Did you know most Americans hate Limbaugh worse than Bush?

[NNN0LHI]

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rush_Limbaugh_less_popular_than_Bush_0303.html

Recent poll showed Bush with higher favorable rating than Limbaugh

Ron Brynaert

Published: Tuesday March 3, 2009

(Update at bottom: 'I'm proud to be an entertainer,' Rush said in 2003)

Republicans appear to be bowing down left and right to conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh, even though most Americans view the radio talk show host unfavorably.

In fact, polls by Gallup in February show that Limbaugh has less favorable ratings from the mainstream public than former President George W. Bush. But while members of Congress and presidential aspirants spent most of the last two years trying to run away from Bush, Limbaugh's power seems to be expanding.

"In a February Gallup poll, 45 percent of respondents said they had an unfavorable view of Limbaugh, to 28 percent with a favorable opinion. The partisan divide was steep, with Republicans favoring Rush 60-23, while Democrats disapproved 63-6," Howard Kurtz writes in Tuesday's Washington Post.

[lisa58]

1. I'm not surprised - Bush is gone and Limbaugh won't go away!

[HillbillyBob]

2. Is disgusted , dispised considered unfavorable?

I used to live in SoFla and run a sales route. This was during drought times and the only radio station that would come in in some of the outlying areas was the one that fat slopbucket was on..I only had the radio on in case of fire or tornado warnings, I could only deal with it being on for about 4 minutes, then take my chances that if the weather or fire should threaten.

[JerseygirlCT]

3. Which is why it's so smart to make sure people see his face when

they think "Republican". He's going to ride with it, because he really only cares about how it affects him.

And the GOP are too stupid to see this.

[liberal N proud]

4. It's brilliant plan

So far it is working.

[Pab Sungenis]

5. The GOP who are afraid of his "20 million listeners" don't realize

that those numbers are grossly inflated. Here's how that number came to pass.

That "20 million" number, besides being from his peak, is what people in broadcasting call "cume," or cumulative listeners. It's also 20 million cume every week.

Radio ratings are calculated based on 15 minute blocks: if you listen for 15 minutes then you are a "listener" and count towards the numbers.

So, if you tune into Rush at the start of his show on a given day and listen for an hour, then you actually count as four listeners.

Listen to all three hours, you count as 12 listeners.

And listen all week long, you count as 60 listeners.

Then factor in repeat listening with "best of Rush" and overnight replays in some markets, and that number gets inflated.

Counting casual listeners, I'd say it's safe to say that Rush Limbaugh only has about 500,000 people listening each day, maybe 750,000 if you want to be generous.

Those 500,000 people now have a stranglehold on the policy of the Republican Party.

[Turbineguy]

6. Yeah, who'd want to have

a beer with Limbaugh?

[KharmaTrain]

7. There's Also A Generation Gap

I recently saw a survey that showed rushbo's favorables in the single digits among those under 35. One could only fathom his "favorables" among blacks.

The fun lie is to listen to rushbo's enablers claim he was 20 or 25 or 30 million listeners. Now what they fail to qualify is where those numbers come from...primarily thin air. About a decade I heard that 20 million number and a bunch of us did a look behind those numbers. It was based on "cumulative" audience...meaning the total number of people who listen per week, thus divide that number by 5 for a daily total. "Cume" is the radio equivelent of hitting a web page...people who punch in and out...it doesn't reflect those who listen to more than 15 minutes. When you looked, the "Time Spent Listening" or those who stayed around for more than 15 minutes, those number dropped rapidly. This is an old radio trick...to prop up a show or station by scrambling the numbers and hoping they get distorted.

Cheers...

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Been Saying The Same Thing For Years

Good to know that somebody in the biz confirms my opinion. Thanks, KT.
GAC

[JohnnyLib2]

8. If I really had to spend time with one of them--------------------

I'd pick Bush. OMG, what an incredible statement. Good OP.