's no question he'll be a guy that changed radio. He already is.

 

[Ernie S.]

Did you not read the link in the OP? Rush's ad revenue is back up to pre-Fluke levels. It is HE that is considering severing his relationship with Cumulus. Spin that however you like, but that's the facts, Jack.

 

[Pogo]

Did you not read the link in the OP? Rush's ad revenue is back up to pre-Fluke levels. It is HE that is considering severing his relationship with Cumulus. Spin that however you like, but that's the facts, Jack.

I did read the OP, and we did this before. No I don't see where the guy says ad revenue is up to pre-Fluke levels; I do see where he says they've "bounced back" and are "doing very well", and as I pointed out way way back in this thread, the guy talking is "Premiere Radio senior vice president and director of talk radio sales Dan Metter" -- the guy who sells the program, addressing his potential buyers. Of course he's going to spin it positively. I might add, when he says they're doing well, he's just mentioned Hannity and George Noori and Randi Rhodes; the collective. He's not talking Limbaugh at that point. He's talking "we" (meaning Premier, the whole roster of talkers).

(Is this what you meant by "did I read the OP", Foxy?)

And the same article also says that Cumulus, as we've also noted here, says they've been losing on Limbaugh. Neither one of course gives figures, nor would we expect them to. But no, I don't see that evidence in there. Spin is spin and specifics are absent.

As far as Limbaugh taking his ball and going home he can bluster whatever he likes but the fact remains, Premiere draws up the contracts with stations, not him. That's what a syndicator does. If a baseball pitcher declares he's not going to the bullpen, and the manager sends him there, guess what-- he's going to the bullpen whether he likes it or not.

I think what's needed here, Ernie, is a healthy skepticism. I've got lots extra here if you want it.

 

[JoeB131]

[

You DO realize that Rush's audience will follow him, should he choose to leave Cumulus.

I'm sure some of them will. But he'll end up on stations like WIND, which you can't get more than 20 miles outside Chicago.

His Audience isn't the point. His ability to sell commercial time at rates to support his 25 million dollar a year salary is. Right now, he isn't doing that. Nowhere close.

 

[Papageorgio]

Ratings are money to radio, as long as Rush is the most listened to talk radio show in the country, he will have a place on the radio. We be retires, he will retire as the man that changed radio. Love him, hate him, he was a radio pioneer.

Unless, again, those ratings don't translate to ads because of the ad buyers' exclusions.

What Rush Limbaugh Costs Cumulus Media (not new, I think we did this before)

But there's no question he'll be a guy that changed radio. He already is.

And their revenue has rebounded on Rush's show as the chairman pointed out. So it sounds like two people negotiating for money. Big deal, he'll sign up again. Huckabee doesn't have near the audience.

 

[Papageorgio]

[

You DO realize that Rush's audience will follow him, should he choose to leave Cumulus.

I'm sure some of them will. But he'll end up on stations like WIND, which you can't get more than 20 miles outside Chicago.

His Audience isn't the point. His ability to sell commercial time at rates to support his 25 million dollar a year salary is. Right now, he isn't doing that. Nowhere close.

According to the Cumulus chairman, his advertising dollars have rebounded.

 

[Pogo]

Ratings are money to radio, as long as Rush is the most listened to talk radio show in the country, he will have a place on the radio. We be retires, he will retire as the man that changed radio. Love him, hate him, he was a radio pioneer.

Unless, again, those ratings don't translate to ads because of the ad buyers' exclusions.

What Rush Limbaugh Costs Cumulus Media (not new, I think we did this before)

But there's no question he'll be a guy that changed radio. He already is.

And their revenue has rebounded on Rush's show as the chairman pointed out. So it sounds like two people negotiating for money. Big deal, he'll sign up again. Huckabee doesn't have near the audience.

Actually that's not what he said. He said the company's ad sales have rebounded. And then he pointed out that (a) talk radio overall represents about 10% of the revenue, and (b) that most of the stations' income comes from drive time (which is not Rush territory). As far as Rush's numbers, he declined to comment.

Huckabee doesn't have near the audience, no. But he is on the air as of last year so he's got a basis of something like 200 stations, and he's their own product (Cumulus distributes the Huckabee show). So if I were a betting man I think I'd have enough to play this one...

 

[Papageorgio]

Unless, again, those ratings don't translate to ads because of the ad buyers' exclusions.

What Rush Limbaugh Costs Cumulus Media (not new, I think we did this before)

But there's no question he'll be a guy that changed radio. He already is.

And their revenue has rebounded on Rush's show as the chairman pointed out. So it sounds like two people negotiating for money. Big deal, he'll sign up again. Huckabee doesn't have near the audience.

Actually that's not what he said. He said the company's ad sales have rebounded. And then he pointed out that (a) talk radio overall represents about 10% of the revenue, and (b) that most of the stations' income comes from drive time (which is not Rush territory). As far as Rush's numbers, he declined to comment.

Huckabee doesn't have near the audience, no. But he is on the air as of last year so he's got a basis of something like 200 stations, and he's their own product (Cumulus distributes the Huckabee show). So if I were a betting man I think I'd have enough to play this one...

That's not what I heard, but Limbaugh can also go to Clear Channel. Play it, I don't care for Huckabee, his voice grates on me, but I don't listen to Rush either.

 

[Pogo]

And their revenue has rebounded on Rush's show as the chairman pointed out. So it sounds like two people negotiating for money. Big deal, he'll sign up again. Huckabee doesn't have near the audience.

Actually that's not what he said. He said the company's ad sales have rebounded. And then he pointed out that (a) talk radio overall represents about 10% of the revenue, and (b) that most of the stations' income comes from drive time (which is not Rush territory). As far as Rush's numbers, he declined to comment.

Huckabee doesn't have near the audience, no. But he is on the air as of last year so he's got a basis of something like 200 stations, and he's their own product (Cumulus distributes the Huckabee show). So if I were a betting man I think I'd have enough to play this one...

That's not what I heard, but Limbaugh can also go to Clear Channel. Play it, I don't care for Huckabee, his voice grates on me, but I don't listen to Rush either.

Actually he already works for ClearChannel -- they own Premier. They also own radio stations. So in some markets he's on a Clear Channel station while Cumulus is the competition; in others it's the other way around. It's complicated.

Premiere negotiates contracts with either individual stations or, like Cumulus, a group. If Cumulus walks they'll have to make them up with individual stations or another group. They'll have to play catch-up.

 

[JoeB131]

Papa, you know , they aren't hiring for Iraqi INformation Minister anymore.

 

[Ernie S.]

Did you not read the link in the OP? Rush's ad revenue is back up to pre-Fluke levels. It is HE that is considering severing his relationship with Cumulus. Spin that however you like, but that's the facts, Jack.

I did read the OP, and we did this before. No I don't see where the guy says ad revenue is up to pre-Fluke levels; I do see where he says they've "bounced back" and are "doing very well", and as I pointed out way way back in this thread, the guy talking is "Premiere Radio senior vice president and director of talk radio sales Dan Metter" -- the guy who sells the program, addressing his potential buyers. Of course he's going to spin it positively. I might add, when he says they're doing well, he's just mentioned Hannity and George Noori and Randi Rhodes; the collective. He's not talking Limbaugh at that point. He's talking "we" (meaning Premier, the whole roster of talkers).

(Is this what you meant by "did I read the OP", Foxy?)

And the same article also says that Cumulus, as we've also noted here, says they've been losing on Limbaugh. Neither one of course gives figures, nor would we expect them to. But no, I don't see that evidence in there. Spin is spin and specifics are absent.

As far as Limbaugh taking his ball and going home he can bluster whatever he likes but the fact remains, Premiere draws up the contracts with stations, not him. That's what a syndicator does. If a baseball pitcher declares he's not going to the bullpen, and the manager sends him there, guess what-- he's going to the bullpen whether he likes it or not.

I think what's needed here, Ernie, is a healthy skepticism. I've got lots extra here if you want it.

Spin it however you want. You're making me dizzy.

 

[Papageorgio]

Papa, you know , they aren't hiring for Iraqi INformation Minister anymore.

Great! You finally got your job! Congrats!

 

[blastoff]

Yes, you're right. The 8-year contract was with Premiere. (I shouldn't work from memory on stuff that happened five years ago.)
But it was a $400 million dollar contract through 2016.

As the second largest media conglomerate of FM and AM radio stations though, do you really believe Cumulus will voluntarily give up the No #1 nationally rated syndicated show? Rush indeed may have the clout to refuse to do business with them, but I don't see Cumulus choosing to give up Rush to their competition and probably their #2 spot. And I sure don't see their station managers wanting to lose their high ratings when they can no longer run his program.

I'm always right, Foxy, you know that by now...

What Cumulus will do, damned if I know but just as this fantasy of Lush "refusing to do business with them", it will be driven by money, we can count on that. Now Cumulus has complained that Lush is costing them... it seems to me if they were planning to renew the contract, that wouldn' t be wise, whereas if they were planning to let it go, it would make more sense. Meanwhile Lush has made noises about taking his ball and going home. Given the positions of those players, I'd give Rush as much credence as I give the rest of his bloviating. He's just not in a position to do that.

Then again perhaps Cumulus is baiting Premiere to dump them so that they can cut their losses sooner. That would make sense too.

But if Cumulus' complaints are to be believed, it doesn't matter what the ratings are. Ratings, as you well know, are the measuring stick that tells the station how much they can sell ads for. But if you have advertisers shunning the program, all the ratings in the world won't sell ads. And since ads are money and money is the bottom line, well do the math. Ad revenue from low ratings still beats no ad revenue from high ratings.

Again, that's all either party will say, so we'll see at the end of the year.

And, to all - as some posted on this forum, it's amazing how some posters react to negative reputations. Just received this from Pogo =

Re: New reputation!
Quote: Originally Posted by longknife
Hi, you have received -256 reputation points from longknife.
Reputation was given for this post.

Comment:
Do you ever stop being a grumpy lefty?

Regards,
longknife

Note: This is an automated message.
Are you ******* shittin' me??

I put out a neutral analysis of a radio contract and you see "grumpy lefty"?? Are you insane?

Count on return fire. And it'll hurt you more than me.

Dumbass.

Notice the erudite prose?

Uh-oh...another cyber tough guy.

Used to be a dime a dozen but they're highly discounted these days.

 

[Foxfyre]

Ratings are money to radio, as long as Rush is the most listened to talk radio show in the country, he will have a place on the radio. We be retires, he will retire as the man that changed radio. Love him, hate him, he was a radio pioneer.

From what I have been reading, Cumulus is second in number of stations with 580 stations behind Clear Channel's 900 stations and is third in revenue behind Clear Channel and CBS radio. That is because Cumulus has not claimed anywhere near the market share the other two radio conglomerates command. Because Rush can command a slot on the #1 stations, Cumulus carries him only on about 40 stations. It is theorized that Cumulus is hoping to use Huckabee to carve out their own #1 niche by running him opposite Rush in the same time slot or replacing Rush with Huckabee.

A Premiere exec was recently quoted as wishing Huckabee the best of success. But if Rush loses a few stations, they have lots of other places to put him.

Limbaugh's annual income, based in part on licensing fees for his show, is estimated by industry sources at $50 million.

Calls to Clear Channel for comment were referred to Premiere Networks, the company that syndicates Limbaugh's program.

"Rush Limbaugh continues to be the No. 1 talk radio host in America," a Premiere spokesperson said in a statement, noting that all his long-term sponsors remain with his show. "Mike Huckabee is the latest in a long line of those who have attempted to compete with Rush. We wish him the best with his new show."

A source familiar with Premiere's thinking put it more bluntly: "We have 900 stations. If Rush gets removed from a few, we have plenty of other places to put him."

Huckabee vs Limbaugh: Cumulus aims at Clear Channel | Reuters

At $50 million a year, and Rush getting up there at or close to normal retirement age, he certainly has more money stashed back than he can possibly spend in the rest of his life. He doesn't have to do the grind of a weekly radio show. In fact, he is winding down and uses guest hosts quite a bit these days which frees him up to go do other things he loves to do. Why does he continue to do it? Because he is so good at it and he is still having fun.

But the haters still wet their pants in excitement that Rush might lose an advertiser or be cancelled by a radio station. Their whole joy in life seems to revolve around seeing somebody they hate punished, hurt, or destroyed. And as several have already said, the day that Rush does step down from the golden microphone, they will with one voice cheer and rejoice that Ma-ha Rushie has failed after 25 to 30 years of the greatest success radio has ever seen.

 

[Pogo]

Ratings are money to radio, as long as Rush is the most listened to talk radio show in the country, he will have a place on the radio. We be retires, he will retire as the man that changed radio. Love him, hate him, he was a radio pioneer.

From what I have been reading, Cumulus is second in number of stations with 580 stations behind Clear Channel's 900 stations and is third in revenue behind Clear Channel and CBS radio. That is because Cumulus has not claimed anywhere near the market share the other two radio conglomerates command. Because Rush can command a slot on the #1 stations, Cumulus carries him only on about 40 stations. It is theorized that Cumulus is hoping to use Huckabee to carve out their own #1 niche by running him opposite Rush in the same time slot or replacing Rush with Huckabee.

That's what I've been saying here the whole time.

As far as ClearChannel, that number is very much in flux; when the infamous Telecommunications Act of 1996 got signed by the spineless jellyfish Bill Clinton, they bought up 1200 stations (a fact which by itself should have had all of us rioting in the streets) but their eyes were bigger than their stomachs and they soon found themselves top-heavy and losing money big time, which is why Mitt Romney's Bain Capital bought them up.

As far as the current number, here's the latest Wiki info:
>> The following is a list of radio stations currently owned by Clear Channel Communications. Of these stations, 448 of the stations which are outside the Top 100 DMA markets, plus another 91 stations which may or may not be in the top 100 DMAs are for sale. The TV stations formerly owned by Clear Channel were sold to Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm, on April 23, 2007, with the deal closing in late November 2007. 185 radio stations were to have been sold to GoodRadio.TV LLC until the sale fell apart over financing.,[1][2] and another 177 stations have been sold to other entities.[3] Another 201 stations are up for sale.[4] <<

-- make what math you will of that. I wouldn't want to pin it down.

A Premiere exec was recently quoted as wishing Huckabee the best of success. But if Rush loses a few stations, they have lots of other places to put him.

Limbaugh's annual income, based in part on licensing fees for his show, is estimated by industry sources at $50 million.

Calls to Clear Channel for comment were referred to Premiere Networks, the company that syndicates Limbaugh's program.

"Rush Limbaugh continues to be the No. 1 talk radio host in America," a Premiere spokesperson said in a statement, noting that all his long-term sponsors remain with his show. "Mike Huckabee is the latest in a long line of those who have attempted to compete with Rush. We wish him the best with his new show."

A source familiar with Premiere's thinking put it more bluntly: "We have 900 stations. If Rush gets removed from a few, we have plenty of other places to put him."

Huckabee vs Limbaugh: Cumulus aims at Clear Channel | Reuters

Well, not really. Premiere doesn't own any stations. ClearChannel owns them -- and as noted above, many of them are in a fire sale, which puts a wrinkle. So that's what he must mean by "we". But those stations still have to compete against Limblob in the event that he's contracted to one of their competitors owned by somebody else. Around here I've got one CC station broadcasting righties while another CC station broadcasts the lefties, in the same market. It's done on an individual basis.

At $50 million a year, and Rush getting up there at or close to normal retirement age, he certainly has more money stashed back than he can possibly spend in the rest of his life. He doesn't have to do the grind of a weekly radio show. In fact, he is winding down and uses guest hosts quite a bit these days which frees him up to go do other things he loves to do. Why does he continue to do it? Because he is so good at it and he is still having fun.

But the haters still wet their pants in excitement that Rush might lose an advertiser or be cancelled by a radio station. Their whole joy in life seems to revolve around seeing somebody they hate punished, hurt, or destroyed. And as several have already said, the day that Rush does step down from the golden microphone, they will with one voice cheer and rejoice that Ma-ha Rushie has failed after 25 to 30 years of the greatest success radio has ever seen.

Methinks you're projecting emotions again, but I do see that you're still defining "success" in a narrow definition of money.

Not everything is about money. Just sayin'.