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Is the Rush rush over?

Bronzeage

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Rush Limbaugh Is In Ruins

I'm a little skeptical when a news blog titled "LiberalsUnite" declares Rush Limbaugh to be in critical condition, but the laws of economics can't be repealed, or even appealed. If Rush can't attract sponsors, he can't keep his prime radio time slot. I can't imagine him retreating to late night radio, where the rates are cheaper.

My first taste of Rush was in 1989. I know the date, because it was the day after the death of Billy Martin. Martin was the manager of the New York Yankees and died in an auto accident. He was the passenger, but most people assumed Billy was driving and was drunk. The investigation found he was being taken home on Christmas night, by a friend because he was too drunk to drive. There maybe a lesson in that.

I got into a car the next day and the radio was tuned to Rush. I had never heard of him. He had been on the air for a year, or so. The day's news was full of "I remember Billy" stories from everyone remotely connected to baseball, and we all know the general rule when speaking of the dead. Apparently Rush never learned that rule and didn't like Billy, to boot.

The radio speakers blared out an exaggerated and sarcastic voice, crying, "Boo boo hoo, Billy Martin is dead." Rush went on to claim Billy was a vile person and it was no loss to anyone. This was long before "douchebag" became common slang, so my reaction was, "Who is this asshole?"

This has always been Rush's modus operandi. He's mean and likes to talk bad about people. I also remember when he called 13 year old Chelsea Clinton, "the White House dog." His latest attack on Sandra Fluke, when he called her a slut for wanting insurance to provide birth control, is not the least out of character. This sort of stuff is usually referred to as "preaching to the choir." It's not the sort of thing that makes people reconsider their position and move over to his side.

If the stories of Rush's current problems are true, I don't wonder why, I wonder why now?
 
A couple of years out of the limelight, a little reinvention, and he comes back. ;)

Ironically, I stumbled onto Rush about the same time, and his show was struggling for sponsors then, which have me the opportunity to hear his spoof ads...Bungee Condoms, Spatula City, Barnicle Brothers etc.

One note:

I have been a Yankee fan since the dreaded CBS days, but I have read enough stories, like Martin telling a newly signed Gossage to throw at Billy Sample's head that I think Martin might have been pretty vile.
 
Wow. Where to begin?

Perhaps with the fact that for a while I worked for the same company that employs Mr. Limbaugh - what was known back then as Clear Channel and is now called CCM+E. I still call it "Cheap Channel," a well-earned nickname.

Radio has in general been on a long slow slide for at least the last decade, AM radio has been declining for a bit longer, and talk radio has been facing diminished ratings and revenue for quite some time as well.

Yet within the industry, Rush is still one of the most popular and lucrative brands out there. Despite the boycotts and controversies there are still plenty of advertisers more than happy to buy time on his show nationally, and on his affiliates locally. The only other personality who even approaches his level is Howard Stern, who left terrestrial radio a decade ago.

If Rush faces a problem it is the fact that in the process of gobbling up all the radio stations they now own, Cheap Channel accumulated an absurd amount of debt. Debt which they have barely been able to service. They have accomplished this by "restructuring" their operation repeatedly to the point where a once thriving broadcasting company is a shell of its former self. And while they're still pretty much the only game in town when it comes to syndicated talk radio programming, it remains to be seen how long they'll be able to keep the whole thing together before spinning off parts of the company.

In any case, Rush is not going away. Sure, he may find himself in the equivalent of the television networks that play reruns of "Mash" every night, but he'll still be making money for at least the next decade or so.
 
Ford, thanks for the excellent info.

Bronzy, I too find that source suspect. Even worse, some of the sources they cite are opinion-mongers, not people likely to know the facts of the situation. I would take the whole article with a giant grain of salt.
 
Radio has been a very flaky business since television took over the popular media. But what you have to understand is that there is not much money involved in radio anymore, compared to other forms of media. The only form of mass media that requires less money is the one that we are using right now, the internet.

As long as Rush Limbaugh has people who want to listen to him he will be on the radio. It doesn't cost much for Rush to stay on the radio. His main expense is his own salary.

There are only two things of any value in radio, each station's license to broadcast and drivetime air time. The vast majority of people who listen to radio do so in their cars when they are driving to and from work.

I would treat any report of Rush going off of the air with the same attitude that Mark Twian treated reports of his own death, they are greatly exaggerated. And in Rush's case reflecting more than a little wishful thinking.
 
The one and only time I ever listened to Rush, he had been going on about how he'd just met then Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a party.

I had never thought that radio would be an effective medium for gay porn, but listening to Rush talk about meeting Rumsfeld that day, I was proven wrong.
 
I would like to believe it but I have the same skepticism as the OP presents. Even if Rush persisted at Glenn Beck strength he'd be odious & a corruptor of national culture. The truly positive reflection on Rush, Beck, Coulter, O'Reilly, Hannity, and their fellow satanic acolytes: a generation of their toxins has defined the battle lines & radicalized the base -- but kept the base boxed in. Since Bush I, the Republicans have only won the Presidential popular vote once. (Right?)
 
If the stories of Rush's current problems are true, I don't wonder why, I wonder why now?
Why not now? The shill has had an amazingly long run selling his spiel and made a fortune. Palin, by comparison was a fast fading shooting star, who was smart enough to cash in while the going was good. Nobody like this lasts indefinitely... Maybe it is him getting old; maybe he isn't hip with the younger crowds facebooking, tweeting, twirking, et.al. I don't think my rightwing redneck nephews are into him at all, but they are into some crazy rightwing bloggers/websites...and share that idiocy on FB.
 
Left wing wishful bullshit. Yes Rush is losing ground, but you can find the same kind of hopeful gloom and doom about Fox News.

Their Core audience is not going to go away till they bury them. Until then, neither are they.

The portrait of today’s Fox News viewer is a white Republican with an average age of 66 years old. In other words, Fox’s viewership completely mirrors the base of the Republican Party.


http://www.politicususa.com/2013/02/06/real-trouble-fox-news-viewer-trust-falls-time.html
 
As much as I dislike Rush I have to admit he's not going anywhere anytime soon.
 
Rush is like "crab grass." You can never get rid of him. You can only contain him.

Too bad that we live in a nation that actually supports this obnoxious human. I used to listen to him in the late 80's in L.A. You know back during those "conservative" phase of one's life. He was actually funny, fresh and unique. We all remember the "femi nazi " gig and the interview with the guys with squirrels in their freezers. But today the heroin drugged induce fat slob of a human has become the "spiritual" leader of the GOP, the Republican Brand and basically the conservative movement in America. People on the right side of the world look up to him including all his shenanigans.

IMO as long as Rush provides entertainment for all his legions of easily molded minds and souls sponsors will continue to support him and his show. Who would have thought that such a mean and vile human would hold sway of the minds of millions. Yet there is a small movement that sees a better world without this heartless gas bag of a toxic waste of a human on the air.

On a side note Mr Limbaugh is a horrible person from how I understand it in his personal life. That is for him to carry his cross. But if just for one moment I would love to see the minds of all his legions of so called fellow neo-conservatives accept the fact the Fatso is a known drug addict! Oxycodene is basically a semi-synthetic form of opiate. And Rush is basically a heroin addict. Also there are reports that Fatso likes to go on these "sex vacations" in the Caribbean. And to top off the horridness of this most despicable human he likes what are known as "rent boys!" Yikes!

So after all the crap he spews for his adoring fans he slips up ever now and then with weird sex references like how he wanted to make Sandra Fluke film herself having sex. He wanted a tape made to watch because Rush said that the public will be paying for her birth control pills! Never mind that the blow hard does not understand how birth control pills work. To him it just sounds good!

Today in the Bizarro world of right wing 24/7 hate radio who every spews tha loudest craziest shit gets the most listeners. And I listen to late night hate radio because it is the only F'n station that comes in clear!!!!

Peace and F that fat slob of a human.

Pegasus
 
Rush has been declining for decades. Around here, during the height of his popularity, his program was on almost every station in the area. Now, only a few carry it. One even carries it on tape delay! I don't doubt Rush enjoys strong support of a cadre of listeners, but his influence does not seem to be as strong as it was.
 
Rush has started the trend of political (especially conservative) talk shows on AM radio. But with many imitators comes a market saturation and fragmentation. That he is still considered #1 after all these years counts as an accomplishment for sure.
Here in Atlanta he used to be on a not so popular station WGST 640. I guess he was by far their most popular offering. But a few years ago he switched to Atlanta's flagship AM station, which is not only the most listened to AM station but sometimes at the very top of the overall rankings and also is the only AM station in the top 20, see here, as part of WSB's right wing realignment. They used to have a more varied offering with libertarian Neal Boortz in the mornings-noon hour (hardest working man in talk radio, his show was 4.5 hours instead of the usual 3) and consumer advice, largely non-political Clark Howard in the early afternoon. Now Boortz has retired and Howard has been banished to nighttime and they've been replaced by the likes of Herman Cain (remember 9-9-9?) and Rush to complement Sean Hannity. For a while they even had a show by an Evangelical pastor cum Catholic layman on the weekends.
 
For a while they even had a show by an Evangelical pastor cum Catholic layman on the weekends.

They had an Evangelical pastor cumming on a Catholic layman? Wow. AM radio is more risque than I thought.
 
Rush has started the trend of political (especially conservative) talk shows on AM radio.

Bull F-ing Shit. Back in the day they even intermingled God and conservative opinion with what they called the 'news'

 Fulton Lewis

 Gabriel Heatter

 Paul Harvey

QED

The moderns are mantra chanters by comparison.
 
I only rarely listen to talk radio. About the only one I regularly listen to is The Stephanie Miller Show and Car Talk on NPR. From what I understand, because Rush has poisoned the well with his vile commentary, advertisers are now highly leery of any talk shows. They are all struggling to get advertising dollars. Calls for boycotts of advertisers hasn't helped that situation because many advertisers run on many programs so they just got out of the game completely.
 
Last I heard Rush was still number one on talk radio, but it wouldn't be surprising that he's declining. People don' t listen to radio anymore. The internet has taken over the younger audiences and now you have smart phones as well. In addition, of course, Rush has spawned a lot of competitors. When he started, he was about the only nationally-known conservative radio talk-show host. Now you have Hannity, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Michael Medved, and quite a few others.

I doubt that Rush will have to quit anytime soon. He'll probably decide for himself when to retire. After all, he doesn't need the money so he doesn't need all that many advertisers.

His big problem is that he's getting pretty stale, and new issues are arising that he hasn't had to deal with. He's the old Republican Party and the party is changing. You're not just talking about a change of issues either. You're talking about a change in talking about issues. We're undergoing a rhetorical change in our politics, and what is Rush about if not rhetoric? When he started he brought a lot of fresh rhetoric to the debate, but that is gone now. I suspect he won't adapt well, but what does it matter? He should be able to survive until he's ready to quit.
 
I think what some people are forgetting is that listeners are not the customers. The advertisers are. Listeners are the bait. If you cannot generate ad dollars, it doesn't matter whether you are number one or number twenty. You fail.
 
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