Rushing away: Limbaugh looses nearly all his advertisers in two weeks.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Calling a woman a "slut" on national radio has turned out to have been a watershed in advertisers pulling support for not just Rush Limbaugh¹, but conservative talk radio in general. Premiere Networks which carries Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity, has circulated a list of 98 sponsors that do not want their ads to run on the leading right wing talk shows. Some of the advertisers include: Ford, GM, Toyota, Allstate, GEICO, Prudential, State Farm, McDonald’s, and Subway. The combined audiences for these radio shows is substantial: nearly 46 million daily listeners. ² The licensing fees for these national radio shows are very expensive, and without the support of advertising dollars, most local stations will be unable to continue broadcasts.



Holland Cooke, a media expert on talk radio appeared on the Ed Schultz show last night and commented:

There is one bright spot for Rush. "Online dating website SeekingArrangement.com, whose mission is to match subscribers with wealthy “Sugar Daddies,” said Tuesday it intends to gobble up available ad time during Limbaugh’s program."³ Personally I think this is great and like several commentators have explained: all of is this is "market forces" working to shut down talk radio. That doesn't mean that these types of shows will vanish, there's always a market for these, but without the huge advertiser revenue pool to support the expensive licensing fees, they won't be the powerhouse they once were.

You can see the entire segment from Ed Schultz here.

Rankings of talk radio⁴

[1.] As of last night, over 120 blue chip advertisers have removed support from the Rush Limbaugh Show, and even the American Heart Association has asked Rush to stop airing its public service announcements, it's that bad.

[2.] Source: 98 Advertisers Pull Ads from Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh by Jason Easley

[3.] Source: Radio Info.com

[4.] Source: Talkers.com