Rush Limbaugh‘s supporters and critics both claim victory a month after the radio talk-show host made incendiary comments about law student Sandra Fluke. Clear Channel’s Premiere Networks — which syndicates The Rush Limbaugh Show — says that advertisers are coming back. “Contrary to the wishful thinking of the professional special interest groups, reports of sponsors fleeing The Rush Limbaugh Show are grossly exaggerated,” the company says. “In fact, the program retains virtually all of its long-term sponsors who continue to have great success with The Rush Limbaugh Show.” Several advertisers wanted off after February 29: Many people said that Limbaugh crossed the line from acceptable commentary to unacceptable hate speech when he called Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” following her testimony at a congressional meeting in favor of employer health plan coverage of contraceptives. He apologized for using the inflammatory words. Still, sponsors considered him so radioactive that Premiere ordered about 600 stations that carry his show to suspend national barter spots for two weeks. That period ended on Monday. Limbaugh’s defamatory comments about Fluke were “part of the normal day-to-day of talk radio,” Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman told the Associated Press this week.
Related: AOL Pulls Ads From Rush Limbaugh’s Show
So is everything back to normal? Not quite says politically progressive watchdog group Media Matters. “We were able to identify nine ‘long-term sponsors’,” the group’s campaign director Angelo Carusone says. “Six of these dropped Rush Limbaugh: Carbonite, Legal Zoom, ProFlowers, Sleep Number, Citrix, and AOL. Premiere has offered no evidence to suggest that any of these six have returned. If we just look at Carbonite, which probably had the strongest relationship with Rush, their departure is still visible on the front page of Rush’s website — there’s now an empty space where there used to be a permanent Carbonite ad.” He adds that while Limbaugh says all’s well with the business, “his actions tell a different story. He hired a crisis manager and continues to lash out at his critics on his radio show and Twitter feed.”
But Premiere seemed to dodge one bullet: Its competitor, Cumulus, is syndicating a talk show featuring former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to run in the same time period Limbaugh airs. “None of Limbaugh’s many affiliates have said they’ll move him from his midday time slot in favor of Huckabee,” Washington Post media writer Paul Farhi says.


David , great write-up ! a very expensive lesson for him .
I doubt it was an expensive lesson for him at all. He may have had heated discussions, but he’s under contract, so I doubt he’ll lose any money. For Clear Channel, however, it probably was an expensive lesson. I wonder if Limbaugh has a morality clause; if not, he probably will when he has to renew his contract, but that won’t be for years to come if memory serves me correctly.
My understanding is that, like many syndicated talk show hosts, he’s given a certain amount of ad space to sell for his own benefit and that’s how he makes most of his money. So lost national ads come right out of his pocket.
thats true!
He may or may not take a financial hit, but that’s probably not what hurts him most. If the networks take him off because their revenue is cut by his presence, it will take away his bully pulpit at the golden microphone. Ha. To not be able to spit out his vile spew to his loyal millions on a daily basis will at least put a slow leak in his inflated ego, but I suspect it will be more of an explosion. He’s been far more hurt by the blow to his ego already watching the advertisers pull out than anything else. I see he still has a few loyal defenders, but I suspect that audience will die out soon enough. The younger generations aren’t interested in his brand of hateful ranting. Thank goodness.
You leftists will never understand the real world. I guess you’ve never heard the clowns on MSNBC say far worse then Rush ever could, or Bill Maher. Or Kathy Griffin.
Nope, you are tone deaf when it comes to real hateful, vile speech because if the speaker has a ‘D’ following their name, whatever they say is a-okay. You can try your brand of censorship, but Americans aren’t buying it and your party will pay in November. Just watch.
sorry, savvydude, but maher and his ilk don’t come close to the hatemongering that Rush sells. Rush makes a lot of money from dividing americans instead of urging them to get together to change the things they agree on (like no more corporate welfare and getting big money out of campaign finance). sadly, a lot of people buy into his nonsense and end up frothing at the mouth over gay marriage when they should really be worried about their future in terms of the economy and whether they’ll have social security or medicare to look forward to (like their grandparents did) if rightwingers have their way in privatizing everything they touch. good luck investing for your retirement with the wall st crooks who want to get their hands on the money that we all currently pay to social security. it’s a gold mine for them and the poor house for ordinary americans.
This plays well in your alternate reality echo chamber, but in the real world has no basis in reality.
He needs to be banned from Armed Forces Radio. Contact your congressman.
Obviously, you’re free to believe what you want, but I must ask, wouldn’t banning him from the radio, any radio, as long as it operates within the US, be a violation of his First Amendment rights?
A second question: even if you were able to get him banned, what would you suggest go in his place for those 3 hours?
Side note: I’m not necessarily defending Limbaugh, I just get tired of people spout stuff without thinking of the consequences. You can’t violate his rights, and even if you could, you’d have to find an alternative to put in his spot.
The First Amendment doesn’t protect anyone’s right to spout opinions on commercial radio.
It’s not an infringement on his freedom of speech if it’s not the gov’t who’s censoring him. I’m amazed at how many times ppl get this wrong. If companies don’t want to advertise on his show, that’s their right where they spend the money. If sponsors have bailed b/c what he says is so incendiary and wrong, and the companies that run him don’t want to run him, that’s their right, too.
And who cares what goes in his place for 3 hrs? Are you really suggesting there are no other people with something to say to fill a time slot? Don’t worry, they’ll find plenty to fill his gaping hole. Or do you think that the ppl who listen to him won’t find something else to listen to? Believe me, they’ll move on to the next right-wing crack pot.
Finally, so you “get tired of people spouting stuff w/o thinking of the consequences”? Interesting. Maybe the public is tired of Rush spouting his hate-filled thoughts into our airwaves. It’s our rights as consumers to decide what we’ll listen to and what we’ll boycott.
And finally # 2… it’s not censorship if the government is not the one banning it. If you went into your job and started talking shit about your boss, or spewing venom so that clients no longer wanted to be associated with the company, your boss might fire you and your speech would not be protected in that case.
I read that years ago the Republican congressional leadership forced the show on to Armed Forces Radio. The military leadership at the time didn’t want it.
Nice thing about radio is that if you don’t like what you hear you can always change the station or turn it off.
True. Another nice thing is that a company can advertise where they want to. Another nice thing is people can freely speak about their displeasure of certain radio programs. Another nice thing is that people can choose not to patron certain advertisers. Isn’t it a great country?
I’m not sure where you read that. When I was on active duty in the military, his show was always the top rated show requested when members were polled on what they wanted to hear on Armed Forces Radio.
He has the right to speak, certainly, but the first amendment does not guarantee him the right to an audience.
He is not entitled to his time slot on the Armed Forced Radio, especially given the content of the show and his repeated abuse of narcotics, which would get an average member of the Armed Forces dressed down or outright discharged for.
He has every right to express his views. Taking him off the air would be against American principals. The only thing we can hope is that people are so turned off by the guy that Clear Channel decides he’s not worth their airtime.
No, it would NOT be a First Amendment problem. Nowhere in the First Amendment does it guarantee the use of public airwaves for hate speech. Nowhere does it guarantee a time slot and money to say anything you want. Nobody wants Rush to be silent (OK, I do, but not to abridge his right, just to stop his sick spewing) but he doesn’t NEED or deserve to be on the radio. Clear Channel sucks and the only way to get them to do anything is through hurting them financially. Just take Rush off the air. The First is safe.
No one is “banning” him nor violating his Free Speech. He’s free to still say whatever he wants. He’s not going to jail because of it. But we are also free to not buy the products of his sponsors to cut his support.
That’s called Free Enterprise.
Freedom of Speech is not a complete license to say whatever you want. There are always restrictions to Free Speech. That’s what slander, libel, and incitement to riot laws are about.
Jeez people, read the Constitution and a few Supreme Court cases, will ya? The ignorance of this country is frightening!
Or you could just get off your fat ass and change the station. This ain’t the Soviet Union, sweetheart.
How old are you, honey? You know we have 21st century, right?
Spot on!
You sound like a very nice person. Who taught you to be so pleasant? They must be proud.
Over 23 million listners can’t be wrong. That’s more viewers than Maher, Stewart, Colbert, Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, Fallon, Ferguson and all the loonatics on MSNBC COMBINED!
Think I’m kidding? Check the numbers for yourself.
If numbers were an indication of quality, then McDonalds would be the best food on the planet.
Excellent retort.
Your restore Chris, reminds me of a motivational poster I saw once: “What’s right is not always popular / What’s popular is not always right.”
Think about it – 7.5 percent of the US population listens to Rush at one time or another during the week. My friend, numbers mean EVERYTHING.
7.5%, heh. Dreamer. Dreams are good.
Make that 0.44%, and you’d win every bet.
“As a radio trade reporter confirmed to MSNBC last week, common industry shorthand to determine the actual size of a radio audience at any given moment is to cut the cume figure down by a factor of 10…”
And industry insiders put Rush’s cume figure at 14 million, divide by 10, calculate against 313 mil population, ta-dum.
Even conservative pundit and author of “axis of evil” David Frum acknowledges the 10% rule: “the true number is probably quite far south of 2 million—and dropping fast.”
I have also heard the appropriate estimate is more like 2-3 million. It’s just a loud and obnoxious 2 to 3 million.
In the free marketplace of ideas, nobody wants to listen to yours.
They aren’t?
I’d LOVE to- if anyone ever agreed on what the ratings for radio ARE.
Seriously, how messed up is the radio industry? Millions of dollars of advertising money flying around, and it’s all based on “guestimates”. When they “improved” the system a while back, the ratings of several long-time, established shows- including Rush- took drastic dives, and it was suggested that their ratings may have ALWAYS been lower than thought- although even THAT was unprovable. If I were a major advertiser, I’d raise hell about getting something more reliable in place- it’s like throwing money in a river and HOPING it gets downstream.
Media Matters has poor aim.
Angelo Carusone shot at Rush Limbaugh but hit Poor Bill Maher.
Unlike other programs, Arbitron does *not* report on Limbaugh’s audience figures. Those claims to a high audience come from figures Limbaugh himself provides. No one has any idea what his real verifiable figures are.
Yes….like the numbers the NRA claim for membership…..they give away memberships at least 4 different ways that I’ve found. One of the 4 is free memberships to military personnel by the way. The number of paying members is MUCH smaller.
Seems like conservatives have trouble with math…..or something….
Stay off the air
When will people realize that this is exactly the sort of thing that Rush Limbaugh loves? It’s all shtick. He secretly loathes the “dittoheads” that fawn over him. He craves rubbing shoulders with celebrity but knows that few want to be associated with him. In his huge house, puffing his cigar, he’s as unhappily wealthy as Charles Foster Kane. That he’s taken seriously as a political voice is an embarrassment.
I know some people he hangs out with — It’s all an act. He doesn’t care what he’s saying as long as the money is coming in. And if its any consolation, they say he lives a very unhappy life. They said that they only time he was happy was when he was on prescription drugs.
Rush can think and say what he wants and I couldn’t care less if he’s a conservative or a liberal or a fascist. But what I find despicable is his mean spirited ugliness… This guy isn’t Don Rickles; he’s not out there making jokes; he’s ridiculing Michael J. Foxx and mocking Parkinson’s Disease sufferers. I’m a deaf person and like Rush, I wear a cochlear implant. I went deaf for different reasons (thankfully) but Limbaugh and I were implanted at the same facility. I asked how much money he has donated to the Foundation… The Foundation’s answer? “We’re still waiting….” So much for Mr. Small Government, let the private sector handle the needs of the poor — in this case the deaf poor… Not a penny from a deaf man who makes 80 million year. As I said, it is Rush Limbaugh’s personal ugliness that I find so pathetic. I can’t imagine how awful it must be to live in that head.
Your rant proves absolutely nothing. Did he promise to donate and not follow through? How much did you donate? I love the people that don’t listen to his show on a regular basis that make these outrageous claims about his mean spirited ugliness. He ain’t no saint but doesn’t claim to be. Some people take him for more than he is but you can’t deny that he’s a genius at what he does.
That’s an amazing assessment. “outrageous claims about his mean spirited ugliness…” My gawd. There are clips of this guy’s ugliness all over the internet. There are entire books published disclosing his habitual lies and distortions. How many times does a person have to listen to his show to get an idea of his mean spirited ugliness? Once.
You forgot to mention calling a thirteen year old girl a “dog.”
I support both Rush and slut shaming. Folks, sometimes you’ve got to do it!
Radio has no national ratings system. Limbaugh’s own staff says that number which they used in 1995 was pulled out of thin air. Limbaugh has been challenged to prove his numbers and he can’t. So no to 23 million listeners.
Think about it – 7.5 percent of the US population listens to Rush at one time or another during the week. My friend, numbers mean EVERYTHING.
Could somebody please clarify/confirm this number? My understanding was that his audience of about 20 millions is actually the total of his 5 weekly shows (or 5 X 4 millions of the same regular listeners).
That would obviously be substantially less than 7.5% of the country.
Just curious.
Check those numbers again. Nowhere near that in listeners! And yes they can be wrong. Wrong to stoop to the lowest form of thought. Letting someone else do yours for you. Good day! I said good day
i don’t understand why so many people listen to him anyway – the scary thing is that his audience is all types and not just what you might expect them to be – free speech in america means having to put up with him but he can drop dead for all care.
“And if its any consolation, they say he lives a very unhappy life. They said that they only time he was happy was when he was on prescription drugs.”
Because no amount of money and power can make up for the fact Rush has been consistently stopped from doing what he really wants to do: be a sports pundit/own a pro team. His influence can’t buy that, and that frustration has to be blown off somehow.
Rush is right and I support his ideas and his sponsors.
Rush and his critics deserve each other…both sides colossal bores
Quoting Media Matters for “truth” is such lefty bs. Really, Lieberman? They’re anti-Jewish, you need to think about this.
Everyone is playing into Rush’s hand. This was a huge pr move. Do you think Rush really cares what the left thinks about him and his show? He proved to 50% plus of this country who are not Democrats that the Democrats solution to losing the battle for radio waves is to try and silence and suppress highly rated talk show hosts, via censorship and regulations.
Hollywood would be wise to not go down the path of censorship. It has alot more to lose then Rush limbaugh or any other conservative pundit ever would.
What disgusts me, is that advertisers that Rush has made millions of dollars just dropped him. I know Rush also makes money off the advertising. But people are so loyal to Rush they buy the stuff for no other reason then because he said so. What he said was awful but it’s disgusting that people would drop him so carelessly
So you too have fallen victim to the Rush Limbaugh PR/spin machine. He has hired a firm to do damage control and you have repeated their talking points without doing your homework. I work on the dump Rush firing lines and I can tell you this movement is gaining momentum, not losing speed. We have over 300 sponsors who have dumped Rush and gain about 10 more every day. The “boycott” has only just begun. Rush is trying to create a facade for the media, but he is sinking fast. Please do your due diligence!