How to hurt Rush, perspective from a radio insider.

Thanks for posting!

Never knew that. Excellent OP. K & R

to pull their ads from stations that carry Rush's show. Let the station know that you're doing it and why, and also mention contacting the FCC about their license. Their license is their life! We hit their license, we're hitting where they live. Rush becomes toxic, hopefully they drop him soon. That hits his pocketbook.

We also need to pressure these people:
Premiere Networks, Inc., a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, syndicates 90 radio programs and services to more than 5,000 radio affiliations and reaches over 190 million listeners weekly. Premiere is the number one audio content provider in the country and features the following personalities: Rush Limbaugh, Jim Rome, Ryan Seacrest, Glenn Beck, Bob & Tom, Delilah, Steve Harvey, Blair Garner, George Noory, John Boy and Billy, Big Tigger, Sean Hannity, Elvis Duran, Jason Lewis, Randi Rhodes, Nikki Sixx, Kane and others. For more information, please visit [link:http://premiereradio.com/pages/corporate.html|]
www.premiereradio.com/pages/corporate.html

This guy NAILS it. Follow his advice and we may actually make some inroads here.

Hey people - this should be shared elsewhere. I'm gonna Facebook mine!

this means someone has to listen to his show. Oh the humanity!

Has anybody done so?

cuz I don't want to have to... I have a delicate stomach

it will give you all the stations that carry his show, listed by state. You can then check those websites (I did for WI) and see which advertisers are on the website (I did that, and contacted a couple). You can also find out who the program director is and email him or her with your comments. Pretty painless, and I agree, I could NOT stomach listening to him long enough to find out who advertises with him.

regardless of whether they want it or not. It is a mandatory program to get access to the rest of CC's programming. The article went on to say that is how CC/Rush get to bill him as 'America's most listened to' personality. The fact that no one is listening to those stations during his program doesn't matter......just how many markets/potential listeners.

Is none of this correct?

There's an old story about Randi Rhodes when she used to air just in South Florida. She was on against Rush and he hated it. He got her moved to the 3-6p time period because he refused to air against her. She always beat him in his home market of West Palm Beach.

In many cases Clear Channel owns the talk stations that air Rush. So naturally they would carry it. I can't imagine if a GM of a CC station wanted to drop Rush the conversation would go well with the Regional Manager.

I do know that some local non-Clear Channel affiliates sometimes are required to carry Rush. The thing is that Rush does get ratings and most stations want to carry him because they can make money with the show. (Well, up until now maybe.) The real problem is that many times a station might want to run Rush and then they are required to carry all of the other bullshit programming like Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Overnights with George Noory, etc. They hold a gun to the local GMs heads if they want to carry Rush. That is one reason why so many stations are just wall to wall conservative bullshit.

But people do listen to Rush...and in most cases his ratings are pretty decent.

is to ignore Premier Radio and instead go after the 600 local AM stations that broadcast his show.

Cassettes that had samples of really egregious rhetoric on the programs the advertisers were supporting.

KSFO didn't much like it.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/01/06/287703/-OH,-ITS-ON!!-BLOGSWARM-NOW!-SPOCKOS-ABOUT-TO-HIT-BIG!-

what impact, what change has been made since this action taken 5 years ago?

And he did manage to get the offender fired..

Hopefully there will be more than one person involved this time..

If you've ever seen the film 'Broadcast Blues' - highly recommended. It makes similar suggestions ie: the public file.

got John and Ken suspended for 2 weeks for calling Whitney Houston a crack ho. In my opinion, even though that was bad, what rush is doing is 100x worse. I don't understand how he gets away with it - the GOP are scared of him.

I want this thread to stay up top!

The game here is that the station MUST put your letter on public display...and you have the right to go and see that letter and the rest of the file. If the station denies you...the station is in violation of one of the few still highly enforceable rules on the books.

Emails and phone calls don't do it. Send a regular old letter...registered mail (so you have a receipt that proves the station got the letter)...if the station refuses to let you see the lettter they could face a 10k or higher fine...

Thanks to you and to Fumesucker for all of this info. VERY Helpful.

I didn't know about that.

im bookmarking this... occupy please note!!

...and does indeed make an enormous impression on a business.

Paul Begala used to beg Democrats to write paper letters when expressing concerns, for that reason.

Harder to round file it that way.

You automatically get a form signed by the recipient.

and another terrific post to kick!

Take that away from them - they've got nothing.

I never considered this. Very clever.

I will plug DU.

I'd appreciate it if you'd include the original link to B-J and mention Jager as the author.

Even if because of the controversy which will cause him to lose stations left and right, there is still one MAJOR window of opportunity. Sirius-XM. They have been wanting to bring him in for a long time. If that happens, the only way is to force SXM to lose market shares. And make their stock prices fall to the pennies.

I left them because they canned all my favorite shows. Every month, I get another incredible deal from them basically begging me to come back. I get Thom Hartmann's podcast instead, and listen to that as I travel.

The Limbaughian ice floe begins to melt. The vile putrified rants of an anti-social demon are finally being exorcised. Drunk with the power of his own madness, he is destroying himself as all evil doers eventually do.

...in the new Occupy Underground group!

I have standing permission from the original blog owner to copy and paste anything from his site..

...much appreciated!

BJ can use the extra traffic and it's one of the smartest and funniest political sites on the interwebs, you won't go wrong directing people there.

UP TOP where everybody can find it easily!

Should be Said, Read, and SPREAD!

2323 W Fifth Ave Suite 200 Columbus OH 43204

Here are some of the local advertisers;

www.chevydealer.com is the generic locater for Any Chevy dealer in the US and maybe Canada;

The local BIG Chevy dealer is;

Bobby Layman 3900 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43228

Here are some of the companies which are going half price advertising ala Groupon called 'Columbus's Daily Deal;

Wings Sports Bar and Grille
7902 North Dixie Drive
Dayton, OH 45414

BalletMet Dance Centre
322 Mt. Vernon Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(Unknown if this is Corporate contact address or not)

Plank's Cafe & Pizzeria
743 Parsons Avenue
Columbus, OH 43206
(Excellent Food-worth the trip)

445 S. Jefferson Route 42
Plain City, Ohio 43064
614 873 3414
(THE place to go from any point in OH and beyond-this is a HUGE attraction of tour buses and the like)

The Funny Bone Comedy Club and Cafe
145 Easton Town Ctr, Columbus, OH 43219
(Everyone in Columbus has heard/goes to this club)

Schmidt's
240 E Kossuth St, Columbus, OH 43206
(You haven't lived until you eat their Old German style Brats and Sausages)
Both Schmidt's and Plank's are located in Columbus' German Village district, a well known area.

There are others but not well known, at least to me: I don't get out much

thanks

Rush Limbaugh’s Recent Comments re Susan Fluke

Dear Sirs,
I heard Rush Limbaugh’s recent radio show featuring his comments regarding Susan Fluke’s brave testimony regarding her statements before Congress. I went to your website, www.610WTVN.com in order to determine if your station did in fact allow this commentator to make these vile statements. I will not repeat what Mr. Limbaugh said on this occasion because my household does not use that type of language.
This has not been the only vile statements Mr. Limbaugh has been associated with; he ridiculed Michael J, Fox’s debilitating condition, he ridiculed Hu Jintao, the Chinese President, “He was speaking (President Hu Jintao) and they weren't translating. They normally translate every couple of words. Hu Jintao was just going ching chong, ching chong cha"Hu Jintao--He was speaking and they weren't translating. They normally translate every couple of words. Hu Jintao was just going ching chong, ching chong cha," Mr. Limbaugh said.," and used racial overtones in describing Donavan Mcnabb, "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well,'' Mr. Limbaugh said at the time. "There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team." This last remark is said to have lost Mr. Limbaugh his chance to own an NFL team.
Any one of these remarks should have gotten Mr. Limbaugh a public rebuke, if not from your station, but from Clear Channel, the parent company which distributes Mr. Limbaugh’s show. As far as I know, no formal apology has been forthcoming from him.
I have written to the advertisers below. I have included the facts included in this letter and have asked each and every advertiser to reconsider advertising on Mr. Limbaugh’s show, if not your entire radio broadcast;
Schmidt's
The Funny Bone Comedy Club and Cafe
Plank's Cafe & Pizzeria
BalletMet Dance Centre
Wings Sports Bar and Grille
Bobby Layman 3900 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43228
chevydealer.com
These were the advertisers I was able to locate in a cursory search on your website. I admit I do not listen to your station because Clear Channel, and mostly Mr. Limbaugh, are a big part of the station. I do know people who do listen and I will tell them of this current controversy and hopefully they will rethink their choice of radio stations.
I understand you are required to put this and any letter in the Public Inspection File. I trust you will do the same to my letter.



I looked up the station's ownership and it is OWNED by Clear Channel. But the letter will be on Public Display as I will take the advice of one of the posters and send it registered mail. Screw them!

Send a copy to the FCC as well..

based on his experience in radio. This sounds like good advice.

I also sent an email to one of the holdout national advertisers, ProFlowers, because I have been a customer of theirs for years. Every little communication helps, I figure.

I wrote to my local radio station: "I'm not a ditto-head, but I do listen to Rush Limbaugh here, and his recent comments on that Georgetown student have been over-the-top vile. He's called her a slut and a whore, misrepresented what she was saying, demanded video of her having sex (ewww) and then continued to attack her character even more. All this from a 4 time married, illegal Viagra and Vicodin user. If he is unable to self-censor, maybe some suggestions from management would help. Anyone else saying vile and repulsive things like that could and should expect some blow back. "

They replied: "Thanks for the note.we appreciate the feedback.

KTRH is committed to providing its listeners with access to a broad range of opinion and commentary without condoning or agreeing with the opinions, comments or attempts at humor expressed by on-air talent.

The contraception debate is one that sparks strong emotion and opinions on both sides of the issue. We respect the right of Mr. Limbaugh, as well as the rights of those who disagree with him, to express those opinions.

Bryan Erickson
AM Operations Manager
Clear Channel Media + Entertainment"

I replied" Well, that's nice, but I was speaking about Rush's personal attack on a college student, not the "contraception debate".

LOL!

Letting them know is a good thing but letting them know *officially* is much better, tell them they have to put it in their FCC mandated public file, they don't like negative stuff going in there at all.

Registered mail means they can't say "never saw it" because someone has to sign for it.

There's all kinds of experience that reinforces this.

"If KFI in LA got a hundred letters with follow up phone calls..." This one's particularly interesting in light of some advice Paul Begala once offered - about how 100 paper letters would change the course of the discourse in the newsroom. Letters. PAPER LETTERS. Not an email. Not a tweet (although a Twitter campaign might throw a little of that proverbial "sugar in the gas tank" too). PAPER LETTERS. That someone took the time and trouble to sit down and write. And yes, it goes in the public file.

Also - it recalls, for me, something I read here during the bush years. A woman posted that she got results by writing her paper letter - AND CC'ing it to several other people of import. She wrote a letter of complaint to the New York Times, I think it was, and copied it to their biggest rival, the Washington Post, as well as several others of authority on the issue of her concern. The idea being: OTHER EYES ARE SEEING THIS. You can't just file it in the round file and consider it over and done with. OTHER EYES have seen it. Other witnesses have been brought in. Especially the rival newspaper that sees the complaint lodged rather shrewdly against its chief competitor and just might choose to exploit that in some way... (Gee, what could a big-ass big-city newspaper do to a rival newspaper that comes under some big grey cloud?) If other people are brought in, the complaint-receivers know this is not happening in a vacuum that they can simply ignore. Further, it makes more people of critical and relevant positioning aware that there's a pretty serious problem lurking.

And keep this in mind: When I was in radio, ONE paper letter sent in from somebody who liked my work made them stop and think again about laying me off with the rest of the newsroom people they wanted to downsize. ONE paper letter. Which was sent to the general manager, btw. 'Cause the first thing he did was show the PD, and his own secretary saw it and she was a major gossip so it soon spread all over the station. There used to be this thing called the ARB Talkback - which wasn't merely a diary that anonymous listeners filled out with whatever stations they listened to. It asked for comments. SOMEBODY - I'll never know who - but some listener got one and filled it out, and the only comment this person wrote about ANYTHING on the air at that station - was about me. "Entertaining morning news with calimary." Mentioned me by name. Every station subscribed, so every station saw that. That ONE mention in the ARB Talkback saved my job for a year!

CC'ing letters to something else, in this case the FCC!!! Granted the FCC has no teeth, but NEVER MIND! The overriding fact here is that you copy them in, which means it's not only on the record, it's on THEIR record. "Uh-oh, aw fuck, somebody alerted the government. Shit. Dammit, now we have to deal with this... Hey - how many of these have been coming in, btw? It will start pinching sphincters all over the building. And the FCC still exists, and eventually COULD be a factor somewhere. It hasn't been done away with, so it can be used to our advantage. After all - these ARE the PUBLIC airwaves.

One other point too: When I was in radio, it was mainly the big local rock stations (and one major Top 40 station at the time, too). These stations all had request-line operators. People called in and requested songs. And a count was kept. The prevailing opinion was that one call represented either 10 listeners or 100 or 1000. It always tended to be a factor of ten. The presumption was, and still is: ONE letter, or ONE phone call, or ONE listener input was always REPRESENTATIVE of many more - who were either too busy, too distracted, too apathetic, too discouraged ("meh, what's the use, they don't care about little me, why should I bother?" to write or call in, themselves. So imagine what 100 letters would multiply out to - in these people's minds? If ONE person cares enough actually to WRITE IN (especially since writing a letter takes a lot more time and trouble than picking up the phone or sending a text or email - so this writer must SERIOUSLY care about this), then this is something that we dare not ignore. It'll start worrying them because they're immediately gonna do the math and start trying to figure up what this means, how many people actually feel this way, how much of the listener base this represents, and do they REALLY wanna risk not doing something about it. This COULD be big. Hey, if this person feels this way, how many others do, too? Uh-oh...

Copying the local advertiser is SHEER GENIUS!!! You think they don't care about public opinion? They sure as hell care about the public opinion that drives people into their stores! You better believe they care!!! That's how they eat and put gas in their cars and stay in business.

GREAT ADVICE!!! Fumesucker, your post is, as we used to say in radio, a public service!

'Twarnt nothin'..

<blush>

I'm but the messenger, I didn't write that although by now I wish I had.

Your comment about the multiplier effect is dead on point and perfectly taken.

Thanks.

relaying it here. The more people read this, the more the effect will multiply...and fill the earth and subdue limbaugh. I'm sharing it with several Facebook pages :

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Rush-Limbaughs-Sponsors-to-SHUT-HIM-DOWN/253645602134?sk=wall

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Womens-Day-to-Say-Enough/297512763644239?sk=wall

http://www.facebook.com/UniteWomen?sk=wall

https://www.facebook.com/groups/300397393356744/

The farther and wider we spread this, the better. This IS war, people. And for now, the bad guys control the communication lines. For now. But even the mighty invincible Achilles had a heel.

:kick:

and that is "Monitor the Rush station". That means having to listen to that fat blowhard to catch the occasional local advertiser. I'm not sure my stomach can handle that.

You're tough. You're sturdy. You're Whoops. Well, at least it's out of your system now. Now get out there and boycott!

I did go to the FCC website and filed a complaint and it does give you a confirmation # to follow up on.
I agree with going after the local advertisers.

It isn't just RUSH.. the other show's seem to like bashing women also

biggest audience and don't listen to the blowhards long enough to know the the part about the blowhards being political entertainers is bullshit. sometimes they're put in those spots by their ad agencies.

i have talked to very few who screamed back into the phone that rush is a god. most are surprised to get a complaint (hopefully no longer). it's not too hard to talk to the actual owner of these businesses. sometimes you'll get an employee who's pissed off to hear that they're on limbaugh. that should be especially common now.

these businesses need to hear the complaints. don't waste time calling or emailing limbaugh.

there's no reason blue communities should have local RW talk radio advertisers who aren't getting regular complaints. protests at appropriately located stations would get the attention of advertisers.