Yes. Clear Channel/CCI has once again reported an extremely heavy loss in their 4th quarter and year ending report. It's no surprise the Bain-owned media giant, home of Rush Limbaugh's vile commentary, continues to fail on Wall Street. Since Limbaugh's 3-day on-air attack of then unknown Sandra Fluke, two years ago, the public protests against 'hate radio' have only strengthened and grown in numbers.
In last year's 1st quarterly report, Clear Channel showed a $210 million drop in revenue. And now in their final quarterly report of 2013, the losses have widened substantially, according Wall Street Journal:
CC Media is the vehicle used by private-equity firms Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP to privatize Clear Channel Communications in 2008. The company reported for the latest period a loss of $309.2 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $191.3 million, and pointed to equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates and higher interest expenses.
Revenue slid to $1.69 billion from $1.7 billion a year before as a 2% decrease in its outdoor revenue offset growth in its media and entertainment segment.
Additional bad news was noted in an earlier diary from less than three months ago and reported by Bloomberg that
"Clear Channel’s interest expenses have surpassed its operating income in every quarter since the end of 2008." "The company is just treading water,” said Spencer Godfrey, an analyst at debt researcher KDP Investment Advisors Inc.
It's unknown how much, if any, of the CCI major loss is directly attributed to the Rush Limbaugh protest, and I don't expect Clear Channel will be doling out any self-incriminating hints. But it's still enjoyable for many to see this Apres Romney-Bain Limbaugh supporter having a real rough go. It should be noted, the latter link of information which also appeared in Liberals Unite garnered over 80,000 Facebook likes/shares within 24 hours of being published, and then another 10,000 just 'hangin' around'. This shows how much of the public is starving to see Rush Limbaugh go down. Sadly and understandably, there are a small number of liberal folks unhappy with the boycotts. They are blaming the Rush Limbaugh protests for losing some of their favorite left-wing radio hosts. I hope in time, they will assign that blame to the true culprits - the Clear Channel/Cumulus/Premiere CEOs who have opted to keep racist, homophobic, bigoted, and misogynistic shows on the air. The people of America are sick of the hate that poisons our public radio, and they are using their freedom of speech, via protests, petitions, and boycotts to make their voices heard. It's a wonderful thing, and it's working. Thousand of companies have pulled sponsorship from Rush Limbaugh's show, as well as like-minded shows.
Here is how most folks have become involved in the movement:
Facebook: BoycottRush Facebook Group (Over 78,000 following)
Limbaugh Sponsor & Clear Channel Petition (Over 53,000 signatures)
Join The Fight To Flush Rush Facebook Group
The StopRush Extensive Sponsor Database
The boycotts are also being supported by women’s rights organizations like, UniteWomen.org and NOW -- and by many progressive sites/pages including Being Liberal, Daily Kos, Media Matters, Liberals Unite, and Political Loudmouth.
Thank you, Richard Myers. Rest In Peace. We Will Finish This. We miss you dearly.
Note from the Diarist: Apologies for my earlier assumption that Clear Channel's exclusion of 'political' in their report, meant political talk shows. I have removed the erroneous information and thank Kossack 'newton' for the heads up.