Rush Limbaugh History, Early life, Family and Radio
Rush Limbaugh, in full Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, (born January 12, 1951, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, U.S.—died February 17, 2021, Palm Beach, Florida), American radio personality and author known for his ultraconservative and often controversial views.
Limbaugh was the eldest of two sons of a prominent family at Cape Girardeau. At the age of 16 he started working at the local radio station before and after school. After graduating from high school, he attended Southeast Missouri State University for a year and then dropped out. He left home in 1971 to pursue a career on radio, but after being fired from stations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Kansas City, Missouri, he quit radio in 1978 to work in ticket sales for the Kansas City Royals’ professional baseball team. Five years later he returned to radio as a news commentator, but was fired for being too controversial. However, his podcast appealed to station KFBK in Sacramento, California, who was looking to replace outgoing Morton Downey Jr., who displayed an unruly and often offensive style. Limbaugh was set in 1984, and within a year had become Sacramento’s top radio host.
In 1988, EFM Media Management signed a two-year contract with Limbaugh, and he moved to New York City, where the Rush Limbaugh Show debuted on August 1. Within five years, the three-hour program had become the most popular talk show on radio, reaching an estimated 20 million listeners weekly. Limbaugh filled his shows with conservative political commentary, satire, and a heavy dose of Limbaugh himself; He rarely had guests, and his vetted callers were among his legion of admirers known as “dittoheads”. His daily comments often outraged the groups he targeted—including feminists (whom he called “femenazis”), whose movement, Limbaugh once said, was founded to “allow unattractive women easily into the mainstream”; the homeless, of whom, he insisted, the vast majority are “crazy in one way or another”; and the Democratic Party, which claimed “the party that can’t wait to fund every abortion in the world.”
In 2003, while working as a sports analyst for ESPN, Limbaugh caused a stir after he made race-related comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNab. Limbaugh declared, “The media desperately wanted the black quarterback to perform well. There is little hope invested in McNabb, and he has taken so much credit for this team’s performance that he did not deserve it.” Limbaugh eventually resigned from the sports channel. Soon after, he entered a rehab facility for his addiction to painkillers. In 2006, he was arrested for drug fraud after authorities alleged he had “shopped a doctor” (illegally obtaining prescriptions from several doctors). Limbaugh later reached an agreement with prosecutors, and the charges were dropped after he received treatment.
Despite these controversies, Limbaugh exercised considerable influence among many Republicans. In 1994 he was credited with helping the Republican Party win control of the House and Senate, and four years later he was a key figure in the president’s impeachment effort. Bill Clinton. He was a major supporter of the Pres management. George W. Bush (2001–09), and in 2009 Limbaugh helped galvanize Republican opposition to Price’s proposed stimulus package. Barack Obama and the Democrats. In 2008 he signed an eight-year, $400 million deal to stay on radio, and renewed his contract in 2016. He was later an outspoken advocate for Pres. Donald Trump.
Limbaugh has written the bestselling books The Way Things Ought to Be (1992) and See, I Told You So (1993). He also penned the children’s series through time travel adventures with exceptional Americans: Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims (2013), Rush Revere and the All Patriots (2014), Rush Revere and the American Revolution (2014), Rush Revere and the Star-Shiny Banner (2015), Rush Revere and the Presidency ( 2016); He wrote several books with his wife, Catherine Adams Limbaugh. In 1993 he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. In February 2020, Limbaugh announced that he had advanced lung cancer. Shortly thereafter he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Rush Limbaugh Show
Limbaugh’s radio show aired for three hours each weekday beginning at noon Eastern Time on both AM and FM radio. The program was also broadcast worldwide on the Armed Forces Radio Network.
Radio broadcasting shifted from AM to FM in the 1970s because of the opportunity to broadcast music in stereo with better fidelity. Limbaugh’s show was first nationally syndicated in August 1988, on the AM radio band. Limbaugh’s popularity paved the way for other conservative talk radio programming to become commonplace on AM radio. The show increased its audience in the 1990s to the extent that even some FM stations picked it up. AM’s poor sound quality and lack of stereo make a talk show format like Limbaugh’s preferable for FM radio. As of January 2019 about half of Limbaugh’s affiliate stations were on the FM dial.
Limbaugh used props, songs, and photos to introduce his monologues on various topics. On his radio show, news about homeless people was often preceded by the Clarence “Frogman” Henry song “Ain’t Got No Home”.
In March 2006, WBAL in Baltimore became the first major market radio station in the country to drop Limbaugh’s nationally syndicated radio program. In 2007, TALKERS Magazine again named him No. 1 in its “Heavy Hundred” most important talk show hosts.
Limbaugh frequently mentioned the EIB (Excellence In Broadcasting) Network, trademarked in 1990. In the beginning, his show was co-owned and first syndicated by Edward F. McLaughlin, former president of ABC, who founded EFM Media in 1988, with Limbaugh’s show as his first product. In 1997, McLaughlin sold EFM to Jacor Communications, which was ultimately bought up by Clear Channel Communications. Limbaugh owned a majority of the show, which is syndicated by the Premiere Radio Networks.
According to a 2001 article in U.S. News & World Report, Limbaugh had an eight-year contract, at the rate of $31.25 million a year. In 2007, Limbaugh earned $33 million. A November 2008 poll by Zogby International found that Limbaugh was the most trusted news personality in the nation, garnering 12.5 percent of poll responses.
Limbaugh signed a $400-million, eight-year contract in 2008 with what was then Clear Channel Communications, making him the highest-paid broadcaster on terrestrial radio. On August 2, 2016, Limbaugh signed a four-year extension of the 2008 contract. At the announcement of the extension, Premiere Radio Networks and iHeartMedia announced that his show experienced audience growth with 18% growth in adults 25–54, 27% growth with 25–54 women, and ad revenue growth of 20% year over year.
In 2018, Limbaugh was the world’s second (behind Howard Stern) highest-paid radio host, reportedly earning $84.5 million. On January 5, 2020, Limbaugh renewed his contract again. Though media reports said it was “a long-term” renewal, (with no length specified), according to Donald Trump it was a four-year deal.
Regular guest host Ken Matthews was also selected a TALKERS Magazine “Heavy Hundred”.
Television Show
Limbaugh had a syndicated half-hour television show from 1992 through 1996, produced by Roger Ailes. The show discussed many of the topics on his radio show, and was taped in front of an audience. Limbaugh said he loved doing his radio show, but not a TV show
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