Congratulations to Rush Limbaugh

12

Radio’s number one talk show host concluded his 29th year on the air Tuesday with an anniversary cake from his staff, classic clips from years past, and listeners who called in who’ve been with him from the very beginning. Limbaugh consistently tells his audience radio is all he ever wanted to do. He actually started his broadcast career in August of 1968, 50 years ago. His syndicated program is now heading into year 30.

What did Limbaugh say about radio on his show yesterday? “Radio has no TV, obviously, no screens, so the host paints the picture; the audience envisions the picture in their own mind. That’s why radio, by the way, can be the most intimate of all media. Done right, radio can have much more intimacy and much more impact than television, because it’ll all be active participation rather than passive. You don’t have it on in the background, like TV can be on in the background, you’re doing something else, you watch it, something catches your attention, you go back to it.”

He also spoke about his early days at WABC in New York City. “I think about my first day at WABC, Studio 8X. I walked into WABC, and I knew — I knew — that many in management wished the deal had not been made that had me there to do these two free hours on WABC. But yet it was WABC, it was New York, it was the pinnacle. It was such a gamut of emotions that I went through. I’ll never forget any of it.”

Limbaugh says he did two hours every day on WABC without direct compensation. Then he changed studios, and the next two hours were the national show. “The reason I had to do that was we started with 56 stations, that’s not enough stations for national advertisers to care, and we weren’t on the air in New York.”

He says the management at WABC said they were not going to carry his national show because radio is all about being local. “‘We don’t care what people from Oshkosh think if you take calls from there.’ And I faced, for a year and a half, derision and criticism and mockery and all that for what I was trying to do. And the way we did it, the reason I had to do that New York show is because that’s where we were given three minutes an hour to sell national advertising. So we were able to tell advertisers their commercials would be heard in New York City, because if you couldn’t do that back then, you couldn’t have a nationally syndicated program. So it wasn’t actually true I wasn’t compensated; I did those two hours in exchange for six national advertising slots that WABC graciously provided us.” Limbaugh says that went on for two years before WABC was convinced to carry the national show.

Congratulations to Rush Limbaugh, 29 years of Broadcast Excellence in the can, with, it appears many more to come.

12 COMMENTS

  1. To the couple of losers/idiots trashing Rush, I have the following:

    No matter what you want to attack him on, one thing is UNDENIABLY true:

    He’s a successful broadcaster and a professional, as NO ONE can last 30 years faking it! Moreover, not only do you feel envious of him, but you’re definitely LOSERS who can’t withstand the success of someone else!

    So, for you UNKNOWN losers, keep criticizing him, meanwhile he’s laughing his way to the bank and enjoying life, as he should and deserves! A TRUE success and American legend in the likes of Howard Stern and Donald Trump! “100% MADE IN AMERICA”!

  2. To the couple of losers/idiots trashing Rush, I have the following:

    No matter what you want to attack him on, one thing is UNDENIABLY true:

    He’s a successful broadcaster and a professional, as NO ONE can last 30 years faking it! Moreover, not only do you feel envious of him, but you’re definitely LOSERS who can’t withstand the success of someone else!

    So, for you UNKNOWN losers, keep criticizing him, meanwhile his laughing his way to the bank and enjoying life, as he should and deserves! A TRUE success and American legend in the likes of Howard Stern and Donald Trump! “100% MADE IN AMERICA”!

  3. I worked with a Rush at the beginning in his hometown of Cape Girardeau, Mo. At that young age he was the consummate professional working very hard on his craft. He is a good person with a big heart. I’ve been proud to call him my friend for all these many years. And……he was a fantastic afternoon drive music DJ. Congrats old friend.

  4. Congratulations, Rush!

    Our opinions on politics are often very different, but the untold story about Rush Limbaugh is what a passionate cheerleader he is for other talk hosts.

    I had the chance to work with Rush at WABC when I was first starting out and he did the local show from WABC’s studios. He always had a positive, supportive comment about what I was doing on the air, and I still remember his complimenting me on the way I handled callers. I was honored (and shocked!) to know he was even listening, and really appreciated his vote of confidence.

    If I passed his studio during a commercial break, he took the time to open the intercom and say “Freddy Mertz, get in here!”

    Rush will always be the evangelist who rules the pulpit of political talk radio, taking no prisoners as he tackles the opposition. But he also has an off-air side that most people wouldn’t know about – unless they had the privilege of working with him. I’m glad I did!

  5. That people are so easily duped, or so desperate for someone to lead them by the nose, that they’d applaud this racist, sexist, bile-blowing bigot is pathetic. He gets his facts wrong, he talks in sweeping, nonsensical generalizations, and if it weren’t for ad hominem and hate he’d have nothing to say. This is a sad little person of virtually no talent or knowledge. A terribly under-educated blowhard. A coward who, when he had his TV show, shrunk like an unwatered daisy when confronted face to face. Does anyone read books anymore? Check facts? This guy is a money-maker because people are angry and they’ll grab onto easy “answers.” Or they’re entertained by a gutless bully calling a woman foul names. What if it was your mother or sister? I guess it’s all okay if he sells advertising. Radio would broadcast vomit being flushed (kind of the same thing) if it sold air time. That’s where we are right now. Many of us are ashamed of this hateful moron. Many of us want to raise the industry up, not pan for gold in the gutter. And Radio Ink has proven itself to be nothing but an industry applause machine. How about a factual story on all the incorrect and hateful things Limbaugh has spouted for the past 30 years? I challenge you to do that for the sake of truth and balance. No wonder radio is going down the tubes.

  6. Of course there are people out there who call him names and disagree with his politics. That’s what happens in a free society. The unmistakable fact, though is that he’s made a lot of people, including himself, a lot of money…and entertained millions, some of whom agree and disagree with him. That’s also what you hope for in a free society. I play his old (DJ) air checks in my college broadcasting classes, and explain that yes…there was a day when Rush Limbaugh made $125 a week and existed on mac and cheese like the rest of us did.

  7. It’s amazing that a sexist, racist, homophobic, alt-right bigot can be this successful. He’s extraordinarily talented and almost singlehandedly saved AM radio before he and dozens of lesser skilled imitators destroyed it. Congratulations on bringing hate to the mainstream Rush, you’re one of a kind!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here