Landing Limbaugh a major coup for local radio station

KFI’s decision to drop The Rush Limbaugh Show turned into a coup for the Inland Empire’s premiere talk-radio station.

KTIE, the conservative talk station in San Bernardino that goes by the name AM590 The Answer, began broadcasting Limbaugh’s three-hour program Monday, said Terry Fahy, KTIE’s vice president and general manager.

That was barely one month after KFI-AM in Los Angeles removed Limbaugh’s program from its weekday lineup and moved it to KEIB-AM, also in Los Angeles, said Terry Fahy, KTIE’s vice president and general manager.

Unlike KFI, with its 50,000-watt clear-channel signal, KEIB’s signal doesn’t reach Riverside and San Bernardino counties, meaning Limbaugh’s show would no longer be available in the Inland market, Fahy said.

Salem Communications, KTIE’s owner, then began negotiating with Premiere Radio Networks, which handles Limbaugh’s syndication, about bringing his show to KTIE.

Two weeks later both sides had reached a deal, one that is bound to raise AM590 The Answer’s listenership and market profile, to say nothing of its advertising rates.

Limbaugh’s program has been available in the Inland region via KFI for at least 25 years, or roughly the time the show began began its national syndication, Fahy said.

“Rush is a built-in audience for us,” Fahy said. “When he got moved to KEIB we saw an opportunity and began working on it. Both sides were motivated to get an agreement, and when you have that things can get done pretty quickly.”

KTIE is broadcasting The Rush Limbaugh Show from 9 a.m. to Noon Monday through Friday. Limbaugh, the undisputed king of talk radio in the United States, replaces Dennis Prager, who has been moved to the station’s 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. slot.

Limbaugh’s show is heard by more than 18 million people per week on nearly 600 stations. KTIE is planing to market the show primarily with billboards and social media, but it will not discuss advertising rates or any other details regarding its agreement with Premiere Radio Networks.

“We have a contract that keeps The Rush Limbaugh Show on AM590 The Answer for a specific period of time, and when that contract is up we will renegotiate it,” Fahy said. “That’s all I can say.”

Salem Communications is the largest commercial radio broadcasting company in the United States that specializes in politically conservative and Christian-oriented programming. The company operates 102 stations in 39 markets after several deals now being negotiated are completed, according to a statement.