Wall Street Journal Confirms Boycotters Are Winning The Fight Against Rush Limbaugh/Hate Radio

[eridani]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/04/1362388/-Well-Wall-Street-Journal-Acknowledges-Social-Media-Stop-Rush-Are-Bringing-Limbaugh-Down

The Wall Street Journal, owned by Fox 'News'/Fox Network's Rupert Murdoch, published a surprising story Wednesday. The piece is titled, Talk Radio’s Advertising Problem, and it seems the biggest problem in talk radio today is hate monger, Rush Limbaugh. But first, in the WSJ piece, writer Hannah Karp explains just how bad the problem is:

Talk and news stations combined generated $1.5 billion in revenue in 2013, down from $1.6 billion in 2011, according to the latest numbers from media research firm BIA/Kelsey. Pure talk-station revenue fell to $205 million, from $217 million. The number of talk stations shrank to 510 from 546 over that time period, while the number of news stations increased by 150 to total 1,524.

Here's where it gets interesting.

The shift reflects more than younger listeners flocking to digital media.Radio executives said the erosion of ad dollars from talk stations was driven in part by a series of organized social-media campaigns by liberal activists in early 2012 that scared away advertisers.

That would be campaigns created by hundreds of thousands of angry everyday people who joined groups and organizations like #StopRush, Boycott/Rush, #FlushRush, NOW, UniteWomen.org, Being Liberal and Political Loudmouth… , and online news groups that include, Media Matters, Liberals Unite, Addicting Info, Alternet, Think Progress, and Daily Kos.

[maxrandb]

1. This is great news, but I've always argued that this needs to go Micro

This organized boycott is great, but now is the time to organize on a micro level. This needs to be felt at the local radio station level. In my opinion, I don't care if my local wingnut station broadcasts garden shows for the remainder of their 18 hours, but if they broadcast Limbaugh or Hannity, or any of the hundreds of cookie-cutter hate talkers for even 1 second, that local station is still providing a platform for this hate and bigotry.

I write to the station, and I write to any advertiser who advertises at any time, or ON any program the station broadcasts, and make it known that "as long as they provide a platform for this garbage, I will take my business elsewhere and recommend my circle of friends do the same".

Does it make a difference? Well, it sure is therapeutic for me...

Here's the point. Advertisers who say "don't run my ads during Limbaugh's Show, but I'll buy ad time during some other timeslot, or show", are still providing income for a station that gives a platform to hate and ignorance.

I think that the real difference can be made, and maybe we could finally remove this type of claptrap form our public airways, if we start going after the local station and the local businesses that advertise on their station.

Again, it makes no difference to me if a business advertises on Limbaugh's show, or "Catching with Captain Reese". If they are both on the same station...THEY ARE STILL PROMOTING HATE

[niyad]

3. absolutely agree!

[calimary]

7. THIS ^^^^

Absolutely true! Totally, Totally! And it really is up to us at the ground level. WE HAVE TO SPEAK UP. We can't let them get the last word.

I'm glad revenue's down. Serves 'em right. Your activism is OUTSTANDING! If they think we don't care, THEY WON'T EITHER! Let 'em know. Or to hijack the only usable thing presented by joni ernst, "let's make 'em squeal!"

[daleanime]

17. Hell yes.....

[BobbyBoring]

19. Unfortunately, I live in a really red area.

2 or 3 people threatening doesn't pull much weight.

[underpants]

2. I happened to talk with a weekend news guy at the local RW powerhouse station

Their signal reaches a long way. Morning show mostly devoid of content, Beck, Rush, local drive time guy (4th one in the last 10+ years), Hannity on tape delay, not sure of the nighttime lineup- used to be Savage.

We were talking about the sister sports talk channels (two) and some industry stuff. They were all Clear Channel which is now I Heart Radio. I was mentioning the move of one of the afternoon guys to the morning cutting off the sports talk show I really enjoyed (Czaban) "yeah that was to save money". We talked about the changes in the afternoon hosts on the "news" station and he said that the last guy went back to Louisville because he got offered more money. The morning host was the GM but apparently that changed 6 months ago. One guy was brought in to manage at least the AM stations - again, cost cutting.

It all came down to slicing costs.

[SunSeeker]

4. K & R

[another_liberal]

5. Happy, happy . . .

Joy, joy!

[libodem]

6. Woo Hoo

[quakerboy]

8. Been winning for years now, it seems.

Of course, winning means that Rush is still on the radio(in fact on more channels than previously) and Air America has vanished from the airwaves, at least in my deeply liberal community. Not my normal definition of winning, but then I guess maybe I'm just weird.

[leftynyc]

13. That's because you're thinking short term

Rush's contract expires next year. His new contract - because of the fall off in advertising dollars that he can't replace - will be for a fraction of his last one. My guess is he'll retire before his ego will allow him to sign a tiny contract. You'll never get these clowns off the air because they do have their fans. What can be done is what is being done - hitting the advertisers (which is how the stations make money). If stations can't bring in the national advertisers, they can't afford the big buck contracts conservatives were able to demand in the past.

[totodeinhere]

21. I think it likely that once his current contract expires

He will follow Glenn Beck's lead and starT his own network based upon subscriptions. There are plenty crazies left would would subscribe.

[quakerboy]

23. I think you are missing the big picture

If it was a fair market, then you would be right. We just shut down the revenue and wait.

But thats not what we have. There is no fair market for products, including radio programming. And even if Rush himself vanishes, they will just replace him with 2 lower paid people willing to say the same things over the same airwaves. Again, not my idea of a win.

As to never getting them off the air.. They successfully pulled AA of the air, despite fan bases in many major cities. So I dont buy it. Its all about ownership and ideology.

[leftynyc]

24. Sorry

Air America NEVER pulled in the numbers that conservative talk radio does. I'm not sure why that is - perhaps liberals have better things to do with our time than listen to partisan politics for hours on end. You would have to prove that liberal radio (or tv) can bring in the listeners/viewers before anyone is going to sink serious money into it. Air America never proved that.

[calimary]

9. But this isn't won yet.

We've got a LOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGGG way to go to rid the world of hate radio's toxins.

This isn't won yet. Don't get complacent! limbaugh's still laughing all the way to the bank. For now.

[Major Hogwash]

10. When, and only when, Rush's fat ass is kicked off of the radio, will I quit trying . . .

. . . to get him kicked off of radio for good!!!

The man is a psycho.
He literally lies every day on the radio for 3 hours.
All he does is spew hate.

How in the hell does the FCC grant a radio license to any station that allows some idiot like Rush to spew on it?

[Enthusiast]

11. Boycott Limbaugh advertisers!

[Efilroft Sul]

12. How do they like their "market-based solutions" now? n/t

[nxylas]

14. Only liberal stations are victims of the market

When someone like Rush suffers, it's because of persecution by liberal fascists who hate the first amendment.

[Arugula Latte]

20. They're getting slapped upside the head by Adam Smith's Giant Invisible Hand.

[Efilroft Sul]

27. Love that penguins GIF!

[libodem]

15. kick

Just because.

[wolfie001]

16. WOW! If the WSJ admits that......

....then things are pretty foul for Turd Limpballs.

[former9thward]

18. The WSJ article also said liberal talkers are being taken down also.

Large companies don't want anything to do with anything political.

[WestSeattle2]

22. If I was a GM of a radio station and received a letter

from you complaining about a program, I'd smile and do a pump fist. Why? It means you're listening to my station.

Now, if i received hundreds or thousands of complaints, that would be a different story. I still might smile. "Haters" on both sides of the aisle, listen to "Enemy" talk shows in order to "monitor".

Believe me, the stations and hosts laugh all the way to the bank.

I have no trust that the drop off in ad revenue is in any way attributable to boycotts. Rather, it's due to changing demographics. Talk radio is a yawner compared to other digital entertainment available. Younger people could not care less what some blowhard, on either side of the aisle, has to say on radio.

Radio is a dinosaur, dying a slow death. That's it, nothing more complicated than that.

[Dont call me Shirley]

25. A lot of progressive radio stations have shut down in the last couple years.

[kacekwl]

26. I listen to Rush every

now and then . He is a one trick pony. Every show sounds the same.

[underpants]

29. I do too well not everyday

I listen in because he is the weather vane of their propaganda machine. Wherever he points is where they are headed.

I can tell that something has gotten to him. Whether his marriage has given him a new perspective or he knows that these protests are truly crushing him he has noticeable pauses and gulps in the midst of some segments of his shows. He will start into something (and it usually is the same old same old as you point out) and just before he takes the next step or delivers what he knows is at least a 1/2 truth he will pause or verbally stumble. Maybe it is his age showing but whatever it is, it shows.

[ND-Dem]

28. seems like several prominent duers gave me to understand that boycotting things wasn't effective.

[smirkymonkey]

30. Great news!

How that man is able to live with himself is just beyond me.