Republican shock jock Rush Limbaugh has been using America’s public radio to spew caustic and dangerous propaganda to millions of people five days a week, three hours a day, for 25 years. He represents so much of what’s wrong with this country — and with this world. The good news is Limbaugh’s eight-year $400 million dollar contract with iHeart Media (formerly Clear Channel) is up in December. Let’s hope he put some of that money away for rainy days, because there’s a virtual monsoon on its way.
Most believe the beginning of Limbaugh’s end came in 2012 when he maliciously attacked a college student who was advocating for birth control insurance coverage at a congressional hearing. Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute,” on air, for three days. He figured he’d get away with it — because he’d gotten away with similar bile for decades. What he didn’t seem to realize is that we now live in a time where people have a new massive platform from which to voice their objections and causes, called social media. And the attack on Sandra Fluke vent viral. Not only did Limbaugh end up eating his words, those words began to eat him and consume his unraveling career.
Here is a clip of Sandra Fluke giving her testimony in front of an all-male congressional committee. She is explains how important medicinal birth control coverage is, as well as preventative birth control. Fluke talks about a friend who has polycystic ovary syndrome, and was denied affordable birth control medical coverage. The friend stopped the medication and her condition worsened, leading to surgery and eventually causing her to have an ovary removed. Fluke says her friend may never be able to have children.
Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh began ranting in is normal “Look at me—I’m a dick” fashion. Below is a compilation video of Limbaugh’s 3-day rampage. You only need to watch about 25 seconds to understand why the public was outraged.
Limbaugh’s malign rant sparked a movement like never before and created a plethora of new activists who continue to kick his assets as well as go after other extremists. Limbaugh’s attack on Fluke prompted myself and others to start blogging. In between writing over a hundred articles about Rush Limbaugh losing sponsors, radio stations, income, and fame, I’ve also enjoyed reporting on the “financial end” of his parental networks, iHeart Media and Cumulus. We’ve all gotten to watch one dismal earnings report after another, with “52-week lows” that have sunk so low — that the price of owning one share of stock, from iHeart or Cumulus, is now little more than pocket change.
Yes, iHeart is now facing bankruptcy and is over $20 billion in debt, and Cumulus is lagging close behind. The CEOs kept Limbaugh on air after being protests, boycotted, and petitioned. Their big “fuck you” to the public was also sort of, “Now go on home — We’ll tell you what you want.” One good thing about Limbaugh staying on air is that the protest against hate media has continued to garner more national attention. Much of the country had no idea how much racism, misogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia existed on public radio.
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(L) Bob Pittman, (R) Morton Downey Jr.
iHeart Media (formerly Clear Channel) CEO Bob Pittman helped bring the first “hate” talk show host, Morton Downey Jr. into national fame. Downey’s career eventually caved and most of his audience viciously turned on him before he passed away. Pittman is responsible for keeping the likes of Downey on public radio, by hosting Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage and Sean Hannity (also called “the Hate Parade”). That decision, and the decision to ignore the public, has contributed to the slow fail of iHeart Media — now facing bankruptcy.
iHeart CEO Bob Pittman (who helped create the first “hate media” darling, Morton Downy Jr.) and Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey, figured the public would cool down and forget about it. Instead, the number of protestors grew, petitions were created, Liberal websites evolved, documentaries were made, and multiple anti-Limbaugh Facebook and Twitter pages emerged.
Combined, a liberal thunderclap was heard throughout the radio industry and Limbaugh’s sponsors began to pull out after discovering that advertising with El Rushbo and his buddies in the AM Hate Parade — was just bad business.
At first there was an initial blast of over 100 sponsors like Ford, GM, McDonald's, Subway, and Carbonite who bolted from LImbaugh’s show immediately after his attack on Fluke. Some right-leaning companies like Angie’s List did go return and jumped right back in bed with Limbaugh after getting good press for leaving. They stayed with Limbaugh for eight more months. (By the way, Angie’s List is predominantly run by men, not “Angie”). Thanks to StopRush, BoycottRush and Flush/Rush the trail of advertisers heading for the the exit has been nonstop. Rush Limbaugh’s name now carries the kind of bad mojo that no reputable sponsor will go near. Once thriving and called the “King of Talk Radio,” Limbaugh has become the radio industry’s ball and chain. And with reputable companies going elsewhere, he is forced to hold on to fraudulent company sponsors like LifeLock, which was recently fined $100 million by the FTC —for scamming.
Eric Boehlert with Media Matters writes a good summation of where things now stand for Rush Limbaugh. Along with his host companies being close to bankruptcy, Boehlert says:.
This year, his contract is up and the timing couldn’t be worse. The talker is facing ratings hurdles, aging demographics, and an advertising community that increasingly views him as toxic, thanks in part to his days-long sexist meltdown over Sandra Fluke in 2012. (He’s also stumbling through the GOP primary season.)
Today those two defining missteps from the past are crossing paths, which means Limbaugh’s radio future has never looked less bright. This, as Limbaugh passes his 65th birthday, which seems to mirror his audience’s age.
Though it appears Limbaugh’s radio days are over, some think he can easily slide over to satellite radio. But there is a problem with that.
“With the aging and decline of Limbaugh's audience, Sirius may not be as viable an option as it once was,” Darryl Parks tells Media Matters. A former talk radio host, programmer, and self-identified Republican, Parks writes about the industry at DarrylParksBlog.
How will the end go down? No one really cares. What is certain is that Rush Limbaugh is at the end and he’s seems to be taking iHeart, Cumulus and conservative Hate Radio down with him.
“It’s not a question of whether it collapses but when, and it’s likely to come sooner rather than later,” suggested Media Life. “It could be within months."
Thanks to the many activists/volunteers and concerned consumers who made this happen — and the “free market” when it works for the people
Join/Visit/Like: Facebook: BoycottRush Facebook Group (Over 105k following)
Sign: Limbaugh Sponsor & Clear Channel Petition (Over 140k signatures)
Join: Facebook's Join The Fight To Flush Rush (Over 25k members)
Visit: The StopRush Database
Thank You, Richard Myers. We Are Finishing This. Rest In Peace.
