Top right-wing radio hosts threatened with termination if they don’t stop promoting election conspiracies

On Monday, The Washington Postreported that Cumulus Media, a broadcast owner that employs several of the country's most successful right-wing talk radio hosts, is ordering an end to conspiracy theories about the election being stolen — and threatening to end the contract of any host who continues with them.

"We need to help induce national calm NOW," wrote Brian Philips, the executive vice president of content for Cumulus, in an internal memo. He added that "will not tolerate any suggestion that the election has not ended. The election has been resolved and there are no alternate acceptable 'paths.'"

"Atlanta-based Cumulus owns 416 radio stations in 84 regions across the country. Many of its stations broadcast a talk format, a medium that has been dominated by a conservative point of view for decades. In addition to its national personalities, it employs local talk-radio hosts in many of its markets," The Washington Post reported. "Cumulus's biggest stations include WMAL in Washington, KABC in Los Angeles, WLS in Chicago and KGO in San Francisco, all of which air a news-talk format."

Cumulus, which is the third-largest AM and FM broadcaster in the United States, has frequently put a thumb on the scale for Republicans, at one point blocking its radio stations from running an interview with former South Bend Mayor and Secretary of Transportation nominee Pete Buttigieg.

Among the talk radio hosts affiliated with Cumulus are Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, and Dan Bongino, who collectively have an audience of tens of millions of people. All of them at various points have questioned the legitimacy of the election; Levin, for example, referred to the congressional certification of the election as "tyranny."