Thursday, December 5, 2013

CCM+E Is Moving Rush To New Stations In LA, SF

Rush Limbaugh
In a surprise move, Rush Limbaugh will soon have a new home in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

KFI 640 AM is losing the conservative host's three-hour show, long a fixture on the station, to KTLK 1150 AM, which owner CCM+E is hoping to pump up as an outlet exclusively dedicated to right-leaning talk, according to The LA Times.

The company will use Limbaugh's audience to anchor a retooled lineup for KTLK, which is being dubbed "The Patriot" and will also feature national shows by Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.

Clear Channel is making similar changes in San Francisco, where Limbaugh will leave its KKSF 910 AM, and move to KNEW 960 AM, which is also retooling its lineup as a destination for conservative audiences.

The changes start the first of 2014

KFI will switch to all-local programming, and the vacated Limbaugh block will be filled by hosts Bill Handel and Bill Carroll. Handel's show will run from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and Carroll's from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“The Patriot will be home to well-known hosts sharing the same conservative philosophical views and values, while KFI will be live and local all day long focusing mainly on the issues that affect Southern Californians,” Greg Ashlock, Clear Channel's market president for Los Angeles, said in a statement.

The Hollywood Reporter notes both KNEW and KTLK feature an array of talkers on both sides of the political spectrum, though presumably the ones who lean left will no longer be welcome after the two stations are rebranded.

Displacing liberal talkers with smaller audiences is nothing new to Limbaugh, who has been a thorn in the side of the left since taking his show national in 1988. He is the nation’s No. 1 talk-radio host, featured on 600 channels and attracting an audience of up to 20 million people per week. He also is a constant target of left-wing activists, with groups like Media Matters for America frequently issuing missives to journalists nationwide that outline the host's latest alleged transgression.

Also on Wednesday, the company confirmed previous reports that, in New York, Limbaugh will ditch 77 WABC 770 AM, run by Cumulus Media, for WOR 710 AM, which is owned by Clear Channel. That switch will also occur on Jan. 1.

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