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Rush: He's Changed the World of Talk Radio Phil BrennanRush Limbaugh is the man who's "changed the world of talk radio," reports Mediaweek magazine in a cover story for its August 11 edition. He's controversial, outspoken, sometimes outrageously so, funny and a one man powerhouse who single-handedly created the 1994 Republican revolution that ended five decades of Democrat control of Capitol Hill. His 12 million daily and 20 million weekly listeners hang on his every word as he goes about joyfully sticking pins in inflated liberal balloons and egos, sometimes hilariously funny, sometimes deadly serious - but always with Rush Limbaugh relishing every minute of it. He's the liberal's worst nightmare, a happy warrior so effective in what he does that the left is desperately floundering about trying to find one of their number to take him on. One suggested opponent, Al Franken, is so frightened to take on Rush, he spends most of his time these days taking pot shots at Bill O'Reilly. For the left, taking on Rush has been a lost cause and probably will remain that way since every one who's tried taking him on has quickly fallen by the wayside. In a lengthy interview with Media Week, Rush spoke about one of the reasons liberal rivals miss the boat: "It's amusing and flattering, but [the liberal left] is violating every rule in the book," he told Media week, explaining. "You don't mention the competition. They are elevating me in stature every time they mention coming up with a liberal version of me. They have an image of me as a ribald conservative. I'm a salesman first and foremost." And a stunningly successful salesman at that. According to Media Week:
Rush is the single most influential media personality in America. It wasn't always that way. Rush held seven radio jobs before his career finally took off. And from the very beginning, he was targeted as too controversial to attract sponsors. "At the time we went out in 1988, network radio was an impressions buy," he told Media Week. "I was instantly tagged with the controversial label, and advertisers like Kraft and General Motors wouldn't have anything to do with me. We had to go out and find advertisers who were fearless, young entrepreneurs, companies that had never been on radio. And they had to be products I believed in and used. That was the case for the first 9 to 10 years, because companies don't want to deal with one complaint letter." That all changed, and along the way, Limbaugh rewrote the rule book for talk radio and national syndication. Before him, there were only a few AM stations programming local talk radio all day, about 125 to 200 by most estimates, Media Week explained. Today, talk stations number more than 1,200, comprising 10 percent of all outlets. And nobody questions that it was Rush who led the way, reviving all but moribund AM radio and opening the way for the countless talk show hosts who followed in his wake. And although many blue-chip advertisers, including Procter & Gamble, still refuse to advertise on The Rush Limbaugh Show, the results he's delivered have overcome the resistance of others, including such giants as General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Schering-Plough. Talk show hosts, liberal and conservative, admit they owe a lot to Limbaugh. "He's the guy who paved the way," Sean Hannity told Media Week. "There is nobody better. He created an institution by putting this medium on the market. Everybody in Talk radio is indebted to him, I more than others," says Hannity, co-host of Fox News Channel's Hannity and Colmes and host of The Sean Hannity Show on ABC Radio Networks, which is syndicated on 331 radio stations. "Rush manages to keep his tongue in his cheek and on the roof of his mouth," added Alan Colmes, the liberal side of FNC's Hannity and Colmes and host of his own radio show, syndicated by Fox News. "He makes it quite palatable even to those who disagree." Rush lavishes praise on his huge audience who, Media Week reports love him because he's never wavered from his views, even when critics attacked him. "Nobody prepared me for those that have called me a hatemonger and an extremist," says Limbaugh. "Nobody prepared me for what that meant. Now if that doesn't happen, I think I'm in trouble." "I combine two elements: irreverent humor and serious discussion of issues," Limbaugh, who doesn't know when he'll stop told Media Week. "People tune in for both. But the key is having credibility. This has led to critics saying I am just an entertainer. I'm proud to be an entertainer. This is showbiz. At the same time, I believe everything I say." And so does his listenership.
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