Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity May Bolt Cumulus at End of The Year for Clear Channel

In a move that everyone saw coming, the nation's two most-listened to radio stations may be leaving the Cumulus Media Company for Clear Channel Communications. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are reportedly discussing taking their respective programs, "The Rush Limbaugh Show" and "The Sean Hannity Show," to greener pastures. Or perhaps in this case, redder pastures. 

Limbaugh and Hannity both work for Cumulus-owned WABC at the moment, but it appears that they'll be making the move to rival WOR, which was purchased last year by Clear Channel. Clear Channel also owns Premiere Networks, which syndicates both conservative talk shows. Essentially, Clear Channel is already syndicating the two programs, so it hopes to reap the benefits by signing the two hosts. Both Limbaugh and Hannity's contracts are reportedly ending at the end of 2013, and rumor has it that talks on a new contract between the two and Cumulus aren't going very well, with the two hosts demanding more than Cumulus is willing to give. 

There's no doubt that Limbaugh and Hannity bring in the viewers, but Cumulus has to weigh that against the controversy that the pair, particularly Limbaugh, are wont to incite. The host has always been a firebrand, but his liberal-baiting hit a peak during February 2012, when he made several disparaging comments about women's rights activist Sandra Fluke and her stance on birth control. Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey blamed Limbaugh for the loss of "millions" in dropped advertisers, and Limbaugh accused Dickey of blaming him for the poor performance of the advertising department (for what it's worth: the ad dept. didn't refer to anyone as a "slut" or a "prostitute" as far as we know). 

This is all just rumors for now, as neither Limbaugh's reps nor Cumulus would comment on the matter. Still, there's plenty of talk on who the potential replacements will be in the noon-3 slot on WABC. Speculation suggests Mike Huckabee, as well as Mark Levin and Michael Savage are the best options.