Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 02:08 am
On his radio show Rush Limbaugh admitted that he has gotten exactly 7 new advertisers to replace the nearly 170 who have dropped, or no longer want to be associated with his show.
Limbaugh said, “This is the first broadcast week in April. Let’s go back a month. The month of March in the United States opened with the left convinced that they were finally going to drive me off the air once and for all. By the end of the month I’m still on the air with a higher audience, seven new advertisers to replace the five — actually, less than five, that abandoned us and hurt themselves. And in that month Al Gore as fired Keith Olbermann, thrown him off the air and replaced him with Client No. 9. Eliot Spitzer’s taking over for Olbermann and his 56 viewers. (interruption) How does who do what? It’s an audience of 56 people. What do you mean, how does Spitzer do it? How does Olbermann keep getting hired? That’s the question.”
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Rush was not being honest with his audience. I don’t know why he chose the number five, but according to Media Matters the actual number of direct advertisers who have dropped him is 64. According to the Stop Rush Project, the number of advertisers who no longer want their ads associated with his program in any way totals 100. This brings the total number of advertisers who have abandoned Limbaugh to 164. Not five as Limbaugh suggested, but 164.
How many new advertisers has Limbaugh gotten to replace those who want nothing to do with him? The great and, according to him at least, powerful Rush Limbaugh has attracted seven new advertisers. His total number of advertisers is twenty four. Of these two dozen, Macy’s, Staples, and Delta are his last three big corporate advertisers.
If the boycott has been such a resounding failure, why is Limbaugh talking about it on the air all of the time? Why does Rush feel the need to tell the world just how great things are? Could it be that maybe things aren’t so great in Limbaugh Land? The fact that Rush Limbaugh continues to fight this P.R. war with the boycott demonstrates how successful the boycotters have been.
Apparently, Limbaugh’s crisis management team’s I suspect planted article in The Washington Post doesn’t have the advertisers banging down the door to come back. When evaluating the success or failure of this boycott, keep in mind that every day this goes on Clear Channel loses money, the radio stations that carry the program lose money, and Rush Limbaugh as part owner of the program, loses money.
Limbaugh and his allies keep saying the boycott is over, but advertisers are still leaving. The numbers don’t lie. The advertiser boycott has taken a chunk out of Rush Limbaugh.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
