Dude, did you read my post? It's not about the political slant ... it's about too much politics ... period.
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Limbaugh, on WOR, lost half of his WABC audience share
- Thread starter jeff23
- Start date
CW says El Rushbo got ratings because he had Clinton to bash. Dubya comes along and his ratings are down. CW predicted when Obama got in, Rush's ratings would go back up when he once again had a target. They did not. Rush has never had a shortage of targets. Rush's act got old and tired. Rush forgot the prime adage of show biz: Always leave them wanting more.
I always thought he sounded like the "voice" the late Stan Freberg used to do for fat, pompous, Babbitty businessmen.
Which, of course, is what he is.
I agree that he's not as good anymore, but you think that having on news anchors joking around is going to improve ratings? You dislike talk radio's meaness.
Where did that come from? I don't think anyone's suggesting that ... certainly I'm not.
I also was a fan of his for a while. In my case it was more like 10-15 years. As a political independent, I sometimes agreed with him, and sometimes did not. But he definitely got more strident (and less witty) somewhere along the way. Thus, he became unlistenable for me...a guy who spent a considerable amount of time in the car between appointments wherever I was in my business travels around the country.
IMHO, one major reason for Rush's ratings decline in so many markets, is that people are just getting tired of bickering and name-calling that he seems to revel in. Will he retire? He's certainly made his money and gotten recognition from his peers with his Radio HOF induction. He's reached the top of his profession and doesn't have much left to prove. But my guess is that his ego won't let him retire....unless he's presented with a pay cut that he feels is too big to swallow.
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Can IHeartMoney afford to push him out. They've got all these talkers and nothing or no one with whom to replace him.
When Rush started in syndication, Ed McLaughlin was able to pick him out from any number of local hosts around the country. But now there's no longer a farm system.
When Rush started in syndication, Ed McLaughlin was able to pick him out from any number of local hosts around the country. But now there's no longer a farm system.
Not true. There's a huge farm system. Lots of local talk show hosts. Probably more than when Rush started. In fact, a lot of them work at IHeart stations. Most of them are better than Rush. The real question is why would IHeart pay someone 40 million, when they can hire a lot of local hosts for less?
In what alternative universe?
What are you talking about? Look at the Talkers Hot 100 list. Lots of local talk show hosts. Most of them are better than Rush is now, and all have more experience than he had when he was picked for this show.
Too bad hosts like Steve Malzberg, Jay Diamond, Brian Whitman, Lionel, Curtis Sliwa etc who came out in the 90's didn't go anywhere. I think it's their fault that they didn't become bigger.
There isn't the motivation for a local host to go national that existed 30 years ago. Most make a very good living as local hosts, they get very little company interferences, they remain close to their audience, and they don't have the risk of failing. Think of all the famous names who've failed as talk radio hosts in the last ten years. Would you want to take a shot at a job that might only last a year or two? Or stay where you are for the long term?
I meant that they failed to be big locally like Bob Grant. Aside from Sliwa, all the hosts I mentioned failed locally.
Well said. There are plenty of skillful and entertaining hosts plying the craft around the country.
The only possible reasons I can think of for iHeart retaining Rush are:
1. Audience inertia -- listeners are slow to change their habits and will continue listening to Rush, Imus, etc. long after they cease to be engaging.
2. Management CYA -- there's safety in a big name and a large base of inert listeners.
I have a hard time understanding how a guy like Jerry Doyle or John and Ken or Neal Boortz before he retired couldn't become the next Rush.
That pretty much describes Salem but not a lot of the other second and third string hosts. They draw the same demo but not nearly as many. They end up on the 2nd or third right-wing talk station in some larger markets or on smaller market stations. None has managed to break out. None was the next Rush.
And there have been hosts with strong followings locally but somehow they didn't manage to draw in other markets when syndicated. Like Atlanta's Neal Boortz.
Audience intertia is a powerful force but it seems to be disrupted when hosts change stations. Then inertia belongs to the station as much as the host - maybe more than the host.
Another reason for iHeart retaining Rush is that he makes money. Clearly his retention, or non-retention, at what terms will be driven by the business case which undoubtedly would include his recent ratings performance. That would be the only agenda brought to the table by iHeart, unlike the other agendas driving this discussion.
Only agenda? Hardly. But a factor. Neither of us has seen the books so we don't know if Rush is making money these days - for Premiere or for individual stations. Most of those stations are not owned by IHeartBain, so they are concerned only with their own revenues. Notice how Rush has been dropped by stations and groups outside IHeartMitt. And even for IHeartless, it is likely Rush's revenues are way down. But somebody likes him at IHeartTea and he is consistent with the "agenda" (as you call it) of the people running the company, so they cut him some slack for now in the face of declining revenue.
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