AP Reports On Continued Advertiser Exodus From Limbaugh's Show
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
The Associated Press is reporting that Rush Limbaugh continues to feel the pressure from advertisers following his string of misogynistic attacks on Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. From the AP:
Radio stations in Hawaii and Massachusetts have dropped his show. Media Matters claims that 58 companies have specifically asked that their ads be excluded from Limbaugh's show. Radio-Info.com's TRI Newsletter said Premiere has circulated a list of 98 advertisers who want to avoid “environments likely to stir negative sentiments,” essentially all politically pointed talk shows.
There's more. TRI also said a group with several stations that air Limbaugh sent out a list of 31 advertisers who don't want to be on Limbaugh's show.
Premiere notes that a list is sent out four times a year reminding stations of advertisers who don't want to be part of controversial programming, and suggests a reported exodus is exaggerated. The company offered no list of its own, or a comparison that could show advertisers resistant to Limbaugh or other controversial shows that predated the Fluke comments.
Some companies said not to want to advertise within Limbaugh's program -- JC Penney, NAPA Auto Parts, Chapstick, Gold Bond, Green Mountain Coffee -- did not respond to requests to clarify their policies. One company listed, NBC-TV, said the network was unaware of any policy or past efforts to advertise with Limbaugh.
Valerie Geller, a veteran radio consultant who worked at Limbaugh's WABC flagship in New York, said it appears that advertising money coming into Limbaugh's show is slowing down. “I think it's a very big wakeup call,” she said.