It was the deal of the century.

Rush Limbaugh’ signed an eight-year, $400-million deal in the summer of 2008 with his longtime radio employer Premiere Radio Networks.

That was then.

This year, his contract is up and the timing couldn’t be worse. The talker is facing ratings hurdles, aging demographics, and an advertising community that increasingly views him as toxic, thanks in part to his days-long sexist meltdown over Sandra Fluke in 2012. (He’s also stumbling through the GOP primary season.)

Concurrently, iHeartRadio’s parent company, iHeartMedia, is heading to court, teetering on bankruptcy. The once-dominant radio behemoth is saddled with $20 billion in debt, thanks to a misguided leveraged takeover engineered by Bain Capital in 2008, the same year the radio giant inked its disastrous Limbaugh deal.

“Who would even want someone whose audience is aging and is considered toxic to many advertisers,” asked RadioInsight last year.

Some industry insiders are wondering if his AM days are over....

(Does anyone north of the Mason Dixon line still listen to AM Radio?)

....and if Limbaugh’s futures rest with satellite radio, where advertiser indifference wouldn’t penalize him.

Darryl Parks a former talk radio host, programmer, and self-identified Republican:
"The problem? His audience is so old. “With the aging and decline of Limbaugh’s audience, Sirius may not be as viable an option as it once was".

Last edited by DollyLongstaff (4/15/2016 7:09 am)