Eric Boehlert's Media Blog (Rush Limbaugh's California Ratings Debacle) is no different from the daily propaganda pronouncements issued by Media Matters, his attack dog partisan political advocacy. It is filled with fictions, based on nonsensical claims that don't stand up to even casual scrutiny.
Most tellingly, while Boehlert's conclusions are exclusively about Rush's show, the audience numbers he uses are not just from Rush's three-hour show ... but from each radio station's average 24 hour a day audience. Moving goalposts alert!
So, in the interest of fairness, here's the truth about Rush's ratings:
Los Angeles: On newly minted KEIB-AM, Rush has already increased the AQH (Average Quarter Hour) audience by 314% among all measured persons during his show hours, and increased it 230% among Adults 25‐54. Eric calls this a disaster. If so, may we be cursed for years.
San Francisco: On new affiliate KNEW-‐AM, Boehlert's claim of "miniscule" ratings is pure fiction, and poorly written. Rush has increased the station's share from 0.2 to 2.7 in the last year during his broadcast. AQH audience is up 969% in the same period.
New York: Since moving to WOR‐AM, Rush has maintained his position, long held, as the No. 1 talk show in his daypart in the market. He has led WOR into the Top 10 stations and increased WOR's ratings by more than 200%, in the nation's largest market.
All of these numbers beg the truly important question: Why is Media Matters so desperate to diminish Rush Limbaugh's influence? If Rush really was on the wane, why does Eric Boehlert need to fabricate fictions about his audience size? Why will Media Matters hidden money benefactors go to any preposterous length to damage Rush Limbaugh?
The simplest answer is the most accurate: Because Rush Limbaugh works for radio stations. When he joins a new station, their audience size skyrockets. Over and over again, this truth has been printed in the black and white of Nielsen ratings. Each weekday, millions of conservative Americans seek out Rush, and they go where he is -‐ for more than twenty years, with fierce loyalty.
Rush Limbaugh's success in the face of Media Matters propaganda about him is damning. It's time for Eric Boehlert to stop lying, and stop writing about media matters he doesn't understand... or want to understand.
Brian Glicklich, Spokesperson, The Rush Limbaugh Show.