Rush Limbaugh Talks About New Cumulus Deal

Transcript From Friday August 24: 

The last month, if you read Politico or anything that linked to Politico or CNN or ABC or anywhere else, you were reading that it was over for me. That I was bad news for broadcast stations. They could not sell advertising and all of this was because of me and the controversy I engender and therefore I wasn't gonna be gone overnight, but three to four years, and that's it.  Fini, totala completa, out of there, gone. Once and for all the left would be rid of me. 

We're on 600 radio stations, and the way that was gonna happen was that a group owner, Cumulus Media, was going to cancel their contract with me on 35 of their radio stations, and that was going to end my career because one of those 35 was WABC in New York and WLS in Chicago and WMAL in Washington and WBAP in Dallas and WJR in Detroit and other such large markets.  And once that happens, sayonara, I'm in everybody's rearview mirror. 

This has been going on for a year.  We have negotiations with every radio station that carries the program, every group owner.  These negotiations just happened to end up in the public.  But the media believed everything that was being said because they wanted to.  And the image, I guess, that was created was that my heyday was gone, it was over with, and if you listen to me now, you better like it while you can, because you're not gonna be able to at the end of the year, 'cause I'm gonna be gone. 

Well, let's see.  On either Wednesday night or Thursday, we completed our negotiations with Cumulus Media, and there will not be any changes.  I will continue to be on their radio stations for the next three years.  It was really never in doubt, but I don't want to do my own version of negotiating here.  The only change that's going to happen is that on January 1st we are going to leave WABC and move to WOR in New York.  My syndication partner is Clear Channel Communications, and they own WOR, and so we're gonna go to our own radio station in New York.  And this has been mutually agreed to. 

The bottom line is, no change for you.  Wherever you're listening to this radio show today, you're gonna be able to hear it on January 2nd, 3rd, whenever I get back from the traditional Christmas break.  There will be no interruption to you.  There will be no change.  The radio program is as strong or stronger than ever.  It will be everywhere you are used to listening to it now.  If you like this station, you get to keep this station.  I'm not gonna take this station away from you and force you to go to a new one.