Who says radio is dead? Former Fox News host Glenn Beck has re-signed with Premiere Radio Networks, while current Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera is expanding his radio deal with Cumulus Media. Rivera has hosted “Geraldo” in New York and Los Angeles since earlier this year, and now Cumulus Media Networks is taking it national in advance of the November election.
“Despite the nation’s partisan divide, the success of the show on WABC and KABC is a clear indication that there is room in radio for someone who is not associated with a particular ideology,” Rivera says in a statement. “I’m a patriot and a pragmatic idealist, who believes both the political left and the right have contributions to make. I’ve also developed a comfortable enough relationship with the audience over the last four plus decades in television news for listeners in a spirited way to tell me when they think I’m full of beans. Like I say, ‘I’m not always right.'”
Beck, who also hosts a 9 AM- 12 PM show, has re-signed with Premiere Radio Networks, a deal which the New York Times pegs at $100 million. Beck currently owns, operates and hosts a show on the web-TV network GBTV.
Mr. Beck’s show entered national syndication via Premiere, a unit of Clear Channel, 10 years ago. Now carried by more than 400 stations, the show typically ranks No. 3 among all news-talk radio shows, behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, so the contract extension brings a measure of stability to local stations that carry it.
And how did Glenn Beck get his first big break? He tells us: