2016 Holds Certain Media-Death for Certified Dunce Rush Limbaugh

I imagine Rush Limbaugh’s life of God, guns, bald eagles, and bigotry must be hell since 2012. He was once the most-dominant force on conservative radio, but the exodus of his advertisers in the wake of comments he made about Sandra Fluke, combined with his aging fan base, have prompted markets all over the country to reconsider their association with the man who once controlled Republican politics.

photo courtesy of http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1435662!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/rush24tvf-1.jpg
Image via New York Daily News

Lately, Rush has been receiving bad news with stunning regularity. From Media Matters:

“Which bulletin was worse, though? The news in April that he was being dropped?by WIBC in Indianapolis, a booming talk powerhouse that played home to Limbaugh’s radio show for more than two decades, or the news?this week that the talker’s new address on the Indianapolis dial is going to be WNDE, a ratings doormat AM sports station that has so few listeners?it trails the commercial-free classical music outlet in town?”

Limbaugh has seen his nasally, vexatious voice slowly march toward silence in several large markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Indianapolis. His market decline may be all that is necessary for Premiere Radio Networks, and their parent company, iHeartMedia, to not renew his syndication deal.

Aside from the speculation as to?whether?Limbaugh will get a new deal, there are many that believe he will, but for substantially less than his blockbuster deal seven years ago. From the New York Daily News:

“‘Rush still makes money for Premiere,’ says Tom Taylor’s NOW radio newsletter. ‘Through his show and related off-air activities (including the website run by Premiere). But it’s probably not as much as he brought in in 2008. And the demos are getting older.'”

Yet another question mark pertaining to Rush’s future is whether the format, conservative talk radio, can survive into the future. Also from the New York Daily News:

“‘Today’s talk radio is fast fading into the sunset because of a format stuck with 1990s rhetoric,’ says Daryl Parks, a former talk host, media blogger and self-described Republican. ‘A constant right-wing political drumbeat no longer resonates.'”

The radio business, like every other facet of entertainment, has always revolved around ratings and revenue. Regardless of rhetoric (with some exceptions), if a personality makes money and has consistent ratings, they are practically immune to the pitfalls of the industry. Rush, at one time, delivered those requirements regularly and with a tenaciousness unseen in the rest of his industry. Now, Rush withers away like an alcoholic’s liver.

He may get a new deal, but the figures won’t lie. Rush is on the out, a bloated, arrogant hasbeen desperately clinging to the obnoxious pestilence that once made him money. Ultimately, the population is growing vitriolic toward him. Whatever he may be offered will be symbolic not only of his status as a radio personality, but of whether or not his product is on life support.

There may yet be a near-future devoid of Rush Limbaugh.

Robert could go on about how he was raised by honey badgers in the Texas Hill Country, or how he was elected to the Texas state legislature as a 19-year-old wunderkind, or how he won 219 consecutive games of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots against Hugh Grant, but those would be lies. However, Robert does hail from Lewisville, Texas, having been transplanted from Fort Worth at a young age. Robert is a college student and focuses his studies on philosophical dilemmas involving morality, which he feels makes him very qualified to write about politicians. Reading the Bible turned Robert into an atheist, a combative disposition toward greed turned him into a humanist, and the fact he has not lost a game of Madden football in over a decade means you can call him "Zeus." If you would like to be his friend, you can send him a Facebook request or follow his ramblings on Twitter. For additional content that may not make it to Liberal America, Robert's internet tavern, The Zephyr Lounge, is always open