did Limpbaugh really save AM radio?

[pstokely]

or did he just turn it into hate radio

[htuttle]

1. Since he's the intellectual heir of Father Coughlin...

I'd say 'neither'.

http://www.ssa.gov/history/cough.html

[bookman]

2. There were others before...

... some local stations had some real hateful guys. I remember Bob Grant as a major slezeball in NY.

Rush benifited from great timing.

[Brian Sweat]

4. Don't forget Morton Downy Dipship

[kentuck]

3. He didn't save it....he started it !

And it has spread like diarrhea over the nation ever since...stinking up the homes and cars of Americans and fouling up the political discourse of the nation. Yeah, some call it "credit"....some call it "blame".

[CO Liberal]

5. Yep - Just Like Reagan Won the Cold War

Yet another right-wing lie.

[pstokely]

7. if Limpbaugh and hate radio didn't save the AM band

what did?

[theboss]

6. Syndication

I don't think there was much syndication in radio prior to the late 80s/early 90s. Certiainly not on the AM side. (There were national shows like the Weekly Top 40). I actually think Howard Stern was before Rush in terms of selling a daily radio show to more than one market.

But there were always local, right-wing shows on the air.

[whoYaCallinAlib]

8. No doubt, he helped it.

Talk radio has become increasingly popular ever since. Unfortunatley, most of the talkers are full of hate.

[lazarus]

9. actually

I'd say that the elimination of the Fair Standards Act or whatever it was called, the equal time provision, is what "saved" AM radio by allowing the Scaifes to flood the airwaves with dittoheads.