by Ed Ryan
Yesterday there were several reports stating The Rush Limbaugh program had lost up to 3 dozen advertisers. While several well known advertisers such as Carbonite, AOL, ProFlowers and others did make it clear they were canceling their advertising, Rush told his audience he has not lost 28 advertisers. In fact, he says, he has three brand-new sponsors that will be starting in the next two weeks. He did not say who they were, perhaps to save them from social media protests. The reporting got so bad, according to Rush, that he addressed the issue on his program Wednesday. "Two of the sponsors who have canceled have asked to return. Not gonna give you any names here. One of them is practically begging to come back."
Rush said everything is fine on the business side. "Everything's cool. There is not a thing to worry about. What you're seeing on television about this program and sponsors and advertisers is just incorrect. And let me try to explain how this works. Let's take the claim that we've lost 28 sponsors. Sponsors on this program are both local and national. We deal with the national sponsors on this program. We have 600-plus stations. They sell their own commercials. We don't have anything to do with those sponsors. We don't get paid by those sponsors. We have no idea who those sponsors are."
Rush went on to detail how local stations and advertising agencies place advertisers in the show and that could be where the media is coming up with their 3 dozen number. "Let's say that ABC Widget Company says, "We are no longer going to appear on the Rush Limbaugh Show." Well, ABC Widget Company isn't on the Rush Limbaugh Show. What happens is, advertising agencies order advertising buys on a series of local stations from market to market to market. A controversy like this erupts. They put out a notice to the stations, "By the way, for the time being we don't want our commercials run when Limbaugh is on." But they are not canceling their advertising on the station. They're just saying they don't want it running on my program during the local affiliate's commercial time, not ours. And let me tell you, this happens every day. It's been happening for 23-plus years. And it's not just to me. There are clients, advertisers, that tell stations, "I don't want this to run in Beck's show. I don't want it to run in Hannity's. I don't want it to run in Howard Stern's." It's all part of the business."
"As I say, we're going to be debuting three (and maybe more) new sponsors in the coming days and weeks. And I'm sure that our affiliate stations are going to be replacing advertisers with new ones. It's the cycle. Nothing stays the same. It's all dynamic; nothing is static. All you need to know is there are no losses. There is only growth. There are only gains; we're moving forward. There is good in everything that happens. You look for it, you find it, you build on it, and you expand it. They have not taken this program out. They have not taken me out. They're the ones who are frustrated. They're the ones who are angry. They're the ones who are gonna be blowing gaskets in the next couple of weeks. I hope I've made this clear."
Ed Ryan is Editor-in-Chief of Radio Ink magazine and can be reached HERE.
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(3/8/2012 7:14:49 AM)
I worked for a pair of radio stations and his description is exactly right. I used to sell local spots to local businesses to "sponsor" talk shows. We had a certain amount of slots in each day open to us to sell. These talk shows have no idea who the local sponsors are. It isn't sent in to them. Radio and TV has 24 hours of time slots for local and national advertising. The local is sold by people such as myself to local businesses and organizations.
(3/8/2012 6:11:07 AM)
Rush's response to this controvery has been nothing short of disastrous. The last thing you want a talent to do is go on the air and berate your clients for making a conscientious decision. Likening the objectors to "french fries falling out of a bag" or essentially saying "Good riddence, we have new ones lined up to get on" serves to boost his multi-million dollar ego, but deflates the talk radio brand and puts those at Premiere who rep the departed accounts in a horrendous position. Having been in similar situation at an AOR early in my career, I still have the scars to show for it. Some accounts will get over it and some won't.
(3/7/2012 7:41:06 PM)
See your illustration? Rush is just blowin'smoke.Frankly . . . who would trust the word of this blowhard?
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