Dan Bongino Decision on Radio Contract After Vaccine Mandate

Conservative talk show host Dan Bongino announced on his show today that he will work out the rest of his contract for the next two years, but he won't resign.

Why is this happening? Dan Bongino has had a successful podcast career for years, and he was offered by national syndication to take over the spot that Rush Limbaugh had for so many years.

The company that produces his show, Cumulus announced earlier this year that they were instituting a COVID vaccine mandate for their employees. While Dan Bongino is vaccinated, he is against mandating vaccines. He was off the air for a few days earlier this year when he announced that he wanted to quit if they instituted the mandate.

He said on his radio show aired here on KPEL,

"You can have me, or you can have a vaccine mandate, but you can't have both."

Earlier this week, Bongino told the radio audience that he had come to a decision about this stand-off with Cumulus over the mandate. Today he announced that he will serve out the remainder of his contract, but he will not resign from the company. He told the audience today that, for financial reasons, he will work for the remainder of his contract, but he will not sign a contract again with Cumulus.

To give you an idea of what happens behind the scenes, Dan Bongino is a syndicated show that airs on hundreds of stations across the country. We carry his show each weekday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The show is distributed by a company called WestWood One which is owned by Cumulus Media. Bongino said is adamantly opposed to mandating the vaccine. When this contract expires, he will not sign another with Cumulus and Westwood one leaving open the chance for another distributor to discuss syndication with Bongino.

So, while he is not quitting radio today as he threatened back in October, he will not renew his contract with Westwood.