Mediaite Learns Rush And Hannity Have 48 Hours To Stop Cumulus From Dropping Them

On Sunday evening, it was reported that Cumulus Radio Networks plans to drop Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity by year’s end after negotiations with the two conservative hosts’ distributor went sour.

On Monday afternoon, Mediaite has learned, from sources within the radio business, that Limbaugh and Hannity have “48 hours to stop Cumulus from dropping them.” In the meantime, however, we’ve confirmed that Cumulus has, indeed, begun shopping around for new talent to replace the big-ticketed talkers in Hannity and Limbaugh.

According to our industry source, Cumulus has started telling talent agents, eager to get their clients into these prime slots, that they will begin serious discussions with them “after this month” — meaning Thursday morning, the first day of August.

Limbaugh seemingly admitted the potential end of his term with Cumulus today while reassuring his audience that they will still be able to find him on the radio on many, if not more, stations than ever before. “Nothing is going to change,” he said of the news. “Everything’s cool.”

Our own Noah Rothman noted as much earlier today, writing that the Cumulus/Premiere dispute has nothing to do with Limbaugh’s controversial politics, but rather a very public disagreement over syndication. As Rothman and others within the industry have noted, despite Cumulus’ declaration that they will drop Limbaugh and Hannity by year’s end, a deal can still be worked out within the next few days.

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