August 23, 2013

"The last month, if you read Politico or anything that linked to Politico or CNN or ABC or anywhere else, you were reading that it was over for me."

"That I was bad news for broadcast stations. They could not sell advertising and all of this was because of me and the controversy I engender and therefore I wasn't gonna be gone overnight, but three to four years, and that's it. Fini, totala completa, out of there, gone. Once and for all the left would be rid of me. "

Said Rush Limbaugh on his show today — audio here —announcing the renewal of his contract with Cumulus Media.
But the media believed everything that was being said because they wanted to. And the image, I guess, that was created was that my heyday was gone, it was over with, and if you listen to me now, you better like it while you can, because you're not gonna be able to at the end of the year, 'cause I'm gonna be gone.
People believe what they want to believe. And... that's a precept not unrelated to the popularity of Rush's radio show.

13 comments:

cubanbob said...

He has twenty million listeners. As long as he has those kind of numbers he will be on the air. And he will have sponsors who will pay the freight. In his time slot his audience is larger than those of ABC and CNN by far.

Anonymous said...

typical attempts at indoctrination of the low-information people- if you say something often enough, no matter how false or outlandish, some people will believe it to be true.

sonicfrog said...

I predicted this outcome as soon as I heard the original story.

I'm a guy who graduated with a degree in mass media over 20 years ago but never built a career in that field. "Juirnalists" are supposed to research stuff to get the story right. Somehow, even though the industry has changed so much since I was in school (AM radio was on its deathbed... and no, AM Stereo was not the thing that made it viable again)< I still know more about the trends and practices of the radio industry than reporters who are supposed to research this stuff and try to get it right.

Pettifogger said...

"a precept not unrelated to the popularity of Rush's radio show"

Good one.

Anonymous said...

He's built himself and his ideas into a brand and revolutionized AM talk radio. He's probably a radio guy at heart, infotainer, conservative ideologue, performer etc.

I listen from time to time because it's either conservative talk radio or local NPR which is a few ticks left of national NPR.

He did it mostly by himself, and he has a rather coherent worldview which he constantly promotes.

He's built himself an empire and I can't begrudge him that. 20 million per day ain't bad at all.

This frustrates his political and ideological opposition to no end.

SteveR said...

Without much thinking, at the time, it was an easy prediction. But the liberals fell hard for the idea. Yeah the ones who think they are so smart.

richard mcenroe said...

Oh, well, he only has Cumulus... now if he'd signed with Al-Jazeera he'd really be going places...

RAS743 said...

People believe what they want to believe...and that is not unrelated to the fact that we have elected a "community organizer" as president, someone with no discernible qualifications for the office -- executive experience as a mayor of governor? significant legislative achievements? a public record of deep, constructive thinking about important public issues? -- who has governed about as far left as any president has ever governed, in complete contradiction to his 2008 campaign. But, then, these words are based on what I've seen and heard for the last five years -- not on what I want to believe.

traditionalguy said...

Rush seems to be ready to go out in a crescendo of Impeaching Obama. That sounds reasonable to me.

traditionalguy said...

Rush seems to be ready to go out in a crescendo of Impeaching Obama. That sounds reasonable to me.

jimbino said...

Rush said, "But the media believed everything that was being said because they wanted to."

Three cheers for Rush. I tune out anybody who says, "...media is...."

Sam L. said...

chrisnavin.com, Rush has said often enough for me to hear him say it that radio has always been a fascination for him.

ken in tx said...

I don't listen to Rush anymore. If I read Drudge, Instapundit, and Althouse, I already know what he is going to talk about--and I can guess what he is going to say about those subjects.