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Wikipedia

The Rush Limbaugh Show

January 16, 2023

The Rush Limbaugh Show is an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh. Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988, The Rush Limbaugh Show became the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States.[1] At its peak, the show aired on over 650 radio stations nationwide.

The Rush Limbaugh Show
Other namesThe Rush Limbaugh Program
Rush Limbaugh on the EIB Network
GenreConservative talk
Running time3 hours (noon – 3 p.m. ET)
Country of originUnited States
Language(s)English
Home stationKFBK, Sacramento (1984–1988)
WABC, New York City (1988–2013)
WJNO, West Palm Beach (2000–2021)
WOR, New York City (2014–2021)
SyndicatesExcellence In Broadcasting Radio Network (thru Premiere Networks)
TV adaptationsRush Limbaugh (1992–1996)
Hosted byRush Limbaugh
StarringRush Limbaugh
AnnouncerJohnny Donovan
Created byRush Limbaugh
Executive producer(s)Cookie Gleason
Recording studioPalm Beach County, Florida (1996–2021)
Original release1984 (Sacramento)
August 1, 1988 (national) – February 2, 2021 (with Limbaugh)
June 18, 2021 (in guest host/clip show format)
Audio formatRadio
Opening theme"My City Was Gone" by the Pretenders
Websitewww.rushlimbaugh.com

Unbeknownst at the time, Limbaugh hosted the show for the last time on February 2, 2021. On February 17, 2021, Limbaugh's widow Kathryn announced on that day's broadcast that he had died at the age of 70, one year after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

After Limbaugh's death, clip shows with guest hosts (referred to as "guide hosts") were heard in the Limbaugh time slot for four months, until June 18th. The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show premiered on Premiere Networks on June 21, 2021, from 12 to 3 p.m. ET.[2]

Show airtime and format

 
Rush Limbaugh, the show's founder and original host, in 2019

The Rush Limbaugh Show had a format that it retained until Limbaugh's death. The program aired live and consisted primarily of Limbaugh's monologues, based on the news of the day, interspersed with parody ads, phone calls from listeners, and a variety of recurring comedy bits (some live, some taped). Limbaugh also would announce live commercials during the show for sponsors. He would also sometimes promote his own products, such as his political newsletter, The Limbaugh Letter, or his Rush Revere children's history books. Occasionally, Limbaugh featured guests such as politicians or fellow commentators.

An edited instrumental version of the Pretenders' "My City Was Gone" was Limbaugh's theme song at the start of his show's run. Briefly in 1999, Limbaugh stopped playing the song after a "cease and desist" order was issued by EMI. However, after the song's writer, Chrissie Hynde, said in a radio interview she did not mind the use of the song (she and Limbaugh had a mutual opposition to an Environmental Protection Agency plan for animal testing), an agreement was reached with EMI.[3] The show aired live on weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern time, with a number of stations (such as WHO in Des Moines) airing it on tape delay. From 2006 until his death,[4] the program was normally taped from Limbaugh's studios near his home in Palm Beach County, Florida.[5]

Distribution

The Rush Limbaugh Show, a production of Limbaugh’s company EIB (Excellence In Broadcasting Radio Network), aired on a network of approximately 650 AM and FM affiliate stations throughout the United States, almost all of which broadcast the program live. During its existence, WRNO simulcasted the program on shortwave radio. Limbaugh also hosted his own online Internet streaming audio and video broadcast, through Streamlink. This broadcast was restricted to members of Limbaugh's "Rush 24/7" service, but could also be heard on some stations' streaming audio feeds.[6] Premiere Networks, a division of iHeartMedia, the largest U.S. radio station owner, owned distribution rights to the program. The program was not heard on any stations in Canada, although stations along the northern border of the United States gave the show coverage in much of southern Canada. The show was never carried on any satellite radio service,[7] and was one of the few nationally syndicated talk radio programs not to be featured on satellite radio. Limbaugh attributed this decision to his desire to maximize value for his terrestrial radio affiliates.[8]

The Rush Limbaugh Show was unusual among syndicated radio programs in that it was fee-based; radio stations pay iHeartMedia hundreds of thousands of dollars (the exact amount depends on market size) for the rights to carry the show, in addition to giving up 15 minutes of daily ad time for barter advertisements and the Morning Update.[9] The rights fees were dropped following Limbaugh's death.[10]

An official weekend edition of the program, consisting of "best of" clips from the weekday show, entitled The Rush Limbaugh Week in Review, was launched in January 2008.

Notable guests

In September 1992, then President George H. W. Bush made an appearance on Limbaugh's show.[11] Charlton Heston called in to the show in 1995 to read from Michael Crichton's book Jurassic Park. Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on the show in November 2003 when Roger Hedgecock was guest-hosting the show.[12]

Former President George W. Bush appeared six times on the program. The first time was during the 2000 presidential campaign. Then, in 2004, he "called in" to a live broadcast during the week of the 2004 Republican National Convention to give a preview of his nomination acceptance speech. He called in again in 2006. The fourth time was April 18, 2008, when Limbaugh asked the White House to speak with Bush to thank him for the ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI, which awed Limbaugh. The fifth call was during the show's 20th anniversary celebration, in which then-President Bush (and George H. W. Bush and Jeb Bush) congratulated Limbaugh.[13] He appeared a sixth time for an interview regarding his autobiography, Decision Points, on November 9, 2010.[14]

Vice President Dick Cheney made multiple appearances.[15]

In 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called in to a live broadcast of the show a day after having called Limbaugh "irrelevant", adding, "I'm not his servant. I'm the people's servant of California," on an appearance on NBC's Today show.[16]

Other notable guests who called in to Limbaugh's show include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, unsuccessful Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, economist Thomas Sowell, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and television writer Joel Surnow, who took calls about events in his show, 24. In December 2006, Sylvester Stallone made an appearance on the show to discuss his upcoming movie Rocky Balboa. On February 27, 2004, actor Jim Caviezel called in to the program to discuss The Passion of the Christ, in which Caviezel played the role of Jesus Christ. Republican vice presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin (R–AK) also called into a show before a rally in October 2008 to discuss the election and the economic distortion and impact of Senator Obama's tax policy;[17] Palin returned to the show in November 2009 to discuss her book Going Rogue: An American Life. Phil Gingrey, a congressman who compared shows such as Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to "throwing bricks" in January 2009, gave an interview on Limbaugh's show the following day.[18]

Limbaugh also had author and Washington Times columnist Bill Gertz on his show to discuss Gertz's books as well as national security issues. In 2007, Limbaugh (among numerous other hosts) interviewed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and was the first to interview Tony Snow after his departure from his post as White House press secretary. He also interviewed NBC News host Tim Russert in 2004.[19] In May 2010, country musician John Rich reported for Limbaugh on the May 2010 Tennessee floods.

Future president Donald Trump appeared on the show April 15, 2011, and donated $100,000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, for which Limbaugh holds an annual radiothon.[20] On December 6, 2012, Limbaugh interviewed outgoing Senator Jim DeMint shortly after he announced his resignation from his seat to head the Heritage Foundation.[21]

Program staff

James Golden (as Bo Snerdley)
The official "program-observer" and call screener.[22] With other staff members, he assisted with research as part of preparation for the show and was in the control booth as the show was being broadcast. He co-hosted a Sunday night talk show, James and Joel, on WABC with Joel Santisteban from 1992 to 1998. Snerdley is a pseudonym Limbaugh invented many years earlier when he was a disc jockey on WIXZ (when Limbaugh went by the name Jeff Christy); he would use the name Snerdley for supposed-listeners who would write or call in, usually professing to be big fans and part of the "Christy Nation". Later, the name Snerdley was used for his call screeners, both male and female. The first name "Bo" was added by Golden in homage to Bo Jackson.[23] During a show in 2004, Limbaugh was not at the microphone for the last segment of the second hour (it was only about ten seconds), and Snerdley came on instead: "This is Bo Snerdley, Rush will be right back on the EIB Network (Excellence in Broadcasting)." It was one of the rare times his voice was heard on the program before 2008. "Bo" Snerdley screened callers at the Palm Beach Florida broadcasting location and in New York City. In February 2008, Snerdley, who is black,[24] was appointed by Limbaugh as the show's Official Criticizer of Barack Obama: "certified black enough to criticize".[25] On the July 24, 2009 show, "Bo" was put on the air as the "Official Obama Criticizer", and spoke for roughly five minutes with Rush about the Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy. On October 16, he requested (and received) air time to air a five-minute rant that criticized NFL players, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and media commentators who opposed Rush Limbaugh's potential bid on the St. Louis Rams. Golden later joined iHeart Media as a producer.
George Prayias (as Koko)
The webmaster for Rush 24/7 (and its successor EIB 24/7) Web site. The nickname was given by Limbaugh when George put a gorilla suit on for a gag on Limbaugh's TV show. He is currently the Vice President of Digital for the EIB Network, which continues to this day managing the Limbaugh archives and the EIB Network's current show.
Kathleen Prayias (as Cookie Gleason)
Executive Producer for the EIB Network. Originally affiliated with the EIB Network since 1992, she was an associate producer on his television program (whose rights are now held by Tegna Media as successor to syndicator Multimedia, Inc.). She did research and produces all of the audio sound bites played on Rush's show. She's most known for her audio montages, such as "Gravitas". She got her nickname from Rush's television show where she played "Cookie Gleason", a take-off on Cokie Roberts.
Brian
EIB network broadcast engineer.
Dawn
Transcribed caller comments onto a computer screen to aid Limbaugh, who heard via a cochlear implant and therefore sometimes had difficulties clearly understanding callers.[22]
Christopher "Kit" Carson
"Chief of staff". Also known as "H.R.", Carson was Limbaugh's first employee and screened calls when Limbaugh broadcast from New York City, among other things. Carson's role was reduced as a result of the show's departure from New York along with his own battle with brain cancer beginning in 2011; Carson died January 26, 2015.[26]
Brett Winterble
A former producer. Winterble, as of 2020, hosts a local program on WBT and a national television program on Newsmax TV. After Limbaugh's death, he hosted the show himself.[27]
Altamont
His duties consisted of call screening and board operations, and serving as backup when the others are out or unavailable. Left the show in spring 2006.
Johnny Donovan
Program announcer who sometimes voiced Paul Shanklin's parodies.

Stand-ins for Limbaugh

Every so often, Limbaugh was absent from his show, whether for various personal reasons or because of extended trips. For instance, in early 2005, Limbaugh took a weeklong trip to Afghanistan[28] to report on postwar conditions; he also participated in various celebrity pro-am golf events, especially when he represented his parent company, iHeartMedia. On those occasions, Limbaugh allowed "EIB certified talk show hosts" (sometimes called "Associate Professors from the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies") to fill in for him. Typically, these hosts are well-known conservatives, and since Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia since 2014) acquired the network that syndicates the program, they have often been hosts of local shows on iHeartMedia's owned-and-operated stations. A number of Limbaugh's former substitute hosts, including Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bob Dornan and Jason Lewis, went on to host nationally syndicated shows of their own.

Notable substitute hosts

  • Sean Hannity
  • Glenn Beck
  • Buck Sexton: Substitute host from 2014 to 2017; named by iHeart Media as the successor co-host for the EIB Network with Clay Travis in May 2021.
  • Mark Belling:[29] Host of The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show on fellow iHeartMedia station WISN in Milwaukee.
  • Mark Steyn:[30] A Canadian journalist, columnist, and film and theater critic. Steyn traditionally hosts from his home in New Hampshire, referred to as EIB – Ice Station Zebra.
  • Dr. Walter E. Williams: economics professor, strong proponent of laissez-faire capitalism, and former chairman of the economics department at George Mason University in Virginia. Williams began guest hosting in October 1992, initially against Limbaugh's wishes as Limbaugh did not believe that Williams, a non-broadcaster, had "paid his dues" in the broadcasting field enough to earn a national guest-hosting gig; Limbaugh relented after hearing Williams's first episode. He left the rotation before 2018.[31] Williams died December 2, 2020.[32]
  • Douglas Urbanski: Award-winning Motion Picture Producer, former Broadway impresario, occasional actor, raconteur, "paying subscriber to Rush 24/7," also known as America's Guest Host, Urbanski first hosted three times in 2010, left the rotation to produce films on location (during which he briefly hosted a competing program on Westwood One) and returned to the substitute host rotation in mid-2012.
  • Erick Erickson: Founder and editor of RedState and radio host at WSB. Erickson first served as substitute host in 2014 before he took over Limbaugh’s time slot on March 22, 2021.[citation needed]
  • Chris Plante: Radio host based at WMAL in Washington, DC.
  • Roger Hedgecock: Former mayor of San Diego, California, and a talk radio host at Clear Channel talk station KOGO there. He was, as of 2007, the most used stand-in, and was also a fan favorite. Hedgecock spent several years out of the substitute rotation but has since returned.
  • Ken Matthews: A host on WHP in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and WPHT in Philadelphia, subbed for Limbaugh on July 3, July 14, September 1, November 24 and December 26, 2017; on June 22, 2018, and again on March 19, 2020. Matthews was later an interim host before the EIB Network announced Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Matthews hosted the final episode of the program on June 18, 2021.[33]
  • Todd Herman: A host on KTTH in Seattle, Washington, debuted as a guest host for a vacationing Limbaugh on August 24, 2017. He hosted the show on August 25, 2017; on January 2, May 24 and 25, 2018, and again on February 19, 2020. Herman later served as an interim host in 2021.[34]
  • Nick Searcy: An actor who stars on the FX show Justified, he debuted as a guest host for a vacationing Limbaugh on December 27, 2017.[35]
  • Michael Knowles: He debuted as guest host as Limbaugh was undergoing another round of treatments on November 20, 2020.
  • Derek Hunter: The host of The Derek Hunter Podcast and author of the book Outrage Inc., he debuted as guest host on November 27, 2020.
  • Kathryn Limbaugh: Limbaugh's widow appeared as a co-host on the February 17, 2021 show and again on February 22.[36]

Show history

Radio syndication

After several years of employment with the Kansas City Royals and in the music radio business, which included hosting a program at KMBZ in Kansas City, in 1984, Limbaugh started as a regular talk show host on AM radio station KFBK in Sacramento, California. He succeeded Morton Downey Jr. in the time slot.[37]

Based on his work in Sacramento, Limbaugh was signed to a contract by EFM Media Management, headed by former ABC Radio executive Edward McLaughlin. Limbaugh became syndicated on August 1, 1988, through EFM and his show was drawing five million listeners after two years of syndication.[38] Lacking a name for the network during the early years, he coined the name "EIB (Excellence In Broadcasting) Network," which has remained associated with the show even after joining an actual radio network (Premiere), and the trademark is currently owned by iHeart Media, which continues to use the name for Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

In 1997, Jacor Communications, a publicly traded company, acquired EFM.[39] Later that year, Jacor merged with Premiere Radio Networks.[40] In 1999, Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications,[41] which rebranded as iHeartMedia in 2014; Clear Channel/iHeart have maintained what is now branded as Premiere Networks as their syndication wing since acquiring it.

In 2006, WBAL (1090 AM) in Baltimore, Maryland was the first station to drop Limbaugh's program and replace it with local programming; the current Baltimore affiliate is crosstown rival WCBM (680 AM).

Limbaugh and Clear Channel signed an eight-year, $400 million contract extension on July 2, 2008.[42] He signed a new contract for four additional years in a deal announced August 2, 2016, after Limbaugh publicly contemplated retirement. Limbaugh is believed to have taken a pay cut to remain on the air after advertisers pulled funding in response to boycotts around his criticism of Sandra Fluke and industry-wide advertising declines.[43] Limbaugh renewed his agreement with Premiere through 2024 in a deal announced January 5, 2020.[44]

Final year

On February 3, 2020, Limbaugh announced on his show that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, but would continue hosting the show (though with absences to undergo treatment). In anticipation of his death, he used his December 23, 2020 episode to express his thanks and say farewell to his audience;[45] Limbaugh occasionally hosted shows through January and would host his last new episode on February 2, 2021. His death was announced by his widow Kathryn during the February 17 broadcast. Upon the announcement of his death, Premiere Networks released a statement that during Limbaugh's terminal illness, it had organized the archive of Limbaugh's shows by date and topic to allow for at least 90 days of clip shows, selected to correspond to the current news cycle as much as possible, presented by a guest host (referred to on air as a "guide host"). The long-term plan would be to eventually cancel the program once Premiere determined that the audience was ready to move on.[46] Stations owned by Cox Media Group[47] and Saga Communications, along with Pittsburgh affiliate WJAS, began dropping the program in mid-March.[48] Further defections from Audacy,[49] Midwest Communications,[50] and Alpha Media[51] continued in April, with Audacy replacing Limbaugh with Dana Loesch and local programs.[52] Cumulus Media continued to carry Limbaugh's show through the first three months in the "guide host" format, then introduced its own show hosted by Dan Bongino on May 24.[53]

On May 27, 2021, Premiere Radio Networks announced that, as part of a programming shuffle, it would be moving its evening host Buck Sexton into Limbaugh's time slot, with Fox Sports Radio personality Clay Travis joining him as co-host, beginning June 21, 2021, as The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,[54] subsequently announcing that Houston-based host Jesse Kelly would join its lineup to take over for Sexton in the evening slot.[55]

The final episode of the "guide host" format (and the show entirely) aired on Friday, June 18, 2021. Of the show's remaining affiliates — estimated by Premiere to be about 400 — most of the carryovers to Sexton and Travis consist of stations owned by Premiere parent company iHeartMedia. Other station ownership groups chose options such as Bongino, Loesch, Salem Radio Network hosts Dennis Prager or Charlie Kirk, Compass Media Networks' Markley, Van Camp and Robbins or Fox News Talk's Fox Across America. Townsquare Media, in particular, declined to make a universal decision on its stations' replacement for Limbaugh, allowing local program directors to decide for their own stations.[56]

Sexton and Travis also inherited the EIB brand and Limbaugh's "Rush 24/7" subscriber base - since rebranded as "EIB 24/7" - and includes the archives to both shows. Travis and Sexton also promote their show as being "Inspired by Rush", and continue to use clips from Limbaugh (in segments billed as "Rush's Timeless Wisdom") to reinforce points made on the new show.[57][58]

Controversial incidents

Armed Forces Radio controversy

On May 26, 2004, the article "Rush's Forced Conscripts" appeared on the online news and opinion magazine Salon.com.[59] The article discussed the controversy surrounding the fact that American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) (which describes itself as "[providing] stateside radio and television programming, 'a touch of home', to U.S. service men and women, DoD civilians, and their families serving outside the continental United States") carries the first hour of Limbaugh's show. Melvin Russell, director of AFRTS, defended Limbaugh's presence, by pointing to Limbaugh's high ratings in the US: "We look at the most popular shows broadcast here in the United States and try to mirror that. [Limbaugh] is the No. 1 talk show host in the States; there's no question about that. Because of that we provide him on our service." In addition, AFRTS produced a ballot of radio and television shows asking troops worldwide, "Who do you want that we don't at present carry?" The Rush Limbaugh Show was not listed on the ballot, but won the vote as a write-in by the troops. A later poll by Lund Media Research found that a majority of soldiers preferred that talk show programs be replaced by hip hop and rap stations, bringing into question the future of content such as the Rush Limbaugh Show on AFRTS.[60]

Critics have pointed out that other programs, such as the eight-million listener per week Howard Stern Show, are absent from AFRTS. (This statement was made before Stern left for satellite radio in 2006.) Other claims—for example, that there is no political counterbalance to Limbaugh on AFRTS—have been rebutted by Byron York, a columnist for the predominantly conservative National Review: "American military men and women abroad have access, for example, to the talk show of liberal host Diane Rehm ... Jim Hightower and CBS News anchorman Dan Rather." Another possible political counterbalance to Limbaugh is Harry Shearer, who emphasizes his presence on AFRTS at the end of every episode of his satirical Le Show.

On June 14, 2004, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced an amendment to the 2004 Defense Authorization bill that called for AFRTS to fulfill its stated goal of providing political balance in its news and public affairs programming.[61] The amendment passed unanimously in the Senate. Limbaugh responded by calling the move "censorship". On his June 17 radio show, he commented that: "This is a United States senator [Tom Harkin] amending the Defense appropriations bill with the intent being to get this program—only one hour of which is carried on Armed Forces Radio—stripped from that network." The amendment never became law. As of 2005, the first hour of Limbaugh's show was still on AFRTS. Limbaugh visited US forces in Afghanistan in 2005.

This treatment of The Rush Limbaugh Show proved to set a precedent for Congressional debate on AFRTS content. The Ed Schultz Show, a liberal talk radio show with over one million listeners a week, was originally scheduled to be broadcast on AFRTS on October 17, 2005. It was subsequently pulled, with some alleging political motivation, which was later debated in Congress. A few weeks after this debate, AFRTS added Schultz to the line-up along with other talk show hosts: Al Franken and Sean Hannity.

Michael J. Fox controversy

On the October 23, 2006, broadcast of his radio show, Limbaugh imitated on the "DittoCam" (the webcam for website subscribers to see him on the air) the physical symptoms actor Michael J. Fox showed in a television commercial raising awareness of Parkinson's disease.[62][63] He said "[Fox] is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act ... This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting."[64] Three days later, on October 26, Limbaugh denied that he was ridiculing Fox, stating that, after seeing Fox without his medication, "I [was] stunned because I [had] never seen Michael J. Fox that way." Limbaugh said that he was "mov[ing] around like [Fox] does, but never once was I making fun of him. I was trying to illustrate for my audience watching on the Dittocam what I had seen."[65]

Fox later appeared on CBS with Katie Couric and said he was actually dyskinesic at the time, a condition that results from overmedication.[66]

However, Fox has admitted that he has, at times, deliberately not taken his medication[67]—such as in an appearance the U.S. Senate—in order, he claimed, to demonstrate the effects of Parkinson's disease. During Limbaugh's October 26, 2006 show he said, in a discussion with a caller, "[I]n his own book [Lucky Man: A Memoir],[67] he has written in chapter eight that before Senate committees he goes off the medication so that people can see the ravages of the disease."[65]

"Barack the Magic Negro" parody

Main article: Barack the Magic Negro

On March 19, 2007, Limbaugh referred to a Los Angeles Times editorial by David Ehrenstein that claimed that Barack Obama was filling the role of the "magic negro", and that this explained his appeal to voters.[68] Limbaugh then later played a song by Paul Shanklin entitled "Barack the Magic Negro,"[69] sung to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon".[70]

Phony soldiers controversy

Main article: Phony soldiers controversy

During the September 26, 2007, broadcast of Limbaugh's radio show, Limbaugh used the term "phony soldiers" when speaking to a caller who had questioned if the previous caller was really a soldier.[71][72][73][74][75]

The caller, saying he was currently serving in the Army for 14 years, said, "They never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to the media." Limbaugh interrupted, "The phony soldiers." The caller continued, "The phony soldiers. If you talk to a real soldier, they are proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq. They understand their sacrifice, and they're willing to sacrifice for their country."[76] Several minutes later, after the caller had hung up, Limbaugh read from the AP story describing the story of Jesse Macbeth. Macbeth joined the Army but did not complete basic training, yet falsely claimed in alternative media interviews that he and his unit routinely committed war crimes in Iraq.[77][78]

On June 7, 2007, Macbeth pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and was sentenced to five months in jail and three years probation.[79][80]

Media Matters noted Limbaugh's use of the term "phony soldiers" in an article on their website. The article claimed that Limbaugh was saying that all soldiers who disagree with the Iraq War were "phony soldiers",[81] and this assertion was repeated in speeches by 2008 Democratic presidential candidates John Edwards and Chris Dodd.[82] Limbaugh said that, when he had made the comment about "phony soldiers", he had been speaking only of Macbeth and others like him who claim to be soldiers and are not, and that "Media Matters takes things out of context all the time".[83] Media Matters pointed out that Limbaugh did not mention Jesse Macbeth on his September 26 radio show until one minute and 50 seconds after talking about "phony soldiers" with the caller."[84]

Limbaugh addressed Media Matters' accusations during an interview on Fox News, explaining that the caller, after discussing the phony soldiers, went into a discussion of weapons of mass destruction.[85] Limbaugh said that he allowed the caller to continue down that tangent while, off-mic, he searched for the commentary on Jesse Macbeth to present to his audience, thus accounting for the delay. The unedited transcript of the radio show in question can be found on Rush Limbaugh's website.[86]

Comments on Obama's policies

On January 16, 2009, Limbaugh read a letter on his radio show that he had received a request from a national print outlet: ... "If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency, we need it by Monday night, that would be ideal." He responded, "I don't need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails." He explained that he didn't want "absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don't want this to work." He continued, "What is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here."[87]

Limbaugh later said that he wants to see Obama's policies fail, not the man himself.[88] Speaking of Obama, Limbaugh said, "He's my president, he's a human being, and his ideas and policies are what count for me."[87]

"Leader of Republican Party"

Limbaugh was the keynote speaker at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference; his speech attracted widespread attention.[89] On March 1, 2009, CBS's Face the Nation asked White House Chief Of Staff Rahm Emanuel who he thought represented the Republican Party; Emanuel named Limbaugh as his choice.[90][91][92]

In remarks aired by CNN on March 1, 2009, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said that Limbaugh is "an entertainer" and his rhetoric at the convention was "incendiary" and "ugly".[93] Steele later telephoned Limbaugh and apologized. Limbaugh stated he would not want to run the RNC in its "sad sack state".[94]

On March 2, 2009, Limbaugh responded to Emanuel,[94] and on March 4, 2009, Limbaugh challenged President Barack Obama to a debate on his radio program. Limbaugh offered to pay all of Obama's expenses including travel, food, lodging, and security.[95] On March 6, Limbaugh told Byron York of the Washington Examiner that his ratings for his radio show had significantly increased since he had begun criticizing the Obama Administration.[96]

Comments regarding Sandra Fluke

Main article: Rush Limbaugh–Sandra Fluke controversy

On February 29, 2012, Limbaugh said that Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law student and women's rights activist, supposedly was a "slut" and a "prostitute" on his radio show, in response to testimony that Fluke gave to Congressional Democrats in favor of requiring contraception to be included in insurance provided by employers, including religiously affiliated organizations that object to its usage.[97] The negative response included boycott campaigns by social media groups pressuring the show's advertisers; as of March 8, up to forty-five advertisers had withdrawn or suspended their advertising on the show,[98] and two radio stations, KPUA in Hilo, Hawaii, and WBEC in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, announced they would no longer broadcast the show.[99]

In March 2012, social media boycott promoters claimed that an additional 96 advertisers had dropped the show, but The Washington Post later reported that this was just a regular quarterly notice, not specific to the controversy.[100] Premiere responded to the boycott campaigns with an aggressive campaign to circumvent the traditional advertising agencies and account executives to solicit new advertisers, not just for Limbaugh but for its other talk properties as well; Premiere declared success with this strategy in June 2013, at which point many of the advertisers had long since returned and those that had not had been replaced.[101] Competing networks Cumulus Media and Dial Global both blamed the controversy for advertising losses at their networks; in Cumulus's case, it was also a factor in the company's decision to drop Limbaugh from all of their stations (including several of Limbaugh's top-10 market affiliates, most of which were former ABC owned-and-operated stations) when the company's bulk carriage contract with Limbaugh expired at the end of 2013.[102][103] (Cumulus backed down and signed a bulk-carriage contract extension at the end of 2013; all of Limbaugh's Cumulus affiliates except WABC were included.) The show has also been dropped by other stations such as WRKO in Boston and KFI in Los Angeles resulting it in being carried by weaker stations in major markets.[104]

Operation Chaos

In late February 2008, Limbaugh announced "Operation Chaos," a political call to action with the initial plan to have voters of the Republican Party temporarily cross over to vote in the Democratic primary and vote for Hillary Clinton, who at the time was in the midst of losing eleven straight primary contests to Barack Obama.[105]

At the point in which Limbaugh announced his gambit, Obama had seemed on the verge of clinching the Democratic nomination.[106] However, Clinton subsequently won the Ohio primary and the Texas primary (while losing the Texas caucus and the overall delegate split) with large pluralities from rural counties; thus reemerging as a competitive opponent in the race.[107]

On April 29, 2008, Limbaugh declared an "operational pause" in Operation Chaos, saying that Obama's defeat in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary and fallout from statements from Obama ally Reverend Jeremiah Wright could have damaged his campaign to the extent superdelegates would shift to Clinton's side.[108] Determining Obama had weathered that storm, Limbaugh lifted the pause the next day and renewed his call for his listeners to vote for Clinton in the upcoming Indiana and North Carolina primaries.[109] Obama won the North Carolina primary[110] but was narrowly defeated in Indiana, where Clinton won decisively in rural counties that normally vote Republican in presidential elections.[111]

The overall legality of Operation Chaos in several states, including Ohio and Indiana, is disputed. In Ohio, new party members are required to sign a pledge of loyalty to the party they join for a minimum of one year, making participation in "Operation Chaos" a possible felony (election falsification) in that state. However, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann refused to press charges on anyone, saying that it would be nearly impossible to enforce because of difficulties proving voter intent and concerns that a loyalty oath would violate freedom of association.[112]

By 2020, the name "Operation Chaos" had become associated enough with presidential party raiding that South Carolina Republicans seeking to disrupt that state's Democratic presidential primary recycled the name for their own efforts. Limbaugh did not endorse or address the South Carolina efforts.[113]

References

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External links

  • The Rush Limbaugh Show

January 16, 2023
rush, limbaugh, show, american, conservative, talk, radio, show, hosted, rush, limbaugh, since, nationally, syndicated, premiere, 1988, became, highest, rated, talk, radio, show, united, states, peak, show, aired, over, radio, stations, nationwide, other, name. The Rush Limbaugh Show is an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988 The Rush Limbaugh Show became the highest rated talk radio show in the United States 1 At its peak the show aired on over 650 radio stations nationwide The Rush Limbaugh ShowOther namesThe Rush Limbaugh ProgramRush Limbaugh on the EIB NetworkGenreConservative talkRunning time3 hours noon 3 p m ET Country of originUnited StatesLanguage s EnglishHome stationKFBK Sacramento 1984 1988 WABC New York City 1988 2013 WJNO West Palm Beach 2000 2021 WOR New York City 2014 2021 SyndicatesExcellence In Broadcasting Radio Network thru Premiere Networks TV adaptationsRush Limbaugh 1992 1996 Hosted byRush LimbaughStarringRush LimbaughAnnouncerJohnny DonovanCreated byRush LimbaughExecutive producer s Cookie GleasonRecording studioPalm Beach County Florida 1996 2021 Original release1984 Sacramento August 1 1988 national February 2 2021 with Limbaugh June 18 2021 in guest host clip show format Audio formatRadioOpening theme My City Was Gone by the PretendersWebsitewww rushlimbaugh comUnbeknownst at the time Limbaugh hosted the show for the last time on February 2 2021 On February 17 2021 Limbaugh s widow Kathryn announced on that day s broadcast that he had died at the age of 70 one year after being diagnosed with lung cancer After Limbaugh s death clip shows with guest hosts referred to as guide hosts were heard in the Limbaugh time slot for four months until June 18th The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show premiered on Premiere Networks on June 21 2021 from 12 to 3 p m ET 2 Contents 1 Show airtime and format 1 1 Distribution 1 2 Notable guests 2 Program staff 3 Stand ins for Limbaugh 3 1 Notable substitute hosts 4 Show history 4 1 Radio syndication 4 2 Final year 5 Controversial incidents 5 1 Armed Forces Radio controversy 5 2 Michael J Fox controversy 5 3 Barack the Magic Negro parody 5 4 Phony soldiers controversy 5 5 Comments on Obama s policies 5 6 Leader of Republican Party 5 7 Comments regarding Sandra Fluke 6 Operation Chaos 7 References 8 External linksShow airtime and format Edit Rush Limbaugh the show s founder and original host in 2019 The Rush Limbaugh Show had a format that it retained until Limbaugh s death The program aired live and consisted primarily of Limbaugh s monologues based on the news of the day interspersed with parody ads phone calls from listeners and a variety of recurring comedy bits some live some taped Limbaugh also would announce live commercials during the show for sponsors He would also sometimes promote his own products such as his political newsletter The Limbaugh Letter or his Rush Revere children s history books Occasionally Limbaugh featured guests such as politicians or fellow commentators An edited instrumental version of the Pretenders My City Was Gone was Limbaugh s theme song at the start of his show s run Briefly in 1999 Limbaugh stopped playing the song after a cease and desist order was issued by EMI However after the song s writer Chrissie Hynde said in a radio interview she did not mind the use of the song she and Limbaugh had a mutual opposition to an Environmental Protection Agency plan for animal testing an agreement was reached with EMI 3 The show aired live on weekdays from noon to 3 p m Eastern time with a number of stations such as WHO in Des Moines airing it on tape delay From 2006 until his death 4 the program was normally taped from Limbaugh s studios near his home in Palm Beach County Florida 5 Distribution Edit The Rush Limbaugh Show a production of Limbaugh s company EIB Excellence In Broadcasting Radio Network aired on a network of approximately 650 AM and FM affiliate stations throughout the United States almost all of which broadcast the program live During its existence WRNO simulcasted the program on shortwave radio Limbaugh also hosted his own online Internet streaming audio and video broadcast through Streamlink This broadcast was restricted to members of Limbaugh s Rush 24 7 service but could also be heard on some stations streaming audio feeds 6 Premiere Networks a division of iHeartMedia the largest U S radio station owner owned distribution rights to the program The program was not heard on any stations in Canada although stations along the northern border of the United States gave the show coverage in much of southern Canada The show was never carried on any satellite radio service 7 and was one of the few nationally syndicated talk radio programs not to be featured on satellite radio Limbaugh attributed this decision to his desire to maximize value for his terrestrial radio affiliates 8 The Rush Limbaugh Show was unusual among syndicated radio programs in that it was fee based radio stations pay iHeartMedia hundreds of thousands of dollars the exact amount depends on market size for the rights to carry the show in addition to giving up 15 minutes of daily ad time for barter advertisements and the Morning Update 9 The rights fees were dropped following Limbaugh s death 10 An official weekend edition of the program consisting of best of clips from the weekday show entitled The Rush Limbaugh Week in Review was launched in January 2008 Notable guests Edit In September 1992 then President George H W Bush made an appearance on Limbaugh s show 11 Charlton Heston called in to the show in 1995 to read from Michael Crichton s book Jurassic Park Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on the show in November 2003 when Roger Hedgecock was guest hosting the show 12 Former President George W Bush appeared six times on the program The first time was during the 2000 presidential campaign Then in 2004 he called in to a live broadcast during the week of the 2004 Republican National Convention to give a preview of his nomination acceptance speech He called in again in 2006 The fourth time was April 18 2008 when Limbaugh asked the White House to speak with Bush to thank him for the ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI which awed Limbaugh The fifth call was during the show s 20th anniversary celebration in which then President Bush and George H W Bush and Jeb Bush congratulated Limbaugh 13 He appeared a sixth time for an interview regarding his autobiography Decision Points on November 9 2010 14 Vice President Dick Cheney made multiple appearances 15 In 2007 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called in to a live broadcast of the show a day after having called Limbaugh irrelevant adding I m not his servant I m the people s servant of California on an appearance on NBC s Today show 16 Other notable guests who called in to Limbaugh s show include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice unsuccessful Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork economist Thomas Sowell former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and television writer Joel Surnow who took calls about events in his show 24 In December 2006 Sylvester Stallone made an appearance on the show to discuss his upcoming movie Rocky Balboa On February 27 2004 actor Jim Caviezel called in to the program to discuss The Passion of the Christ in which Caviezel played the role of Jesus Christ Republican vice presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin R AK also called into a show before a rally in October 2008 to discuss the election and the economic distortion and impact of Senator Obama s tax policy 17 Palin returned to the show in November 2009 to discuss her book Going Rogue An American Life Phil Gingrey a congressman who compared shows such as Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to throwing bricks in January 2009 gave an interview on Limbaugh s show the following day 18 Limbaugh also had author and Washington Times columnist Bill Gertz on his show to discuss Gertz s books as well as national security issues In 2007 Limbaugh among numerous other hosts interviewed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and was the first to interview Tony Snow after his departure from his post as White House press secretary He also interviewed NBC News host Tim Russert in 2004 19 In May 2010 country musician John Rich reported for Limbaugh on the May 2010 Tennessee floods Future president Donald Trump appeared on the show April 15 2011 and donated 100 000 to the Leukemia amp Lymphoma Society for which Limbaugh holds an annual radiothon 20 On December 6 2012 Limbaugh interviewed outgoing Senator Jim DeMint shortly after he announced his resignation from his seat to head the Heritage Foundation 21 Program staff Edit Bo Snerdley James Golden as Bo Snerdley The official program observer and call screener 22 With other staff members he assisted with research as part of preparation for the show and was in the control booth as the show was being broadcast He co hosted a Sunday night talk show James and Joel on WABC with Joel Santisteban from 1992 to 1998 Snerdley is a pseudonym Limbaugh invented many years earlier when he was a disc jockey on WIXZ when Limbaugh went by the name Jeff Christy he would use the name Snerdley for supposed listeners who would write or call in usually professing to be big fans and part of the Christy Nation Later the name Snerdley was used for his call screeners both male and female The first name Bo was added by Golden in homage to Bo Jackson 23 During a show in 2004 Limbaugh was not at the microphone for the last segment of the second hour it was only about ten seconds and Snerdley came on instead This is Bo Snerdley Rush will be right back on the EIB Network Excellence in Broadcasting It was one of the rare times his voice was heard on the program before 2008 Bo Snerdley screened callers at the Palm Beach Florida broadcasting location and in New York City In February 2008 Snerdley who is black 24 was appointed by Limbaugh as the show s Official Criticizer of Barack Obama certified black enough to criticize 25 On the July 24 2009 show Bo was put on the air as the Official Obama Criticizer and spoke for roughly five minutes with Rush about the Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy On October 16 he requested and received air time to air a five minute rant that criticized NFL players Al Sharpton Jesse Jackson and media commentators who opposed Rush Limbaugh s potential bid on the St Louis Rams Golden later joined iHeart Media as a producer George Prayias as Koko The webmaster for Rush 24 7 and its successor EIB 24 7 Web site The nickname was given by Limbaugh when George put a gorilla suit on for a gag on Limbaugh s TV show He is currently the Vice President of Digital for the EIB Network which continues to this day managing the Limbaugh archives and the EIB Network s current show Kathleen Prayias as Cookie Gleason Executive Producer for the EIB Network Originally affiliated with the EIB Network since 1992 she was an associate producer on his television program whose rights are now held by Tegna Media as successor to syndicator Multimedia Inc She did research and produces all of the audio sound bites played on Rush s show She s most known for her audio montages such as Gravitas She got her nickname from Rush s television show where she played Cookie Gleason a take off on Cokie Roberts Brian EIB network broadcast engineer Dawn Transcribed caller comments onto a computer screen to aid Limbaugh who heard via a cochlear implant and therefore sometimes had difficulties clearly understanding callers 22 Christopher Kit Carson Chief of staff Also known as H R Carson was Limbaugh s first employee and screened calls when Limbaugh broadcast from New York City among other things Carson s role was reduced as a result of the show s departure from New York along with his own battle with brain cancer beginning in 2011 Carson died January 26 2015 26 Brett Winterble A former producer Winterble as of 2020 hosts a local program on WBT and a national television program on Newsmax TV After Limbaugh s death he hosted the show himself 27 Altamont His duties consisted of call screening and board operations and serving as backup when the others are out or unavailable Left the show in spring 2006 Johnny Donovan Program announcer who sometimes voiced Paul Shanklin s parodies Stand ins for Limbaugh EditEvery so often Limbaugh was absent from his show whether for various personal reasons or because of extended trips For instance in early 2005 Limbaugh took a weeklong trip to Afghanistan 28 to report on postwar conditions he also participated in various celebrity pro am golf events especially when he represented his parent company iHeartMedia On those occasions Limbaugh allowed EIB certified talk show hosts sometimes called Associate Professors from the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies to fill in for him Typically these hosts are well known conservatives and since Clear Channel now iHeartMedia since 2014 acquired the network that syndicates the program they have often been hosts of local shows on iHeartMedia s owned and operated stations A number of Limbaugh s former substitute hosts including Glenn Beck Sean Hannity Bob Dornan and Jason Lewis went on to host nationally syndicated shows of their own Notable substitute hosts Edit Sean Hannity Glenn Beck Buck Sexton Substitute host from 2014 to 2017 named by iHeart Media as the successor co host for the EIB Network with Clay Travis in May 2021 Mark Belling 29 Host of The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show on fellow iHeartMedia station WISN in Milwaukee Mark Steyn 30 A Canadian journalist columnist and film and theater critic Steyn traditionally hosts from his home in New Hampshire referred to as EIB Ice Station Zebra Dr Walter E Williams economics professor strong proponent of laissez faire capitalism and former chairman of the economics department at George Mason University in Virginia Williams began guest hosting in October 1992 initially against Limbaugh s wishes as Limbaugh did not believe that Williams a non broadcaster had paid his dues in the broadcasting field enough to earn a national guest hosting gig Limbaugh relented after hearing Williams s first episode He left the rotation before 2018 31 Williams died December 2 2020 32 Douglas Urbanski Award winning Motion Picture Producer former Broadway impresario occasional actor raconteur paying subscriber to Rush 24 7 also known as America s Guest Host Urbanski first hosted three times in 2010 left the rotation to produce films on location during which he briefly hosted a competing program on Westwood One and returned to the substitute host rotation in mid 2012 Erick Erickson Founder and editor of RedState and radio host at WSB Erickson first served as substitute host in 2014 before he took over Limbaugh s time slot on March 22 2021 citation needed Chris Plante Radio host based at WMAL in Washington DC Roger Hedgecock Former mayor of San Diego California and a talk radio host at Clear Channel talk station KOGO there He was as of 2007 the most used stand in and was also a fan favorite Hedgecock spent several years out of the substitute rotation but has since returned Ken Matthews A host on WHP in Harrisburg Pennsylvania and WPHT in Philadelphia subbed for Limbaugh on July 3 July 14 September 1 November 24 and December 26 2017 on June 22 2018 and again on March 19 2020 Matthews was later an interim host before the EIB Network announced Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Matthews hosted the final episode of the program on June 18 2021 33 Todd Herman A host on KTTH in Seattle Washington debuted as a guest host for a vacationing Limbaugh on August 24 2017 He hosted the show on August 25 2017 on January 2 May 24 and 25 2018 and again on February 19 2020 Herman later served as an interim host in 2021 34 Nick Searcy An actor who stars on the FX show Justified he debuted as a guest host for a vacationing Limbaugh on December 27 2017 35 Michael Knowles He debuted as guest host as Limbaugh was undergoing another round of treatments on November 20 2020 Derek Hunter The host of The Derek Hunter Podcast and author of the book Outrage Inc he debuted as guest host on November 27 2020 Kathryn Limbaugh Limbaugh s widow appeared as a co host on the February 17 2021 show and again on February 22 36 Show history EditRadio syndication Edit After several years of employment with the Kansas City Royals and in the music radio business which included hosting a program at KMBZ in Kansas City in 1984 Limbaugh started as a regular talk show host on AM radio station KFBK in Sacramento California He succeeded Morton Downey Jr in the time slot 37 Based on his work in Sacramento Limbaugh was signed to a contract by EFM Media Management headed by former ABC Radio executive Edward McLaughlin Limbaugh became syndicated on August 1 1988 through EFM and his show was drawing five million listeners after two years of syndication 38 Lacking a name for the network during the early years he coined the name EIB Excellence In Broadcasting Network which has remained associated with the show even after joining an actual radio network Premiere and the trademark is currently owned by iHeart Media which continues to use the name for Clay Travis and Buck Sexton In 1997 Jacor Communications a publicly traded company acquired EFM 39 Later that year Jacor merged with Premiere Radio Networks 40 In 1999 Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications 41 which rebranded as iHeartMedia in 2014 Clear Channel iHeart have maintained what is now branded as Premiere Networks as their syndication wing since acquiring it In 2006 WBAL 1090 AM in Baltimore Maryland was the first station to drop Limbaugh s program and replace it with local programming the current Baltimore affiliate is crosstown rival WCBM 680 AM Limbaugh and Clear Channel signed an eight year 400 million contract extension on July 2 2008 42 He signed a new contract for four additional years in a deal announced August 2 2016 after Limbaugh publicly contemplated retirement Limbaugh is believed to have taken a pay cut to remain on the air after advertisers pulled funding in response to boycotts around his criticism of Sandra Fluke and industry wide advertising declines 43 Limbaugh renewed his agreement with Premiere through 2024 in a deal announced January 5 2020 44 Final year Edit On February 3 2020 Limbaugh announced on his show that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer but would continue hosting the show though with absences to undergo treatment In anticipation of his death he used his December 23 2020 episode to express his thanks and say farewell to his audience 45 Limbaugh occasionally hosted shows through January and would host his last new episode on February 2 2021 His death was announced by his widow Kathryn during the February 17 broadcast Upon the announcement of his death Premiere Networks released a statement that during Limbaugh s terminal illness it had organized the archive of Limbaugh s shows by date and topic to allow for at least 90 days of clip shows selected to correspond to the current news cycle as much as possible presented by a guest host referred to on air as a guide host The long term plan would be to eventually cancel the program once Premiere determined that the audience was ready to move on 46 Stations owned by Cox Media Group 47 and Saga Communications along with Pittsburgh affiliate WJAS began dropping the program in mid March 48 Further defections from Audacy 49 Midwest Communications 50 and Alpha Media 51 continued in April with Audacy replacing Limbaugh with Dana Loesch and local programs 52 Cumulus Media continued to carry Limbaugh s show through the first three months in the guide host format then introduced its own show hosted by Dan Bongino on May 24 53 On May 27 2021 Premiere Radio Networks announced that as part of a programming shuffle it would be moving its evening host Buck Sexton into Limbaugh s time slot with Fox Sports Radio personality Clay Travis joining him as co host beginning June 21 2021 as The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show 54 subsequently announcing that Houston based host Jesse Kelly would join its lineup to take over for Sexton in the evening slot 55 The final episode of the guide host format and the show entirely aired on Friday June 18 2021 Of the show s remaining affiliates estimated by Premiere to be about 400 most of the carryovers to Sexton and Travis consist of stations owned by Premiere parent company iHeartMedia Other station ownership groups chose options such as Bongino Loesch Salem Radio Network hosts Dennis Prager or Charlie Kirk Compass Media Networks Markley Van Camp and Robbins or Fox News Talk s Fox Across America Townsquare Media in particular declined to make a universal decision on its stations replacement for Limbaugh allowing local program directors to decide for their own stations 56 Sexton and Travis also inherited the EIB brand and Limbaugh s Rush 24 7 subscriber base since rebranded as EIB 24 7 and includes the archives to both shows Travis and Sexton also promote their show as being Inspired by Rush and continue to use clips from Limbaugh in segments billed as Rush s Timeless Wisdom to reinforce points made on the new show 57 58 Controversial incidents EditArmed Forces Radio controversy Edit On May 26 2004 the article Rush s Forced Conscripts appeared on the online news and opinion magazine Salon com 59 The article discussed the controversy surrounding the fact that American Forces Radio and Television Service AFRTS which describes itself as providing stateside radio and television programming a touch of home to U S service men and women DoD civilians and their families serving outside the continental United States carries the first hour of Limbaugh s show Melvin Russell director of AFRTS defended Limbaugh s presence by pointing to Limbaugh s high ratings in the US We look at the most popular shows broadcast here in the United States and try to mirror that Limbaugh is the No 1 talk show host in the States there s no question about that Because of that we provide him on our service In addition AFRTS produced a ballot of radio and television shows asking troops worldwide Who do you want that we don t at present carry The Rush Limbaugh Show was not listed on the ballot but won the vote as a write in by the troops A later poll by Lund Media Research found that a majority of soldiers preferred that talk show programs be replaced by hip hop and rap stations bringing into question the future of content such as the Rush Limbaugh Show on AFRTS 60 Critics have pointed out that other programs such as the eight million listener per week Howard Stern Show are absent from AFRTS This statement was made before Stern left for satellite radio in 2006 Other claims for example that there is no political counterbalance to Limbaugh on AFRTS have been rebutted by Byron York a columnist for the predominantly conservative National Review American military men and women abroad have access for example to the talk show of liberal host Diane Rehm Jim Hightower and CBS News anchorman Dan Rather Another possible political counterbalance to Limbaugh is Harry Shearer who emphasizes his presence on AFRTS at the end of every episode of his satirical Le Show On June 14 2004 U S Senator Tom Harkin D IA introduced an amendment to the 2004 Defense Authorization bill that called for AFRTS to fulfill its stated goal of providing political balance in its news and public affairs programming 61 The amendment passed unanimously in the Senate Limbaugh responded by calling the move censorship On his June 17 radio show he commented that This is a United States senator Tom Harkin amending the Defense appropriations bill with the intent being to get this program only one hour of which is carried on Armed Forces Radio stripped from that network The amendment never became law As of 2005 the first hour of Limbaugh s show was still on AFRTS Limbaugh visited US forces in Afghanistan in 2005 This treatment of The Rush Limbaugh Show proved to set a precedent for Congressional debate on AFRTS content The Ed Schultz Show a liberal talk radio show with over one million listeners a week was originally scheduled to be broadcast on AFRTS on October 17 2005 It was subsequently pulled with some alleging political motivation which was later debated in Congress A few weeks after this debate AFRTS added Schultz to the line up along with other talk show hosts Al Franken and Sean Hannity Michael J Fox controversy Edit On the October 23 2006 broadcast of his radio show Limbaugh imitated on the DittoCam the webcam for website subscribers to see him on the air the physical symptoms actor Michael J Fox showed in a television commercial raising awareness of Parkinson s disease 62 63 He said Fox is exaggerating the effects of the disease He s moving all around and shaking and it s purely an act This is really shameless of Michael J Fox Either he didn t take his medication or he s acting 64 Three days later on October 26 Limbaugh denied that he was ridiculing Fox stating that after seeing Fox without his medication I was stunned because I had never seen Michael J Fox that way Limbaugh said that he was mov ing around like Fox does but never once was I making fun of him I was trying to illustrate for my audience watching on the Dittocam what I had seen 65 Fox later appeared on CBS with Katie Couric and said he was actually dyskinesic at the time a condition that results from overmedication 66 However Fox has admitted that he has at times deliberately not taken his medication 67 such as in an appearance the U S Senate in order he claimed to demonstrate the effects of Parkinson s disease During Limbaugh s October 26 2006 show he said in a discussion with a caller I n his own book Lucky Man A Memoir 67 he has written in chapter eight that before Senate committees he goes off the medication so that people can see the ravages of the disease 65 Barack the Magic Negro parody Edit Main article Barack the Magic Negro On March 19 2007 Limbaugh referred to a Los Angeles Times editorial by David Ehrenstein that claimed that Barack Obama was filling the role of the magic negro and that this explained his appeal to voters 68 Limbaugh then later played a song by Paul Shanklin entitled Barack the Magic Negro 69 sung to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon 70 Phony soldiers controversy Edit Main article Phony soldiers controversy During the September 26 2007 broadcast of Limbaugh s radio show Limbaugh used the term phony soldiers when speaking to a caller who had questioned if the previous caller was really a soldier 71 72 73 74 75 The caller saying he was currently serving in the Army for 14 years said They never talk to real soldiers They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to the media Limbaugh interrupted The phony soldiers The caller continued The phony soldiers If you talk to a real soldier they are proud to serve They want to be over in Iraq They understand their sacrifice and they re willing to sacrifice for their country 76 Several minutes later after the caller had hung up Limbaugh read from the AP story describing the story of Jesse Macbeth Macbeth joined the Army but did not complete basic training yet falsely claimed in alternative media interviews that he and his unit routinely committed war crimes in Iraq 77 78 On June 7 2007 Macbeth pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the U S Department of Veterans Affairs and was sentenced to five months in jail and three years probation 79 80 Media Matters noted Limbaugh s use of the term phony soldiers in an article on their website The article claimed that Limbaugh was saying that all soldiers who disagree with the Iraq War were phony soldiers 81 and this assertion was repeated in speeches by 2008 Democratic presidential candidates John Edwards and Chris Dodd 82 Limbaugh said that when he had made the comment about phony soldiers he had been speaking only of Macbeth and others like him who claim to be soldiers and are not and that Media Matters takes things out of context all the time 83 Media Matters pointed out that Limbaugh did not mention Jesse Macbeth on his September 26 radio show until one minute and 50 seconds after talking about phony soldiers with the caller 84 Limbaugh addressed Media Matters accusations during an interview on Fox News explaining that the caller after discussing the phony soldiers went into a discussion of weapons of mass destruction 85 Limbaugh said that he allowed the caller to continue down that tangent while off mic he searched for the commentary on Jesse Macbeth to present to his audience thus accounting for the delay The unedited transcript of the radio show in question can be found on Rush Limbaugh s website 86 Comments on Obama s policies Edit On January 16 2009 Limbaugh read a letter on his radio show that he had received a request from a national print outlet If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency we need it by Monday night that would be ideal He responded I don t need 400 words I need four I hope he fails He explained that he didn t want absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible from the banking business to the mortgage industry the automobile business to health care I do not want the government in charge of all of these things I don t want this to work He continued What is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails Liberalism is our problem Liberalism is what s gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here 87 Limbaugh later said that he wants to see Obama s policies fail not the man himself 88 Speaking of Obama Limbaugh said He s my president he s a human being and his ideas and policies are what count for me 87 Leader of Republican Party Edit Limbaugh was the keynote speaker at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference his speech attracted widespread attention 89 On March 1 2009 CBS s Face the Nation asked White House Chief Of Staff Rahm Emanuel who he thought represented the Republican Party Emanuel named Limbaugh as his choice 90 91 92 In remarks aired by CNN on March 1 2009 Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said that Limbaugh is an entertainer and his rhetoric at the convention was incendiary and ugly 93 Steele later telephoned Limbaugh and apologized Limbaugh stated he would not want to run the RNC in its sad sack state 94 On March 2 2009 Limbaugh responded to Emanuel 94 and on March 4 2009 Limbaugh challenged President Barack Obama to a debate on his radio program Limbaugh offered to pay all of Obama s expenses including travel food lodging and security 95 On March 6 Limbaugh told Byron York of the Washington Examiner that his ratings for his radio show had significantly increased since he had begun criticizing the Obama Administration 96 Comments regarding Sandra Fluke Edit Main article Rush Limbaugh Sandra Fluke controversy On February 29 2012 Limbaugh said that Sandra Fluke a Georgetown University law student and women s rights activist supposedly was a slut and a prostitute on his radio show in response to testimony that Fluke gave to Congressional Democrats in favor of requiring contraception to be included in insurance provided by employers including religiously affiliated organizations that object to its usage 97 The negative response included boycott campaigns by social media groups pressuring the show s advertisers as of March 8 up to forty five advertisers had withdrawn or suspended their advertising on the show 98 and two radio stations KPUA in Hilo Hawaii and WBEC in Pittsfield Massachusetts announced they would no longer broadcast the show 99 In March 2012 social media boycott promoters claimed that an additional 96 advertisers had dropped the show but The Washington Post later reported that this was just a regular quarterly notice not specific to the controversy 100 Premiere responded to the boycott campaigns with an aggressive campaign to circumvent the traditional advertising agencies and account executives to solicit new advertisers not just for Limbaugh but for its other talk properties as well Premiere declared success with this strategy in June 2013 at which point many of the advertisers had long since returned and those that had not had been replaced 101 Competing networks Cumulus Media and Dial Global both blamed the controversy for advertising losses at their networks in Cumulus s case it was also a factor in the company s decision to drop Limbaugh from all of their stations including several of Limbaugh s top 10 market affiliates most of which were former ABC owned and operated stations when the company s bulk carriage contract with Limbaugh expired at the end of 2013 102 103 Cumulus backed down and signed a bulk carriage contract extension at the end of 2013 all of Limbaugh s Cumulus affiliates except WABC were included The show has also been dropped by other stations such as WRKO in Boston and KFI in Los Angeles resulting it in being carried by weaker stations in major markets 104 Operation Chaos EditIn late February 2008 Limbaugh announced Operation Chaos a political call to action with the initial plan to have voters of the Republican Party temporarily cross over to vote in the Democratic primary and vote for Hillary Clinton who at the time was in the midst of losing eleven straight primary contests to Barack Obama 105 At the point in which Limbaugh announced his gambit Obama had seemed on the verge of clinching the Democratic nomination 106 However Clinton subsequently won the Ohio primary and the Texas primary while losing the Texas caucus and the overall delegate split with large pluralities from rural counties thus reemerging as a competitive opponent in the race 107 On April 29 2008 Limbaugh declared an operational pause in Operation Chaos saying that Obama s defeat in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary and fallout from statements from Obama ally Reverend Jeremiah Wright could have damaged his campaign to the extent superdelegates would shift to Clinton s side 108 Determining Obama had weathered that storm Limbaugh lifted the pause the next day and renewed his call for his listeners to vote for Clinton in the upcoming Indiana and North Carolina primaries 109 Obama won the North Carolina primary 110 but was narrowly defeated in Indiana where Clinton won decisively in rural counties that normally vote Republican in presidential elections 111 The overall legality of Operation Chaos in several states including Ohio and Indiana is disputed In Ohio new party members are required to sign a pledge of loyalty to the party they join for a minimum of one year making participation in Operation Chaos a possible felony election falsification in that state However Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann refused to press charges on anyone saying that it would be nearly impossible to enforce because of difficulties proving voter intent and concerns that a loyalty oath would violate freedom of association 112 By 2020 the name Operation Chaos had become associated enough with presidential party raiding that South Carolina Republicans seeking to disrupt that state s Democratic presidential primary recycled the name for their own efforts Limbaugh did not endorse or address the South Carolina efforts 113 References Edit Farhi Paul March 7 2009 Limbaugh s Audience Size It s Largely Up in the Air Washington Post Archived from the original on September 2 2017 Retrieved June 16 2015 Turner Graeme January 2010 Ordinary People and the Media The Demotic Turn SAGE Publications p 114 ISBN 978 1 84860 167 3 Archived from the original on 2021 03 29 Retrieved 2016 10 16 Schneider Gregory L 16 November 2009 The Conservative Century From Reaction to Revolution Rowman amp Littlefield p 184 ISBN 978 0 7425 6394 0 Archived from the original on 29 March 2021 Retrieved 16 October 2016 Kidder David S Oppenheim Noah D 14 October 2008 The Intellectual Devotional Modern Culture Revive Your Mind Complete Your Education and Converse Confidently with the Culturati Rodale p 323 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war movement was a fake Archived 2021 03 29 at the Wayback Machine Limbaugh Service members who support U S withdrawal are phony soldiers Archived 2009 04 03 at the Wayback Machine Media Matters for America September 27 2007 Dems Criticize Limbaugh s Comments Associated Press September 28 2007 Phony Soldiers is a Phony Story Archived 2007 10 27 at the Wayback Machine Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript September 28 2007 AP reports on Limbaugh s phony soldiers comment have failed to correctly explain timeline of controversy Archived from the original on 2011 07 29 Retrieved 2011 05 26 Exclusive Radio Talk Show Host Rush Limbaugh on His EBay Letter Fox News October 19 2007 Archived from the original on April 7 2008 Retrieved March 27 2013 The Rush Limbaugh Show Archived from the original on 2007 10 15 a b Limbaugh I Hope Obama Fails The Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript January 16 2009 Archived from the original on March 26 2009 Retrieved March 23 2009 Bacon Perry Jr March 4 2009 GOP Seeks Balance With Conservative Icon Limbaugh The Washington Post pp A01 Archived from the original on February 7 2012 Retrieved September 16 2017 GOP chief apologizes for Limbaugh remarks March 3 2009 Archived from the original on March 20 2016 Retrieved April 17 2020 Transcript Rahm Emanuel on CBS s Face the Nation Archived 2009 05 05 at the Wayback Machine CQ Politics March 1 2009 Limbaugh the Leader Obama Chief of Staff Calls Talk Show Host a Barrier to Progress Archived 2009 03 03 at the Wayback Machine Fox News March 1 2009 White House aide casts Limbaugh as top GOP voice Archived 2009 03 04 at the Wayback Machine Associated Press March 1 2009 RNC chief Steele Limbaugh is more a performer than GOP leader Archived 2009 03 06 at the Wayback Machine CNN March 2 2009 a b A Few Words for Michael Steele The Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript March 2 2009 Archived from the original on March 20 2009 Retrieved March 23 2009 Rush to the President Debate Me Archived 2011 06 12 at the Wayback Machine Rush Limbaugh transcript March 4 2009 Limbaugh My Ratings are Way Way Up Washington Examiner March 6 2009 Bassett Laura March 1 2012 Rush Limbaugh Slut Comment Is Attempt To Silence Women Huffington Post Archived from the original on March 3 2012 Retrieved March 3 2012 Rush Limbaugh loses 45 advertisers Politico Archived from the original on August 29 2012 Retrieved March 8 2012 Sullivan Andy 2012 03 05 Rush Limbaugh dropped from radio stations as host tries to cap fallout from slut comment National Post Postmedia Network Inc Archived from the original on 2021 03 25 Retrieved 2012 03 06 John Avlon Rush Limbaugh Scandal Proves Contagious for Talk Radio Advertisers Archived 2012 03 10 at the Wayback Machine The Daily Beast Mar 10 2012 Weinger Mackenzie June 6 2013 Distributor Rush Limbaugh doing very well Archived 2013 06 08 at the Wayback Machine Politico Retrieved June 6 2013 Byers Dylan May 5 2013 Rush Limbaugh may leave Cumulus Politico Retrieved May 6 2013 Hinckley David May 6 2013 Rush Limbaugh Don t blame me for WABC s declining ad sales New York Daily News Retrieved May 6 2013 Is Rush Limbaugh in Trouble Archived from the original on 2016 07 29 Retrieved 2016 07 29 Klein Rick What Went Wrong How Hillary Clinton Lost abcnews go com Archived from the original on 11 August 2019 Retrieved 27 August 2019 RealClearPolitics HorseRaceBlog Is This Race Over Archived from the original on 2008 05 13 Retrieved 2008 05 03 RealClearPolitics HorseRaceBlog Obama Small Town Whites and the Super Delegates Archived from the original on 2008 04 20 Retrieved 2008 05 03 Rush Calls Operation Chaos Pause Archived from the original on April 30 2008 WISH ful Thinking in Indianapolis Operational Pause Officially Lifted Archived from the original on August 8 2008 North Carolina Primary Results The New York Times Archived from the original on May 6 2010 Retrieved May 5 2010 Indiana Primary Results The New York Times Archived from the original on May 6 2010 Retrieved May 5 2010 Niquette Mark Limbaugh safe from voter fraud charges The Columbus Dispatch 28 March 2008 Archived 5 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Ellis Mike February 24 2020 Operation Chaos Republican voters aim to skew SC Democratic primary Archived 2020 02 24 at the Wayback Machine The Greenville News via MSN Retrieved February 24 2020 External links EditThe Rush Limbaugh Show Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Rush Limbaugh Show amp oldid 1132888691, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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