Crain's: Premiere Declines To Say Whether Advertisers Have Come Back To Limbaugh

by Media Matters staff

A May 13 Crain's New York article reported that a spokeswoman for Premiere Radio Networks, which syndicates The Rush Limbaugh Show, declined to say whether advertisers that had dropped the program following Limbaugh's misogynistic attacks on Sandra Fluke had returned to the program. From Crain's:

Last week, Cumulus Media CEO Lew Dickey told analysts that the advertiser boycott--which began after Mr. Limbaugh called Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a slut--has cost the company "a couple million bucks."

The Rush Limbaugh Show airs on 38 Cumulus-owned stations, including WABC-AM in New York, and altogether on some 600 stations around the country. 

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"[The show] is not back to normal," said Angelo Carusone, campaign director for Media Matters, the liberal group that has led the boycott. The organization monitors over-the-air broadcasts of the Limbaugh show in 15 markets, including New York. It has found ads from U.S. government agencies and show stalwarts like identity-protection service LifeLock making up for the decline in national advertising. There's also a lot of repetition, showing "a reduction in the range of advertisers," Mr. Carusone added.

A spokeswoman for the show's distributor, Premiere Networks, declined to say if advertisers have come back, but insisted that "many of the same national sponsors who have had great success with the program" can still be heard. She added that "several new national sponsors have signed on."