BREAKING: Rush Limbaugh dropped from major Philadelphia radio station

[Tx4obama]

ThinkProgress ‏ @thinkprogress

BREAKING: Rush Limbaugh dropped from major Philadelphia radio station http://thkpr.gs/HtwuLO

https://twitter.com/thinkprogress/status/189481238493528064

[Rex]

1. YES! I wish Foxnews would get the same treatment.

nt.

[Skidmore]

47. At my orthopedics appointments for the past 6 months,

Fox has been on the television in the waiting room. I asked once at the desk for the channel to be changed and was told that this was the only channel they received. BS. Yesterday, at my appointment, I noticed that the channel was set to ABC for the morning news program. Don't know if that had anything to do with complaints or a concern for public awareness since this department is in a major hospital in this state, but it was a welcome change.

[Rex]

49. I hope it came from complaints and not just random.

I know the feeling, everytime I have ever gone to a hospital or clinic and sat in the waiting room...THAT horrible channel is on and I always ask if we can change it to the sports channel or the like. Sometimes they do and sometimes they give me an evil scowl and so I go sit back down.

[Liberalynn]

51. Once, Faux was on in the pharmacy section when I was waiting to pick up a prescription

I filled out a customer comment card to the grocery chain, in which the pharmacy was located. I said Faux was not a news channel but a political opinion channel and I should not have to be forced to listen to someone else's political viewpoints while standing in line waiting for my medicine.

Lately it has been on Time Warners' YNN which is a local news channel which mainly just reports local stories and headlines without anchor editoralizing. Not saying my opinion card did it, but I am wondering if I am not the only one who complained.

[Zax2me]

2. Can they take back his 350 million?

That was just one contract.
How the hell does a radio host make that much? and that isn't a career total, just ONE contract.

[Ian David]

3. I really hope Limbaugh made a lot of very bad investments and loses it all. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

32. unfortunately...

people with his level of money rarely lose much.

[zbdent]

42. most likely, he's invested in several numbered accounts

which, for some reason, escaped the scrutiny of Bush43's review of "offshore accounts" and "evasion" ...

[PotatoChip]

4. Woohoo!

I hope this is the beginning of the end for Limballs.

[Brother Buzz]

5. Grand! But dimes to donuts....

there are three or four other radio stations in the Philadelphia market carrying his program the nuts can switch to.

[southernyankeebelle]

6. Well are they going to put Huckabee in his place? No difference.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. CBS radio indicates Smerconish would move to that slot.

Smerconish is already on a different slot on that station.

[southernyankeebelle]

21. Well I like him. He seems fair and balanced. But I don't listen to talk radio.

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Smerconish has been around Philly for awhile

even before they started syndicating him and running him on tape delay...

He is more the "old school" style conservative talker (although coming from a "younger generation" than some of the others on the air here like Dom Giordano). He generally focused on local issues and eventually parlayed himself onto TV as a fill-in host. Over the years, many of these conservative talkers decided to go for national syndication by becoming "shock jock" teabaggers like a Savage, Boortz, or Cunningham (or even like the Becks, Hannitys, and O'Reillys), but he seemed to resist it. The others essentially took the whole talk genre down into the gutter with them while the station owners eventually displaced local programming and jocks, including removing most non-political shows, and replacing them with infomercials amd this type of cheap RW programming.

I think John Batchelor on WABC is also about all that is left of the more intellectual conservative.

It's sad.

[southernyankeebelle]

35. I like him because he is old school republican. He doesn't hate the word "compromise". He

realizes that both parties have ideas and we need to take the best of both. I like him because he stood up for Obama during the last election cycle and voted for him. I don't know how is feels now but he will vote wisely. I disagree with some issues but I respect him alot. I hope before long the old school republicans who might be moderate will take their party back from these religious hijackers and take the racists and put them back in hiding.

[PRETZEL]

37. Mike basically interned under Irv Homer

many years ago. There was a time back in the infancy of Rush's shows where Irv basically spent an hour of his show obliterating Rush and calling him for what he is. Unfortantely, Irv lost when Clear Channel bought out that station. Dom Giordano was pretty moderate back then also.

Everything changed once Clear Channel came into the picture. Now, I only listen to Mike for a few minutes a day.

[southernyankeebelle]

39. I haven't listened to talk radio for years. Ever since it went crazy right.

[BumRushDaShow]

46. Used to listen to "Evil Irving" alot

especially in the olden days when he prodded people to "buy gold" back when it was still $35/ounce! He swore up and down that it was heading for the hundreds of dollars an ounce and was right.

He definitely was the "true", tax-hating, government-off-my-back Libertarian... not the talk-a-good-game while supporting neocon wars types (Irv was a WW II vet who served in North Africa) that you see today.

[Gibby]

7. Don't let the door hit you on your anal pimples on the way out, Rush

Ass pimples may have been good enough for your special chickenhawk Republican draft dodging, but they may well become sore as the doors continue to slam on your overpaid 1% chickenhawk Republican ass.

[Becka2515]

33. Not leaving..

Sad to say he isnt being kicked out of the market but just going to another station in the same area :'(

[cr8tvlde]

8. Good Find. This must mean that his ratings are dropping

Let us hope this continues like the advertisers exit.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

12. His numbers are suspect. He compulsively lies about everything including his ratings. I believe

they've always been low.

Welcome to DU!

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Oh PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - edit link included

LET THIS BE TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I believe he is on 1210 WPHT (CBS affiliate) here.

EDIT: Here's a link from the Philly Inquirer/Daily News:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/Is-Limbaugh-getting-the-boot-from-Philly-radio.html

[pinboy3niner]

10. Sign the petition to 'Dump Rush' from KFI in Los Angeles

It currently has more than 8,000 signatures:

http://www.signon.org/sign/rush-limbaugh-5

NOTE: DO NOT post your signature number here. The petition site will show the name and town associated with a signature number.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

13. I noticed a new ad on KFI - one for advertisers! This tells me that companies are finding KFI toxic

and don't want their brand associated with toxicity. I realize advertisers have dropped Limbaugh, but it's still difficult for me to disassociate them from him, and I get negative feelings toward their company.

[Justice wanted]

14. ....

[pinboy3niner]

15. But the boycotts, petitions and public pressure are having "no effect," LOL!

You can't explain that!

--Bill O'Reilly

[KharmaTrain]

16. And Things Could Get Even Worse For Rushbo...

Nonetheless, the move is likely to gain attention because Mr. Limbaugh’s show has been under scrutiny lately. On Monday, a new competitor, “The Mike Huckabee Show,” started broadcasting nationally in Mr. Limbaugh’s noon-to-3 p.m. time slot

The Hucklenutz show is being produced by Cumulus Radio...who own several of rushbo's biggest stations, including WABC in New York and WLS in Chicago.

There's also been a big hit on hate talk radio overall as advertisers are avoiding rushbo stations altogether...and this starting to take a toll. The timing couldn't be worse as it occured during the lean first quarter when advertising revenues are their lowest and they're not bouncing back.

[alp227]

24. But Philly can sorta pick up WABC. They're not totally deprived of Rush,

if they wanna hear Limbaugh over the air they just have to listen via a weaker signal from New York City with traffic/weather/local news from that area not Philly.

[BumRushDaShow]

27. I pick up WABC very strongly where I live in Philly

and heard that gas bag's very first show back in 1988 on WABC... I had the station on to hear Lynn Samuels and then she announced that he was taking over her slot and studio. Used to listen to Curtis (and even Lisa) Sliwa (including when it was "Curtis and Kuby&quot and Bob Grant and Batchelor and Alexander, and alot of the lineup on WABC in the '80s & 90s and '00s as it evolved....

The bigger issue is that the same thing happened here last year with Beck when they dropped him off the station. They really need to bring back "local" talk to our airwaves. I am sick of the canned rethug talking points on every station that carries the talk format other than the lone AA radio station here 900 WURD (that does air Sharpton's show in the afternoon). As it is, we still have the stupid 990 WLVT running the Salem broadcasting's Bennett, Prager, Medved, Gallagher, Hewett, etc., crapola.

It really is time to take out the rethug trash.

[alp227]

28. 990 in Phila. is now WNTP, and I visited Philly two summers ago.

As part of a general tour of the Northeast. Great city. I visited Independence Park, that was it before heading out to DC. (When I visited I didn't have a portable AM radio so I can't corroborate your claim re WABC/Phila.)

And you're definitely right about WABC; it actually used to be a listenable station nearly 10 years ago given that its morning show had both Curtis as the conservative and Kuby as the liberal then the late night conservative host John Batchelor had a liberal co host Paul Alexander. Nowadays WABC's weekdays are pretty much all syndicated right wing trash except for a 5AM "WABC talks the news" show and Geraldo Rivera's show that's between Imus and Limbaugh. The weekends are no better. I glanced yesterday as the Jason Mattera show on WABC and heard him doing a fake phone call with Al Sharpton. It made me so sick because it basically implied that Sharpton had a mail-order theology degree and supported criminals.

Here's a website paying tribute to WABC from the days its was a top-40 station (the '60s thru early '80s) http://www.musicradio77.com

[BumRushDaShow]

38. For some dumb reason

I keep uttering "WLVT" which is a cable channel in update PA that I get on Comcast instead of accepting "WNTP" for that station that has had many station IDs over the years... LOL!

John Batchelor is actually back on the air on WABC at 9 pm... Interestingly, he has been avoiding alot of the rethug politics of late (I do't blame him).

[alp227]

30. Source for the fake Sharpton call

http://citadelcc.vo.llnwd.net/o29/stations/NEW_YORK/WABC/JasonMattera/4-1-12JASONMATTERA.mp3

go to the 12 minute mark.

[KharmaTrain]

31. That Could Change...

...if WABC picks up Hucklenutz. The report says that there may be an FM station that will pick up rushbo's bile but most of his aging listeners prefer antiquated AM.

[IamK]

17. the article says he is just switching stations to get on live vs. recorded....

The owner of WPHT, CBS Radio, said in a statement on Monday afternoon, “Premiere recently notified WPHT they will be syndicating Rush Limbaugh on a new station in Philadelphia. As a result, we are pleased to be able to now showcase Michael, who is a well-known and acclaimed broadcaster in the market, in this new time period.”

Mr. Smerconish is a relative rarity on radio: a moderate. He has interviewed President Obama and has filled in for Chris Matthews on the MSNBC program “Hardball” a number of times.

His radio program is syndicated across the country, but until now WPHT has time-delayed it in Philadelphia. With the move by Mr. Limbaugh, it can be played live in his home market.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/limbaugh-to-leave-am-station-in-philadelphia/?smid=tw-nytimestv&seid=auto

[MindandSoul]

18. Best news of the day! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

[Skittles]

19. SWEET!!!!!!!!!

[Scurrilous]

20. Good. n/t

[Glimmer of Hope]

22. Yippee! More to come I hope.

[DesertRat]

23. Good!

[WillyT]

26. Woo Hoo !!! - K & R !!!

[treestar]

29. K&R

[Becka2515]

34. Hate to be the wet blanket :(

But Premiere has indicated that it will be moving Mr. Limbaugh to a new station in Philadelphia. Radio-Info.com reported on Monday that it might be WKDN, a Christian programming station that is expected to be turned into a news-talk station soon.

To the untrained eye, it would appear to be a step down for “The Rush Limbaugh Show.” WKDN, with a 38,000-watt signal, is a smaller station than WPHT, which has a 50,000-watt signal. But WKDN is an FM station, while WPHT is an AM station, and Premiere has shown interest in moving its talk radio shows over to FM stations lately.

[BumRushDaShow]

40. He can run but he cannot hide

I don't know if many people around here in Philly even know that FM station.

The key being that WPHT (formerly WCAU back in the day) is a BIG CBS affiliate (the original CBS affiliate here before Viacom bought Infinity and picked up top-rated and former NBC-affiliate KYW 1060 News Radio making that a sister CBS station to WPHT).

I.e., Arbitron will tell all and I doubt this other station has the deep pockets of a WPHT unless they get a benefactor (sortof like what happened with the Washington Times, which was operated at a loss for their RW cause).

Bottom line - moving from a top-rated well known talk station to an unknown, never-heard-of is a LARGE smack in the face and if anything, FM has nowhere near the range of AM.

[spanone]

36. the journey of a thousand miles........

[certainot]

41. huckabee is basically an increased investment by GOP in talk radio for the election

replacing some local low talent blowhards who were less effective reading the same talking points.

and he'll be in place to replace limbaugh with a slightly less unpalatable version of racism, misogyny, and coordinated lying from the same think tanks.

[zbdent]

43. could he please get tossed out of Cleveland?

Oh, wait ... it's Klear Khannel Korldwide ...

[lpbk2713]

44. His little world filled with hate and lies is crumbling around him.

I love it.

[sonias]

45. I'll toast to that

[FreeBC]

48. Did anyone read the article? He didn't get dropped.

They announced his replacement because Rush's people informed them that they were moving to a new station.

[BumRushDaShow]

50. I live in Philly

and this so-called "other station" is a non-entity here (it is located in Camden, NJ and serves mostly southern NJ - its signal is often blown away by nearby 106.1 most times).

The former WCAU 1210 (now WPHT) where he originally aired was one of the BIGGEST here in the city and was the original CBS flagship here (before being joined by KYW 1060 as the 2nd CBS affiliate thanks to deregulation and Infinity Broadcasting's purchase by Viacom).

This is major as this is the 4th largest Arbitron media market and he would be relegated to a tiny "Christian" station.

[uponit7771]

52. Ah, so he got dropped from a major and went to a minor station...hmm

[Uncle Joe]

53. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Tx4obama.

[proud patriot]

54. SWEET

[Permanut]

55. K&R, Thanks Tx4obama...

It will be a while before we see the last of this hatemonger, but I'll do a little happy dance every time we see a new, tiny little crack in the hate machine.

My apologies to all for using the phrase "tiny little crack" in a Limbaugh thread.

[FightForChange]

56. Thank God

Maybe there's hope yet. Seeing Rush Limbaugh lose his job makes me think that there are people in the world that are smart enough to not by his right-wing propaganda and think for himself. Those ignorant and sexist comments he made obviously got the better of him. Now if only we could get Bill O'Reilly fired. Then again I'm not getting my hopes up.