• by Erik Sass , July 29, 2013

The saga of Cumulus Media and Rush Limbaugh, which has been made up so far of equal parts fact and rumor, continued in that vein this week with reports that either Cumulus is dropping Limbaugh, Limbaugh is dropping Cumulus, or -- most likely -- that both sides are engaging in some white-knuckle bluffing as part of their contract negotiations.

Politico.com first reported that Cumulus Media is planning to drop Limbaugh’s show from over 40 radio stations around the country by the end of the year, citing an “industry source” familiar with the negotiations. The list of affected stations includes WABC (Limbaugh’s flagship station) in New York City as well as big stations in Chicago, Dallas, and Washington D.C.

The decision supposedly followed Cumulus' failure to secure favorable terms for distribution rights from Premiere Networks, the Clear Channel Radio division responsible for producing and syndicating Limbaugh’s show. Industry watchers speculate that if Cumulus drops Limbaugh, the latter may end up moving to WABC's NYC rival, WOR, which was acquired by Clear Channel last year. Or he can probably switch to Clear Channel stations in other markets where he was previously carried by Cumulus.

As noted, this is just the latest in a series of spats played out semi-publicly, and with few solid details, between Limbaugh and Cumulus. Two months ago, rumors circulated that Limbaugh was preparing to leave Cumulus, after Cumulus boss Lew Dickey blamed the conservative talk show host for a decline in advertising revenue that he attributed to an advertiser boycott directed against him in the wake of several controversies.

Unnamed Cumulus executives responded to Limbaugh's criticism of Dickey in May of this year by releasing an internal memo which stated that 48 out of the top 50 national advertisers had excluded Limbaugh and fellow conservative talker Sean Hannity from their ad-buy orders.

Limbaugh's show has been boycotted by a number of big national advertisers ever since his controversial comments about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, following her testimony to Congress in March 2012. Recently, CVS, Disney on Ice, Aamco and fast-food chain Bojangles all pulled their advertising as well, sometimes after prompting by left-leaning activists.