Clinton White House Created Secret 'Seminar Caller' Program for Talk Radio!

[cow451]

Is Rush Limbaugh still a thing?

 

[NightHawkeye]

Is Rush Limbaugh still a thing?

I believe the actual ratings polls used by broadcasters to measure audience size still have Rush as the #1 talk radio show in the country.

Curiously, there is also an informal non-scientific poll which has NPR as #1. Who knew? [Noting that NPR is non-commercial ... so it doesn't show up in the broadcaster ratings polls.]

 

[iluvatar5150]

I believe the actual ratings polls used by broadcasters to measure audience size still have Rush as the #1 talk radio show in the country.

Curiously, there is also an informal non-scientific poll which has NPR as #1. Who knew? [Noting that NPR is non-commercial ... so it doesn't show up in the broadcaster ratings polls.]

That wouldn't surprise me. Rush's success is built on giving away his programming (or undercharging for it) to radio stations in low-density, low-budget rural areas and then using the aggregate size of that national audience to charge higher rates to his advertisers. In denser urban areas where stations have the money to buy more locally-popular programming, he doesn't do nearly as well. But IME, public radio does extremely well in those same urban areas particularly now that people are turning away from terrestrial radio for their music.

 

[NightHawkeye]

That wouldn't surprise me. Rush's success is built on giving away his programming (or undercharging for it) to radio stations in low-density, low-budget rural areas and then using the aggregate size of that national audience to charge higher rates to his advertisers.

Got a citation for that? It sounds like something HuffPo or MSNBC might say.

BTW, isn't undercharging and giving stuff away ... a liberal bastion, a part of the liberal undercarriage? Noting also that NPR gives its programming away. Jus' sayin ...

In denser urban areas where stations have the money to buy more locally-popular programming he doesn't do nearly as well.

Urban areas have more competition. A lot more choices are available in urban areas. One's market share is less because of competition.

But IME, public radio does extremely well in those same urban areas particularly now that people are turning away from terrestrial radio for their music.

If NPR has a slight advantage in ratings, that can be better explained by the fact that NPR is available everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Often, a dozen NPR channels are available in a single area. NPR had the advantage of taxpayer funding to build out stations literally saturating the airwaves in all states. With such an advantage one might think NPR would have an overwhelming advantage in ratings ... but it doesn't. Most people don't seem to care what NPR has to say.

In comparison, there are many areas of the country where Rush cannot be heard at all on local radio and even larger areas where reception is poor at best. People put up with a lot of noise just to hear what Rush has to say.