The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: CC27 on May 07, 2009, 04:42:33 PM
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madfloridian (1000+ posts) Thu May-07-09 03:31 PM
Original message
Clear Channel laying off thousands while giving Limbaugh $38 million a year.
I wonder how some of those laid off radio hosts, producers, directors, anchors....feel about that?
From Media Matters:
Clear Channel implodes while Rush Limbaugh lives large
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v86/slc987/rush-1.jpg)
Drowning under massive debt and desperate to cut more costs, Clear Channel took an ax to its payroll -- again -- and hacked hundreds of radio pros out the door. Program directors, morning show hosts, production pros, news anchors -- all of them tossed over the side. A "bloodbath," one newspaper called it. (In Albany, New York, the entire on-air staff at a Clear Channel music station was sacked; same with a radio outpost in Exeter, New Hampshire)
The most recent blizzard of pink slips (one industry report pegged it at "nearly 1,000") came in the wake of a January purge, in which 1,850 Clear Channel employees were let go. So already this year the company has shed nearly 3,000 employees, or 12 percent of its workforce. Also, last week, Clear Channel's parent company announced it was suspending its matching contributions to employee 401(k) retirement programs.
Clear Channel, the conservative-friendly media behemoth with a soft spot for right-wing radio -- and which emerged earlier this decade as the poster child for everything that's wrong with runaway media consolidation (aka "The Evil Empire") -- is now hanging on for dear life. "It's a house of cards," radio watcher and Clear Channel expert Alec Foege recently told me, noting the company's crippling debt payments, which are due at a time when advertising revenues are vanishing. (Foege is author of 2008's Right of the Dial: The Rise of Clear Channel and the Fall of Commercial Radio.)
But what about Rush Limbaugh?
And yet Clear Channel's most famous employee, Rush Limbaugh, remains oblivious to it all. I sometimes wonder what Limbaugh thinks when he reads about the not-so-slow-motion collapse of his radio employer while lounging in his 24,000-square-foot Florida estate or motoring in his $450,000 car to the airport to ride in his $54 million jet. Does Limbaugh feel bad? Does he feel a little guilty? And does he ever think about giving some of his riches back so that thousands of radio colleagues wouldn't have to be bounced to the curb?
And I wonder what those pink-slipped Clear Channel employees -- some of whom spent decades working for the company -- think about Limbaugh as they're ordered out the station door and onto "the beach." (That's radio-speak for unemployment.)
Did you know that on that in addition to the 24,000 square foot estate in Palm Beach that there are 4 more homes on the property and 6 cars worth about half a million each? I wonder if that has sunk in to those radio hosts who got laid off, to the producers and directors of their shows?
Rush Limbaugh...5 homes in Palm Beach, 6 cars about half a million each.
“ANTICIPATING A QUESTION,†Limbaugh said when we pulled into the garage of his secluded beachfront mansion in Palm Beach, “why do I have so many cars?â€
I hadn’t actually been wondering that. Very rich people tend not to stint on transportation. For example, we drove to the house from the studio, Limbaugh at the wheel, in a black Maybach 57S, which runs around $450,000 fully loaded. He had half a dozen similar rides on his estate.
“I have these cars for two reasons,†Limbaugh said. “First, they are for the use of my guests. And two, I happen to love fine automobiles.â€
He also loves space. There are five homes — all of them his — on the property. The big house is 24,000 square feet. Limbaugh lives there with a cat. He’s been married three times but has no children.
Limbaugh informed me that I was the first journalist ever to enter his home. Mary Matalin, the Republican consultant, calls the place “aspirational,†which is one adjective that fits. The place, largely designed by Limbaugh himself, reflects the things and places he has seen and admired. The massive chandelier in the dining room, for example, is a replica of the one that hung in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel in New York. The gleaming cherry-wood floors are dotted with hand-woven oriental carpets. A life-size oil portrait of El Rushbo, as he often calls himself on the air, hangs on the wall of the main staircase.
In a recent interview with Rush Limbaugh Barbara Walters pointed out that the new contract he just signed is worth $38 million a year.
Video from ABC of Walters and Limbaugh
Dummies are not happy. :-)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5612237
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DUmmies are never happy. In fact, I would bet if a DUmmie ever did become happy he would no longer be a DUmmie.
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Hmmmm...because he's worth far more to CC than the $38M a year he gets? Ever think of the ad revenue a host that pulls in 25 million listeners a week generates?
And Exeter, NH? I didn't even KNOW they had a radio station there.
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... Limbaugh at the wheel, in a black Maybach 57S ...
Nice car.
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When Clear Channel gave Limbaugh that contract, and even after, DU condemned them as a whole. Now they're championing lower-level employees?
Observe:
Results 1 - 10 of about 80 from democraticunderground.com for "**** clear channel". (0.38 seconds)
Took less than a half of a second to find 80 instances of but one phrase.
Where was DU then?
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Hmmmm...because he's worth far more to CC than the $38M a year he gets? Ever think of the ad revenue a host that pulls in 25 million listeners a week generates?
And Exeter, NH? I didn't even KNOW they had a radio station there.
And know you know why a DUmmie would never be successful in business. If they were in charge they would get rid of Rush, distribute his 38M salary among the low level employees and then go out of business due to not having a product to sell.
Kind of like the Angry Carpenter DUmmie that needed cash so he sold his truck and tools.
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First of all, Limbaugh is not an employee of Clear Channel. As an independent contractor, Rush Limbaugh signed a contract with Clear Channel to utilize their radio network of which he drives profits for Clear Channel in the form of radio advertising. Rush makes money for Clear Channel. Clear Channel, as a separate entity, made the business decision to acquire the radio stations and build their national network. Any debt service on the purchases is Clear Channel responsibility, not Mr Limbaugh.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/business/media/03radio.html?ref=business
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And know you know why a DUmmie would never be successful in business. If they were in charge they would get rid of Rush, distribute his 38M salary among the low level employees and then go out of business due to not having a product to sell.
Kind of like the Angry Carpenter DUmmie that needed cash so he sold his truck and tools.
You have to be sh*ting me. :thatsright:
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BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :rotf: :lmao:
csziggy (1000+ posts) Thu May-07-09 08:41 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. Let's dream big - Clear Channel goes into bankruptcy, Soros buys it
Changes all the right wing talk shows to liberal talk shows. Forces Limbaugh to be fairer about his talk format (assuming Soros can't get out of the Clear Channel contract). Limbaugh and a high percentage of his listeners end up with exploding brain syndrome...
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You have to be sh*ting me. :thatsright:
Nope. It's true.
At least that's what the primitive alleged he did, for whatever it's worth.
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BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :rotf: :lmao:
csziggy (1000+ posts) Thu May-07-09 08:41 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. Let's dream big - Clear Channel goes into bankruptcy, Soros buys it
Changes all the right wing talk shows to liberal talk shows. Forces Limbaugh to be fairer about his talk format (assuming Soros can't get out of the Clear Channel contract). Limbaugh and a high percentage of his listeners end up with exploding brain syndrome...
I understand Rupert Murdoch has something like that in mind for the New York Times. :uhsure:
Seriously. Force Limbaugh to be "fair"? I swear, force is the only chance the liberals have to get their way. It sure as Hell will get them nowhere trying out their capacity for reason.
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ClearChannel also runs Coast to Coast AM. What will the loony night-owls do when they have to get their George Noory and Art Bell fixes? :tinfoil2:
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ClearChannel also runs Coast to Coast AM. What will the loony night-owls do when they have to get their George Noory and Art Bell fixes? :tinfoil2:
Hey now, I resemble that remark :p Not that I actually believe much of it, it can be quite entertaining if rarely informative. What could be better than playing Nintendo Wii at midnight while listening to George Noory interviewing Doctor Doom or listen to Richard Hoagland's misplaced worship of 0bama and Hoagland's bizarre belief that the Messiah is a space visionary ala JFK? Last night, I think it was, George was talking to some guy who said in terms of vision, George W. Bush's 2004 space challenge was much more visionary than Kennedy's "go to the moon by the end of the decade" and nothing really beyond that.
Anyway, radio is great, theater of the mind.
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Yet they never get the relationship of this:
Dodgers' Manny Ramirez suspended 50 games after failing drug test http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-manny-ramirez8-2009may08,0,6324894.story
I remember going to Dodger games in the early 90s for $5 in lodge. Now it is $40 and Rush is still free.
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Hey now, I resemble that remark :p Not that I actually believe much of it, it can be quite entertaining if rarely informative. What could be better than playing Nintendo Wii at midnight while listening to George Noory interviewing Doctor Doom or listen to Richard Hoagland's misplaced worship of 0bama and Hoagland's bizarre belief that the Messiah is a space visionary ala JFK? Last night, I think it was, George was talking to some guy who said in terms of vision, George W. Bush's 2004 space challenge was much more visionary than Kennedy's "go to the moon by the end of the decade" and nothing really beyond that.
Anyway, radio is great, theater of the mind.
:rofl: I'm one of those night owls, too.
I can't stand Richard Hoagland.
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:rofl: I'm one of those night owls, too.
I can't stand Richard Hoagland.
I used to not be able to stand Doctor Doom because he's such a freaking downer but I've learned to entertain myself by counting the number of hits George will attribute to him and how much twisting is needed to give him a hit.
I remember when Art was still hosting and Doctor Doom predicted the jet stream would hit the deck and some canister from outer space was crashing on the African continent spreading some killer space fungus. But when you take a step back and view it as all entertainment it takes on the element of humor.
Just imagine how many DUmmies Art and George have gazing up at "chemtrails" thus keeping them from more serious mischief. That show is a freaking public service.
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I don't see what they are crying about. CC still has that cow Randy Rhodes. I went to their site and her ugly mug is right up there on top.
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First of all, Limbaugh is not an employee of Clear Channel. As an independent contractor, Rush Limbaugh signed a contract with Clear Channel to utilize their radio network of which he drives profits for Clear Channel in the form of radio advertising. Rush makes money for Clear Channel. Clear Channel, as a separate entity, made the business decision to acquire the radio stations and build their national network. Any debt service on the purchases is Clear Channel responsibility, not Mr Limbaugh.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/business/media/03radio.html?ref=business
You got it! Hell, I can guarandamnteeya 'ol Rushbo owns a heck of a piece of Clear Channel!
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csziggy (1000+ posts) Thu May-07-09 08:41 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. Let's dream big - Clear Channel goes into bankruptcy, Soros buys it
Changes all the right wing talk shows to liberal talk shows. Forces Limbaugh to be fairer about his talk format (assuming Soros can't get out of the Clear Channel contract). Limbaugh and a high percentage of his listeners end up with exploding brain syndrome...
OK DUmmie, I'll play your silly little game. Soros buys CC, makes them switch formats. Hannity et al, including Rush(if he can get out of the contract with CC), go to a different syndication network, maybe westwood 1, taking their listeners with them (probably advertisers too). CC goes further down the shitter due to lack of product that anyone wants to listen to, and Soros loses a bundle. Couldn't happen to a more deserving assclown.
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Good Lord! Rush is getting really big again! :o He needs to get back to the gym carrying that weight at his age is not good!
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Toast, may be an old picture. Two days ago he said he was down 42 pounds, so he's on it.
Angry Carpenter was one of the first DUmmies I was exposed to when I joined here. He was crying in his beer on the DU, no money, no money. The DUmmies start giving advice, and one even offered him work, if he could transport himself there. Then it came out "the thing of it is, I had to sell my tools cause I needed the money." "Well, you see, I had to sell my truck and just drive a little beater, so I can't really get there."
I got quite an education that day.
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You got it! Hell, I can guarandamnteeya 'ol Rushbo owns a heck of a piece of Clear Channel!
I don't know......I do know that Clear Channel went private.
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csziggy (1000+ posts) Thu May-07-09 08:41 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. Let's dream big - Clear Channel goes into bankruptcy, Soros buys it
Changes all the right wing talk shows to liberal talk shows. Forces Limbaugh to be fairer about his talk format (assuming Soros can't get out of the Clear Channel contract). Limbaugh and a high percentage of his listeners end up with exploding brain syndrome...
Rush is a pretty smart guy. My guess is there's a stipulation in the contract that CC cannot control the content of his show. Rush would go elsewhere and CC would go under because NO ONE WANTS TO LISTEN TO LIBERAL TALK RADIO!!!!! Air America has been propped up so many times it's ridiculous. Even libs don't listen. The thing about radio is, if you don't like what you're hearing you can turn it off or change the channel. Radio is dependent on ad revenue. Kinda hard to sell your products if no one is listening to your sales pitch.
Cindie
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Rush is a pretty smart guy. My guess is there's a stipulation in the contract that CC cannot control the content of his show. Rush would go elsewhere and CC would go under because NO ONE WANTS TO LISTEN TO LIBERAL TALK RADIO!!!!! Air America has been propped up so many times it's ridiculous. Even libs don't listen. The thing about radio is, if you don't like what you're hearing you can turn it off or change the channel. Radio is dependent on ad revenue. Kinda hard to sell your products if no one is listening to your sales pitch.
Cindie
BINGO! If you really think about it, there just isn't that many dyed in the wool moonbats out there. Even lefties have their limits. Pretty hard to justify Air America when they have less than 1 million listners.
According to the DUmp, Randy Rhodes was the majority opine in America. Hmmmmm, I sure see how that worked out.