his death, he used his December 23, 2020, episode to express his thanks and say farewell to his audience; Limbaugh occasionally hosted shows through January and would host his last new episode on February 2, 2021. His death was announced by his widow Kathryn during the February 17 broadcast. Upon the announcement of his death, Premiere Networks released a statement that during Limbaugh's terminal illness, it had organized the archive of Limbaugh's shows by date and topic to allow for at least 90 days of clip shows, selected to correspond to the current news cycle as much as possible, presented by a guest host (referred to on air as a "guide host"). The long-term plan would be to eventually cancel the program once Premiere determined that the audience was ready to move on. Stations owned by Cox Media Group and Saga Communications, along with Pittsburgh affiliate WJAS, began dropping the program in mid-March. Further defections from Audacy, Midwest Communications, and Alpha Media continued in April, with Audacy replacing Limbaugh with Dana Loesch and local programs. Cumulus Media continued to carry Limbaugh's show through the first three months in the "guide host" format, then introduced its own show hosted by Dan Bongino on May 24. On May 27, 2021, Premiere Radio Networks announced that, as part of a programming shuffle, it would be moving its evening host Buck Sexton into Limbaugh's time slot, with Fox Sports Radio personality Clay Travis joining him as co-host, beginning June 21, 2021, as The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, subsequently announcing that Houston-based host Jesse Kelly would join its lineup to take over for Sexton in the evening slot. The final episode of the "guide host" format (and the show entirely) aired on Friday, June 18, 2021. Of the show's remaining affiliates — estimated by Premiere to be about 400 — most of the carryovers to Sexton and Travis consist of stations owned by Premiere parent company iHeartMedia. Other station ownership groups chose options such as Bongino, Loesch, Salem Radio Network hosts Dennis Prager or Charlie Kirk, Compass Media Networks' Markley, Van Camp and Robbins or Fox News Talk's Fox Across America. Townsquare Media, in particular, declined to make a universal decision on its stations' replacement for Limbaugh, allowing local program directors to decide for their own stations. Sexton and Travis also inherited the EIB brand and Limbaugh's "Rush 24/7" subscriber base - since