Lew Dickey Talks Talk, Limbaugh On Bloomberg's 'In The Loop'

Dickey On TV

CUMULUS Chairman/Pres./CEO LEW DICKEY sat for a brief interview with BLOOMBERG TV's "IN THE LOOP" on THURSDAY (5/9) in which he discussed his company's public tussle with RUSH LIMBAUGH over placing the blame for its Talk radio revenue woes on the PREMIERE NETWORKS host.

Asked by host BETTY LIU how much of its advertising losses are attributable to LIMBAUGH in the wake of the SANDRA FLUKE controversy, DICKEY put it "in the millions of dollars," saying that News/Talk, representing about 10% of his company's business, "took a hit ... because of those events."

He said that the News/Talk stations are growing again, but when asked about LIMBAUGH's objections to being blamed for the losses, DICKEY said, "sometimes contracts can get negotiated in public.  We prefer not to do that ... We have the premier Talk distribution platform in the U.S. and if you want to be on a big stage in this game, you need to be on our radio stations in the largest markets.  They're the biggest signals, the heritage brands, and everybody knows that."

DICKEY would not comment on whether CUMULUS wants to renew LIMBAUGH or what LIMBAUGH earns for his stations, although he said that more than half of the station's revenue comes from morning drive and referenced advertisers who want to avoid certain shows.

View the interview here.

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