Is Rush feeling the heat?

THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
PSAs pop up on Rush Limbaugh's show at WABC, New York (770)
AdAge quotes data from a Media Matters for America survey, saying that "of the 69 commercial spots on Wednesday's three-hour show, more than half were public service announcements." It should be noted that Media Matters is actively working to persuade advertisers to avoid Limbaugh's Premiere-syndicated show. To Media Matters campaign director Angelo Carusone, the sudden appearance of PSAs for the United Negro College Fund and Big Brothers/Big Sisters "is a sign the boycott is working." One of the public service organizations which has benefited from the airtime would like to opt out. The American Heart Association's Matthew Bannister says "It is our practice to be a content-sensitive advertiser, and in light of the current controversy, we will be asking [Cumulus-owned] WABC to no longer utilize these unpaid PSAs."

[HT to our friend Jack for the RadioInfo.com piece.]

by Ken

I've already made clear that I don't know where the limit is as to how far Rush can go. I think there must be one, but I'm so out of contact with the mindset of people who would even think of listening to the toxic blowhard that I have no way of judging. I hardly think this is the end for him, but I can venture that this hasn't been the happiest day of his broadcasting career.

Bear in mind that Rush's show carries both national and local advertising, and they're completely different. The national ads are sold by Rush's company and come as part the package the local stations buy. The local ads are sold in time given back to the local stations for that purpose, and are clearly important to the economics of the deal for the stations. As best I can tell, in the wake of his appalling abuse of student Sandra Fluke for the witness she bore regarding insurance coverage for contraception, both kinds of advertising are being hurt.

Here's Media Matters' quick summary of today's show:

Thursday, March 8, 2012

ADS DROPPED [the link takes you to a list]

ADS AIRED

According to our coverage:

A total of 86 ads aired during WABC's broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show today.

* 77 of those ads were public service announcements donated free of charge by the Ad Council.

* Of the nine paid spots that ran, seven were from companies that have said they have taken steps to ensure their ads no longer air during the program.

* WABC's online feed included about 5:33 of dead air when ads would normally have run.

Over at Americablog Myrddin has a detailed breakdown of the ups and downs of the advertising situation chez Rush ("Limbaugh down to 1 paid advertiser in NYC; 90 percent of ads today were free PSAs"). Note that even the beneficiaries of the PSA boon are restive, feeling queasy about being associated with a broadcast that has become -- gasp! controversial.

Of course one factor hasn't been touched: the value to advertisers of Rush's listeners, who are likely to become only more loyal as they see their hero "bullied." He's already working hard to portray himself as the victim, and since his listeners are already deeply into romantic fictions -- it's what they turn to him for, after all -- it's hard to imagine them abandoning him. And of course all of these reports concern only New York City.

Still, the thought that something might even momentarily wipe the putrid grin off his loathsome puss -- that's entertainment.

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