Cumulus Plant Call on Huckabee was Intentional

So, by now you know that Mike Huckabee's very first call was a plant. Staged. Cute stuff, Cumulus.

That should be the big news, right? Well, try this.

Mike McVay, the Senior VP for Cumulitis, not only made the call, but pointedly did so on purpose hoping to give Huckabee, who's trying to un-earth Rush Limbaugh for his radio supremacy, an added jolt of free pub.

And so he did.

Of course, this information, obtained by me from broadcast sources familiar with the show, supersedes the fact that Huckabee's first caller was a Cumulus plant. You'd think this could have been done with a bit more, shall we say, smooth-en-wah? I mean, they could have called an intern in named "Frank" from Novato and done a better job.

That would have been much too smart.

A little background is in order. First off, am I shocked that a plant was used to promote Huckabee? No. In fact, it's a routine ploy utilized by a lot of folks, radio people know this. It's common knowledge that politicians employ operatives to call into radio talk shows and talk up their candidate. And special-interest groups make a point of hiring individuals to voice the company line.

SF-based talker, Bill Wattenburg, has called out groups, like the Sierra Club, for instance, for its wanton act of using "callers" to advocate green issues. No surprise.

The issue with McVay and Huckabee is no different, although the fact that it was intentional, (according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity), trumps the planted-call story itself.

As I have said numerous times, Cumulus is in the main business on making lots of money. They buy up radio stations and tons of content in hopes of buying up other properties. They're not particularly consumed with any form of journalistic protocol. What the hell is that?, you might say.

Calls to Cumulus Media in Atlanta were not returned.

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