The New York Times reports that CBS’ 1210 WPHT Philadelphia will no longer serve as Rush Limbaugh’s affiliate in the market. The statement by CBS to the Times makes it clear that Premiere Radio Networks is pulling the affiliation from the station.
“Premiere recently notified WPHT they will be syndicating Rush Limbaugh on a new station in Philadelphia. As a result, we are pleased to be able to now showcase Michael, who is a well-known and acclaimed broadcaster in the market, in this new time period.â€
Michael is Michael Smerconish, the former WPHT morning host, who’s 12-3pm syndicated program has aired on tape delay from 3 to 6pm. The program will now move to a live clearance on the station.
The new home for Limbaugh in Philadelphia has not been disclosed. The likely destination is Merlin Media’s 106.9 WKDN, which as we reported last week is on the verge of debuting its new programming.
MattParker 
Joseph 
homerjay 
Chucky
WWDB: The Next Generation.
So much for FM News.
Could Clear Channel pull-off a surprise and flip one of it’s Philadelphia FM stations to talk??
A couple of years back, they yanked Rush from WRKO-680 and moved him to WXKS-1200, which flipped from Spanish to talk.
Given that Clear Channel owns Premiere Networks, and that Premiere has, in several cases, pulled their shows from longtime affiliates to CC-owned stations, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that happens.
About as likely as them introducing an all-yodel format. Rush (and the rest of the MIA national talkers) are going to 106.9.
Given the slog Merlin would have faced with all-news, while this won’t set the world on fire, it likely gives them a better path to making a return on their investment in the shorter term.
“MIA national talkers” = Beck, Hannity, Levin. Easy to get an audience, difficult to get and keep advertisers.
@Joseph: The 5 Clear Channel FMs in Philly each fill a niche and make money as a group.
Chucky:
Can I assume then that all five Clear Channel FM stations in Philadelphia are attracting audiences and doing well financially??