Rushbo Loses An Affiliate - Declining Ratings...

[KharmaTrain]

Looks like the worm is turning a little...

http://www.wjbc.com/wire/07874_Rush-Off-2-web_171230.htm

The Rush is no longer going to be on the air on WJBC. Radio Bloomignton General Manager Red Pitcher announced this afternoon the syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show will air for the last time March 2, 2007. Pitcher tells WJBC's Steve and Beth on The Drive, local programming will replace Rush.

Pitcher believes Limbaugh's popularity is declining becuse of controversial remarks that are offending even his Republican fans. He pointed to today's show in which Limbaugh compared players in the NFL with gang members. Details of the local programming line-up that will begin on March 5th will be announced in coming weeks.

Kudos to WJBC...and I'm glad to see local programming replacing the Oxyboy.

Cheers...

[bluerum]

1. Guess he is running out of people to piss on. nt

[billybob537]

2. Maybe they just got

tired of being used to make the BLIMPbaugh "AKA Lying scum" rich.

[coffeenap]

3. May this be just the beginning...nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Wasn't it Limpaws

who said Obama was evil because he was rooting for the Bears instead of the Saints in the Super Bowl? That would have ticked off anyone in the Chicago area, imho.

[KharmaTrain]

This Is Downstate

Bloomington is near Peoria...and WJBC is a very popular local station.

Yep, lots of Bears fans there. But, sadly, they can still hear the asshat on WLS out of Chicago and KMOX out of St. Louis.

[BOSSHOG]

6. And the man with incredible comedic talent

asked his audience of ignorant trash last week "has anyone seen President Clinton lately? I'm reading here where a female ape in a zoo is pregnant and all the male apes in the zoo are sterile. Thats a real knee slapper huh?

[Toots]

15. Yes Rush a talent to belittle people

I remember a statement he made once about an NFL receiver who happened to be black. "If that ball had been a watermelon he would never have dropped it" I don't remember who the receiver was but I sure remember the statement. I was always surprised it never got Media attention..

[Totallybushed]

5. Rush crossed

the line years ago. amazing that that comment would be the straw that boke the camel's back!

[EST]

So it is now acceptable to refer to him as Rusth Hindenburg?

Lest there be any misinterpretation, it is useful to recall that station managers do things in their own self interest, not as a salute to good citizenship.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. It's true that the radio station is acting in its financial interest

and not out of public-spiritedness, but this shows that fewer people are listening to Limpballs and/or more are complaining about him. If Rush is losing popularity, one might infer that he is getting nastier than ever (if that's imaginable); and/or that his audience is becoming more liberal. And for each radio station that pulls the plug on his ugly ass, that's thousands of people who can't be influenced by him. It's all good.

Ha! Rush Hindenburg! Q: What's the difference between the Hindenburg and Rush Limbaugh? A: One is a flaming Nazi gasbag; the other is a zeppelin.

[charlie]

14. I wouldn't count on his audience becoming more liberal

There's a glut of Rush alternatives who sell stronger stuff than his spew. He's had a 20-year run, it's about time his show is regarded as unfashionably quaint by the conservadroid set.

[KharmaTrain]

17. It's Always The Bottom Line

Be assured...especially in a small market...if there's advertising money, they'll put it on. From obits to swap shops, small market radio is very market driven. You better believe that Rushbo had become a real tough sell...and probably had been for some time...and that there's more demand for a local show.

To me the good thing is that there will be a local show...not another "plug-in" hate fest...creating a local dialogue and a few jobs, too.

WLS comes in strong and has always drawn ratings in Bloomington...my thinking is that people were listening over there and not on WJBC. Anyway...that's one station that saw it carrying Rushbo was not in their financial interests. Hopefully more stations will see the value and profit in local programming...and revise FCC rules to encourage such a move.

[treestar]

19. Exactly, and it it Limpballs who is such a cheerleader for

capitalism - he ought not to complain - it's just the market doing its thing.

[DBoon]

13. a flaming Nazi gasbag?

nt

[EST]

18. Or, a NAZI gasbag going down in flames.

Been awake for several days straight, so am starting to be a bit punny or something.

[dkofos]

7. One down, how many thousands to go??

[eringer]

8. Nobody will Miss Him

With no exorbitant Rushbo syndication fees, maybe now the station can turn a profit.

[City Lights]

9. Poor rush. He's so misunderstood.

:nopity:

[Trajan]

10. Rush who ?

Other than the occasional reference by DUers and news stories about criminal drug activites by some RW radio nutcase, I would never hear of him ....

[madokie]

11. Listen to him, never. can't. won't. ain't gonna'.

Al the while our Troops are being fed his swineshit when anything would be better for their mental well being.

[maine_raptor]

16. I give Rush's football comments as much attention as his political ones.

At the level of a weak fart in a windstorm.

But just to be curious here: Anybody know his take on the Pats/Colts game? Maybe there's a comment or two dissing Patriots that can be parsed for fun?

[LTR]

20. Fatboy has lost a few affiliates

Most notably is KSTP in the Twin Cities. KSTP announced their intention to drop Rush just over a year ago, due to declining ratings and a desire to go to a mostly local approach. As a result, Clear Channel had to flip one of their 100,000 watt FM stations to talk to give Limbaugh a Twin Cities clearance.

The result? A year later, all KTLK-FM can muster with Limbaugh/Hannity/etc. is a 1.9 overall share, which is 0.2 better than the 1,000 watt AAR affiliate KTNF, which got a 1.7. KSTP slid a bit but they stabilized and used some of the money they saved not paying Rush to pick up some very lucrative programming - Minnesota Twins baseball rights.

[Bobbie Jo]

21. Ahh...progress

I initiated a boycott targeting local advertisers affiliated with the one (and sadly only) talk radio station in my area. Of course it is a Clear Channel station. The objection focuses on the blatant RW Hate programming, which includes the usual suspects....Rush, Savage, and the Instigator in Chief himself InsHannity.

It's a slow and arduous process, no doubt, but I believe in time a grassroots approach will make an impact. :kick:

[Poiuyt]

22. I can't figure out why Rush isn't on ESPN analyzing the NFL anymore

"Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_011907/content/quotes.guest.html

[Buzz Clik]

23. That ended when he said McNabb got media attention only because he's black.

Thus ended Rush's second tv career.

[Buzz Clik]

24. WJBC still carries O'Reilly.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. One step, then another

[Flabbergasted]

26. What will pubs do without their brain? My God the Horror!