Rush Limbaugh fakes it, gets caught

[FTL_Ian]

"Never trust a junkie."
-Ministry

Some people have to learn this the hard way.

[ProducerGuy]

Wow.  Have you talked to anyone in advertising lately?  The ratings don't matter, the heritage of the station doesn't matter, the demographics don't matter, the facts don't matter, the politics don't matter, and any excuse you can come up with doesn't matter to these advertisers.  They aren't spending their money on negative talk.  That's Rush, Hannity, and Beck.  Period.  Ask anyone in sales. 

Have you worked for a Rush affiliate? I have. We didn't lose a single sponsor. Sure, it's anecdotal, but the sky isn't falling like you want it to. I am fairly confident that my station is fairly representative of Rush's smaller affiliates.

What DID happen is some major national sponsors temporarily drop from the show, but they were quickly replaced by other sponsors. Some that dropped quietly came back after the professional media thugs went on to the next target. Another interesting thing is some companies that didn't sponsor with Rush sent out faxes asking that their barter and agency ads not be played during his show.

[ProducerGuy]

On a related note, does no one have a comment on my pointing out that the source of this story engages in the exact same number inflating "dishonesty"? Or do you guys actually think that the "300 orgasm woman" story is hard news?

[TheBigA]

Sure, it's anecdotal, but the sky isn't falling like you want it to. I am fairly confident that my station is fairly representative of Rush's smaller affiliates.

That may be true, mainly because you don't deal with major advertising agencies.  You mainly work with local clients.  They probably don't care.  But national sponsors like insurance companies, department stores, oil companies, and car companies are still refusing to advertise on stations that carry negative talk shows.  That hasn't changed.  The sales orders I'm seeing this week still say it.  And I'm not reporting this because I "want it to," but because it's a fact.  Walk down the hall and ask your traffic or national sales people what they get told about placing ads adjacent to Rush, Hannity, or Beck.  This isn't about politics or ideology, it's about sales.

Another interesting thing is some companies that didn't sponsor with Rush sent out faxes asking that their barter and agency ads not be played during his show.

That also may be true.  I wasn't tracking who advertised with Rush last year.  All I know is that as of this week, just about every major national company doesn't want its advertising placed in negative talk.  The one exception may be political ads.  

[ProducerGuy]

That may be true, mainly because you don't deal with major advertising agencies.  You mainly work with local clients.  They probably don't care.  But national sponsors like insurance companies, department stores, oil companies, and car companies are still refusing to advertise on stations that carry negative talk shows.  That hasn't changed.  The sales orders I'm seeing this week still say it.  And I'm not reporting this because I "want it to," but because it's a fact.  Walk down the hall and ask your traffic or national sales people what they get told about placing ads adjacent to Rush, Hannity, or Beck.  This isn't about politics or ideology, it's about sales.  

I don't doubt there's a bit of this happening in larger markets. When the professional media thugs get to market 150 and below, Rush might have to worry. Don't mistake fear of boycotts with some shift in attitudes. These major companies are scared to death of some special interest group (that is really just one guy with a fax machine) putting out bad PR.

That being said, I suppose hoping that this thread would be a teaching moment of what not to do in social media was a bit much.  Instead, everyone would prefer to do the same old Rush-bashing as usual.

[TheBigA]

Instead, everyone would prefer to do the same old Rush-bashing as usual.

Let me be clear: The orders I see don't just name Rush, but Hannity, Beck, and Savage.  So it's not just Rush.  It's about negative talk.  And it's not "professional media thugs."  Rush is off the radar as far as the media is concerned.  This is the advertising community on their own deciding that negative talk is bad for business.  And a lot of people in radio are very worried.  There is nothing they can do to change this view.  Once advertisers make up their mind, it's game over. 

[ProducerGuy]

And it's not "professional media thugs."  Rush is off the radar as far as the media is concerned. This is the advertising community on their own deciding that negative talk is bad for business.  And a lot of people in radio are very worried.  There is nothing they can do to change this view.  Once advertisers make up their mind, it's game over. 

Do you honestly think Coca Cola or Toyota care what is being said on these shows as long as they're FCC compliant and not obscene? This gun-shyness most certainly is the doing of groups trying to control the message being aired on the radio. Advertisers want to be heard on as many stations as possible, and Rush/Hannity/Beck give them that outlet. The advertisers only care because someone is threatening them constantly.

It's the exact same thing that happens on TV with the Parents' Television Council. These people make their living strong arming broadcasters. 

[TheBigA]

It's the exact same thing that happens on TV with the Parents' Television Council. These people make their living strong arming broadcasters. 

No such groups are forcing advertisers to ignore over-55s.  As I said, this isn't about politics.

[ProducerGuy]

No such groups are forcing advertisers to ignore over-55s.  As I said, this isn't about politics.

Now that's a different story, and also completely true. Talk radio does have a serious aging problem, but it's not because it's too confrontational. It's because young people just don't care about the things they talk about. Hence the pathetic attempts by radio hosts to appeal to younger audiences by buying clicks or mixing ridiculously sensationalistic stories with serious stuff in order to manipulate search results.

That's the lesson to be learned from this whole story. 

[ajc_trw]

Rush bragged about how fast the "Rush Babes for America" Facebook page accumulated "Likes".

Turns out, he bought most of them -- from a service in India.

http://current.com/shows/the-young-turks/videos/rush-limbaughs-facebook-page-for-female-fans-is-a-big-hit-among-users-in-india

If you have Facebook, you can see the evidence, here:

https://www.facebook.com/RushBabesforAmerica/likes

I went to the facebook likes page and it said

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May 6, 2012
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Yea, I can see the confusion between Indianapolis and India.