Is Sandra Fluke Helping Rush Get Listeners?

by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro 

Are Rush Limbaugh’s ratings going to take off and soar as a result of the recent Sandra Fluke controversy? According to nonpartisan radio expert Michael Harrison, that’s exactly what may happen. In fact, it's happening now.

 

“The irony is that he probably right now has the biggest audience he’s had in years, and the double irony of all this is sponsors that are fleeing, they’re missing out on the best advertising buy in radio,” Harrison told Washington’sDaily Caller in an interview.

According to the Caller, “Limbaugh’s fans, said Harrison, will galvanize around him, not abandon him. Many of his detractors are listening because they feel vindicated, he explained, and still others are tuning in to hear what the fuss is about.”

Limbaugh has lost a number of sponsors and advertisers since contraception activist Sandra Fluke last month. As of March 7, ABC News reported that Rush lost over 40 advertisers. Limbaugh apologized for his comments, but Fluke said that she does not feel the apology “changes anything.”

Limbaugh recently told listeners that, “everything is cool.”

The ABC story reported Limbaugh as saying:

“Nobody is losing money here, including us, in all this,” Limbaugh said on his radio show Wednesday. “[The advertisers] are not canceling the business on our stations. They’re just saying they don’t want their spots to appear in my show. We don’t get any revenue from ‘em anyway. The whole effort is to dispirit you.”
“None of what’s happening is out of the ordinary,” Limbaugh said. “It’s just part of an onslaught to try to convince you that this show’s history and our days are numbered. And I’m happy to tell you nothing could be further from the truth.”

Certain advertisers have been hard hit by their betrayal of Limbaugh and one has tried to crawl back.

In a recent Big Journalism story, reported P.J. Salvatore reported that St. Louis progressives “launched an offensive to get Rush Limbaugh off the air at a local AM heritage station,” which also promotes the Cardinals, but a poll showed that 67 percent of those asked felt that “there was a need for his conservative commentary.”

Seems as though the market and ratings agree.