Great observation about the Rush Limbaugh listeners

[NJmaverick]

Came across this in the Newark Star-Ledger's LTTE

The Limbaugh demographic
Saturday, April 29, 2006
On occasion I come across right-wing radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who claims he has a massive national audience. I hesitate and then, repulsed, change to another station. But of late I've begun to wonder: Who are Rush's regular listeners? Who hears this nut day after day?

To get the most bang for their bucks, advertisers depend on sophisticated polling techniques to identify the demographics of an audience. I held my nose and listened to about a half-hour of Rush the other day and heard commercials for 1) a weight reduction substance; 2) a cure for baldness; 3) erectile dysfunction remedies; 4) easy solutions to get out of debt; 5) dealing with major debt to the IRS.


Based on these paid messages, we can safely conclude that Limbaugh's core audience consists largely of fat, balding, impo tent males who are deeply in debt and may also owe Uncle Sam.

-- Kal Wagenheim, Millburn

http://www.nj.com/opinion/ledger/forums/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1146285222106110.xml&coll=1

[TheBaldyMan]

1. no surprises for that demographic, probably every Rush wannabe

in the country listens to him because if that fat, balding, impotent male can do it - there is still hope that they can make enough cash to choke an elephant.

[treestar]

3. I know one and that is exactly what he says

That he has a chance to make a million dollars without all those restrictions the liberals want.

[neoblues]

2. Probably describes Rush himself more than we know...

Anyway, Good One--Hilarious (as well as probably true)!

[NJmaverick]

15. lol didn't think of that, but it is probably true

Drugs are not cheap and those addicted tend to be broke.

[demigoddess]

4. i used to listen to him (not because I liked him) and i noticed that

he really doesn't take very many calls and they all sound alike. I concluded that he had two women and a handful of men who called in and I swear it sounds as if they are on the payroll, as if he doesn't actually get calls but has to set them up himself. I heard the same thing on a Michael Medved show I heard right after bush got selected. So I concluded it is just scripted propaganda not talk shows at all.
When he did take a call it always seemed to go awry big time.

[Marr]

7. I noticed the same thing. I think he takes calls, but also

has an on-staff caller, so to speak, for when he wants specific "questions", or when he's just having a string of hostile calls. I used to hear him on my commute to school, and man- when a critic would manage to get through, they'd rip him a new asshole every time. He's just horrible at confrontation- it's hilarious.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

12. He is completely unable to debate anyone with an opposing view.

Someone like Thom Hartmann, OTOH, welcomes callers who disagree with him, and politely smacks them down with irrefutable facts. :) MKJ

[xchrom]

5. lol -- brilliant!

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

6. K & R, very funny and true. Follow the money. Advertisers are not going

spend their funds and energy directing their products at the wrong demographic.

That's a great LTTE. MKJ

[MADem]

8. What? No flowery ad for a substance-abuse rehab facility???

That would certainly seem to fit the bill.....

[NJmaverick]

14. They are targetting the listeners, not the talker

If Rush was in the audiance, then bail bondsmen and drug rehab would be advertizing.

[TahitiNut]

9. That's a way I've evalutated programming for a long time.

When I see sponsors and commercials targeting a demographic widely at variance from my own, I become far more alert to the content of the programming.

[madrchsod]

10. if you listen to rush more than

15 minutes in one hour,i think that`s the number, you are a listtoner that is counted in the ratings. that observation is correct,adverteries do not like to waste money. i know i`ve lost "several" hundred dollars on radio advertising when i had my own business. radio is really expensive if you don`t get customers!

[yellerpup]

11. LOL

Great punchline! :rofl:

[Bigmack]

13. I stopped listening long ago...

but when I used to listen sporadically, I noticed the commercials were for weird products. Damp-Rid, for example. Now, I use Dri-z-aire on my boat when storing it over the winter, but can't imagine such a product advertised on national radio.

Could it be that the ads are bought and paid for by Scaife types? Never mind the product or the demographic... just as long as Rush is sponsored by somebody. The real product he's selling isn't Damp-Rid or debt reduction, anyway.... it's Rightwing spew.

Incidentally, Home Depot doesn't carry Dri-z-aire anymore... they carry Damp-Rid. Hmmmmm.

Your comments about the demographics of the ads on a show are interesting. Sometimes I worry when I watch Jon and TDS. All those videogames and shit. I am definitely out of Jon's demographic.

[Protagoras]

16. Sounds spot on to me but I wonder

what a half hour of listening to AAR covers. I tend to channel flip to music as soon as the commercials come on. The two I catch the most are the Shane Company for diamonds and for a while there was some lady doing hypnotherapy on CDs...wasn't real comforted by that one.

[lolly]

17. Makes Sense

These fat, impotent deadbeat losers can all listen to another fat, impotent loser tell them that their problems are all caused by feminazis and black quarterbacks.

[salin]

18. add one more to that description:

Limbaugh's core audience consists largely of fat, balding, impo tent males who create a lot of stains and messes who are deeply in debt and may also owe Uncle Sam.

the bolded was added. Vacuums and stain remover were also big advertisers, at least a few years ago.