The Rush Limbaugh Show

The Rush Limbaugh Show is hosted by Rush Limbaugh. The show has been known to garner calls from such influential, conservative politicians as Vice President Dick Cheney. The political views espoused on the show have been known to help boost voter turnouts for candidates affiliated with the Republican Party, and Limbaugh's influence has been the subject of much political controversy as a result. Ranking Democrat leaders in Congress, such as former Senator Tom Daschle from South Dakota, have on occasion blamed the Rush Limbaugh show for the partisan and intense political climate in the United States, and for well over a decade and a half some have wanted and called for a left-wing/progressive talk show on AM radio to counter Limbaugh's influence. Despite numerous attempts, from Mario Cuomo, Jim Hightower, Alan Colmes, Air America Radio, and Al Sharpton, no such show to date has arisen.

The Rush Limbaugh Show is part of the fictional Excellence in Broadcasting, or EIB Network, as well as the equally-fictional Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies. His chair is referred to as the "prestigious" "Attila the Hun Chair", and his microphone is referred to as the "Golden EIB Microphone"; as seen in publicity photos and his webcam, his microphone is actually gold-plated.

Show airtime

The Rush Limbaugh Show airs on approximately 590 AM radio affiliate stations nationwide, including radio stations that simultaneously broadcast audio streams on the Internet. Limbaugh also hosts his own Internet streaming audio and video broadcast at http://www.rushlimbaugh.com; this broadcast is restricted to members of Limbaugh's “Rush 24/7” service. The show airs live on weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. ET. It is aired from wherever Limbaugh happens to be, either New York City or his home in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Show format

The show is usually split between call-in segments and monologues by Limbaugh. On very rare occasions, Limbaugh will have guests on his show, though Limbaugh has said that as a rule he does not have guests on his program which differentiates the show from the majority of other talk radio programs on the air.

Notable guests

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush made an appearance on Limbaugh's show.

Vice President Dick Cheney has made more than one appearance.

In 2004, President George W. Bush “called in” to a live broadcast during the week of the 2004 Republican National Convention to give a preview of his nomination acceptance speech.

Some of the very few other individuals who have been a guest on Limbaugh's show include Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, legal scholar Robert Bork, economist Thomas Sowell, and television writer Joel Surnow, who took calls about events in his show, 24.

Theme song issue

Almost from the start of his program, Limbaugh used an edited and looped version of the powerful instrumental riff from The Pretenders' “My City Was Gone” as the theme to his show. This song was written by Chrissie Hynde to bemoan the effects of overdevelopment on her native Akron, Ohio. Limbaugh loved the riff, hated the message, and thought he could both attract listeners and annoy opponents by playing it.

When a landmark copyright case was decided in the 1990s, musical artists gained control over their works when performed thematically. Briefly in 1999, Limbaugh was forced to suspend playing the song while negotiating with Hynde. Hynde eventually decided to allow Limbaugh to use it, with Limbaugh paying Hynde approximately $500,000/year which she donates to the animal rights organization PETA. Hynde explained that she doesn't agree with Limbaugh but her parents are big fans.

Parodies

Sometimes The Rush Limbaugh Show will air political parodies from talented voice humorist Paul Shanklin, in conjunction with a variety of political news examined on the show. These satires range from parodies of well known songs to audio skits in which the voices of politicians are imitated by Shanklin. Such contributions from Paul Shanklin have been aired on the show since 1993, before which the parody contributions were largely from Paul Silhan.

As with most commercial radio programming, The Rush Limbaugh Show has slots alloted for the local affiliates to fill with news segments, weather, and local commercials. The “Rush 24/7” live internet broadcast of the show usually fills these time slots with Shanklin's parodies.

George Soros ads

Voiced by Johnny Donovan, these are mock commercials that parody left wing 527 groups like Moveon.org by launching absurd and humorous attacks against conservatives already targeted by such organizations. They are almost always ended by “Paid for by George Soros and crazy friends of Nancy Pelosi.” A few of them have the ending "Paid for by George Soros and longshoremen that walk like Hillary Clinton."

Environmentalist wacko picks

Limbaugh will occasionally perform a comedic bit called “environmentalist wacko picks” on his last show prior to the weekend during the NFL season. He predicts the outcome of upcoming football games based on how an environmentalist wacko would assess the teams' mascots. The mascot that is the least offensive to an environmentalist wacko is the projected winner. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles would always be favored over the New York Jets, the Denver Broncos would always be favored over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Carolina Panthers would always be favored over the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears would always be favored over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Program staff

Mr. Snerdly: The official "program observer." His real name is James Golden, and his exact duties with the program are unclear. From comments Limbaugh has made on the air, it would seem he assists with research as part of preparation for the show and is in the control booth as the show is being broadcast. He co-hosted a Sunday night talk show, James and Joel, on WABC-AM with Joel Santisteban from 1992 to 1998. He is also the former call screener for The Rush Limbaugh Show.
Koko: The Rush 24/7 Internet site webmaster. This is a nickname, given by Limbaugh when Koko put a gorilla suit on for a gag on Limbaugh's TV show.
Brian: EIB network broadcast engineer.
Dawn: Transcribes caller comments onto a computer screen to aid Limbaugh, who hears via a cochlear implant and therefore can sometimes have difficulties clearly understanding callers
Haldeman R. “Kit” Carson: “Chief of staff”. Also known as “H.R.”, he is based in New York, making him the only program staff member not to be based in West Palm Beach.
Altamont: Apparently new to the EIB Netwok, his duties consist of call screening and board ops, and serving as backups when the others are out or unavailable.
Johnny Donovan: Program announcer. He sometimes voices some of Paul Shanklin's parodies.

Stand-ins for Limbaugh

Every so often, Limbaugh is absent from his show, whether for various personal reasons or because of extended trips. For instance, in early 2005, Limbaugh took a week-long trip to Afghanistan to report on postwar conditions; he's also participated in various celebrity pro-am golf events. On those occasions, Limbaugh allows “EIB certified talkshow hosts” to fill in for him. Typically, these hosts are well-known conservatives. Some of the hosts that have been used in the past include:

Mark Belling: Host of a radio show on WISN in Milwaukee.
Bob Dornan: Former United States representative from California. He substituted for Limbaugh on a few shows while serving in Congress.
Matt Drudge: Editor of the Drudge Report. He hosted only a few times during the drug controversy.
Sean Hannity: Co-host of Hannity and Colmes. He seldom substitutes for Limbaugh any longer, as he is now host of his own 3-hour radio show.
Roger Hedgecock: Former mayor of San Diego, California. He is currently the most used stand-in, and possibly the most popular.
Paul W. Smith: Talk show host from WJR in Detroit, Michigan. He first substituted as host of the show on December 13, 2005.
Tony Snow: Former host of FOX News Sunday and currently the White House Press Secretary, and is therefore no longer able to fill in.
Tom Sullivan: Talk show host from KFBK in Sacramento, California (Limbaugh's “adopted hometown”).
Dr. Walter E. Williams: Economics professor, strong proponent of laissez-faire capitalism, and former chair of the Economics Department at George Mason University in Virginia.

On certain holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, when Limbaugh is absent and no substitute is available, a “Best of” show will air.

Callers

According to Limbaugh, the purpose of the talk show caller is, “to make the host look good.” Usually, the callers are used to introduce a topic which Limbaugh had decided before the show started was newsworthy.

In earlier years the show frequently aired callers who disagreed with Limbaugh's points of view. When it came time to cut end the call, Limbaugh would play his “caller abortion” sound effect: the sound of a vacuum cleaner together with a woman screaming. Later, caller abortions were dropped as a device.

Subsequently, opposing callers became harder to find and Limbaugh would attempt to recruit them over the air, saying “Anyone who disagrees, call and you'll go to the front of the queue.” Due to the broad reach of his program, he'll get callers from all points in the political spectrum, but the majority of his callers are his supporters, nicknamed “dittoheads”.

One infamous (and very atypical) opposing caller to the show was nicknamed “Rita X”. During the administration of the first President Bush, she declaimed on numerous conspiracy theories, including claims that Bush and his administration were going to use a fleet of UFOs to destroy England and commit genocide on African Americans.

On Fridays, Limbaugh relaxes the screening of callers and calls it “Open Line Friday”. On other days of the week, Limbaugh's screeners restrict callers to those discussing topics that Limbaugh has been talking about that day. The criteria are reduced down to “make it sound interesting to the call screener”.

One caller to “Open Line Friday” who drew a lot of attention was a teen by the name of Justin, who called in on December 23, 2005. A Conservative child growing up in a Democratic household, Justin sought advice on how to handle the friction between him and his parents. This call drew a lot of attention from Freepers and was a relatively long call, taking up the majority of the program's third hour.

Jargon

Rush Limbaugh uses his own on-air jargon, some of which he invented and some of which he merely popularized.

Show history

This section details only events which were primarily about the show and not about Limbaugh himself; of course, because Limbaugh and his show are so intertwined, it can be difficult to separate the two. Please see Rush Limbaugh for events in Limbaugh's life which may have impacted the show.

Radio syndication

In 1984 Rush Limbaugh started as a regular talk show host on AM radio station KFBK in Sacramento, California, after several years in the music radio business. Based on his work in Sacramento, Limbaugh was signed to a contract by EFM Media Management. Limbaugh became syndicated on August 1, 1988 through EFM and his show was drawing five million listeners after two years of syndication.

In 1997, Limbaugh's radio syndicator, privately held EFM Media, was acquired by Jacor Communication, a publicly traded company. Later that year, Jacor merged with Premiere Radio Networks. In 1999, Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications. Currently, Clear Channel Communications through its Premiere Radio Networks subsidiary is the syndicator for Limbaugh's radio show.

Allegations of advertising abuse

Limbaugh attracted widespread support and attention in 1998 when he complained that some radio stations were shortening his programs by cutting out his dramatic pauses to make room for more commercials.

Armed Forces Radio controversy

On May 26, 2004, the article “Rush's Forced Conscripts” appeared on the online news and opinion magazine Salon.com. The article discussed the controversy surrounding the fact that American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS), (which describes itself as “stateside radio and television programming, 'a touch of home', to U.S. service men and women, DoD civilians, and their families serving outside the continental United States”), carries the first hour of Limbaugh's show. Melvin Russell, director of AFRTS, defended Limbaugh's presence, by pointing to Limbaugh's high ratings in the US: “We look at the most popular shows broadcast here in the United States and try to mirror that. ballot of radio and television shows asking troops worldwide, "Who do you want that we don't at present carry?" The Rush Limbaugh Show was not listed on the ballot, but won the vote as a write-in by the troops. A subsequent poll found that the overwhelming majority of soldiers preferred Limbaugh's radio program, along with other talk show programs, be replaced by Hip Hop and Rap stations.[http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=36735&archive=true" target="_blank" >^*

Critics have pointed out that other programs, such as the eight-million listener per week Howard Stern show, are absent from AFRTS. Other claims—for example, that there is no political counterbalance to Limbaugh on AFRTS—have been rebutted by Byron York, a columnist for the predominantly conservative National Review: “American military men and women abroad have access, for example, to the talk show of liberal host Diane Rehm … Jim Hightower and CBS News anchorman Dan Rather.” Another political counterbalance to Limbaugh is Harry Shearer, who emphasizes his presence on AFRTS at the end of every episode of his satirical Le Show.

On June 14, 2004, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced an amendment to the 2004 Defense Authorization bill that called for AFRTS to fulfill its stated goal of providing political balance in its news and public affairs programming. The amendment passed unanimously in the Senate. Limbaugh responded by calling the move “censorship”. On his June 17 radio show, he commented that: “This is a United States senator Harkin amending the Defense appropriations bill with the intent being to get this program—only one hour of which is carried on Armed Forces Radio—stripped from that network.” The amendment never became law. As of 2005, the first hour of Limbaugh's show is still on AFRTS. Rush Limbaugh visited US forces in Afghanistan in 2005.

This treatment of The Rush Limbaugh Show proved to set a precedent for Congressional debate on AFRTS content. The Ed Schultz show, a liberal talk radio show with over one million listeners a week, was originally scheduled to be broadcast on AFRTS on October 17, 2005. It was subsequently pulled, with some alleging political motivation, which was later debated in Congress. A few weeks after this debate, AFRTS added Schultz to the line-up along with other talk show hosts: Al Franken and Sean Hannity.

Adopt-a-soldier program

On November 8, 2005, a caller to the program, who claimed to be a former National Guardsman who had been stationed in Egypt in 2003, suggested that Limbaugh start an “Adopt-a-Soldier” program. The concept was that people could buy a year's subscription to the Rush 24/7 premium website and send it to an overseas soldier.

Two days later, Limbaugh announced that, starting on November 14, 2005, he would have an operational “Adopt-a-Soldier” program. U.S. military personnel “anywhere in the world” with a valid military address could register to receive a donated combination subscription to both the Rush 24/7 premium website and the Limbaugh Letter. Each listener could “adopt” as many soldiers as they wish, each of which would get a subscription. The donor pays the discounted price of $49.95. Limbaugh also claimed that he was buying an unspecified number of donations himself.

Later in the same program, Limbaugh exhorted liberals to join the “Adopt-a-Soldier” program:

I've got an idea for you liberals. Liberals are always out there saying you “support the troops.” Well, then adopt a soldier! Join the Adopt-a-Soldier program at RushLimbaugh.com if you're a lib and you want to say you support the troops. This is a great way to prove it.

This program has led to controversy, as it has been pointed out that it would cost Limbaugh comparatively little to give soldiers a free subscription, and even less to give them a password to his premium website. Detractors have accused Limbaugh of profiteering from listeners' generosity toward U.S. soldiers, saying that money spent on the subscriptions could better used to give the troops additional equipment or provide aid to their families.

On November 21, Limbaugh (who had just returned from a week-long vacation) devoted an entire segment of his show to counter the claims that he was profiteering on the Adopt-a-soldier program. He announced that he would match each donor subscription one-for-one. He said that one of the reasons for the donation program was to enable the soldiers to get the full show, since only the first hour was played on AFRTS, and he reminded people of the AFRTS controversy. He also said that one of the reasons for having donations was that, if Limbaugh donated the subscriptions directly, it just shows the soldiers that Limbaugh supports the troops, but the Adopt-a-soldier program allows the American people to show their support for the troops. Additionally, it would help the American people get in contact with the troops, which would also help troop morale.

Wikipedia mentions

On April 19, 2005, Limbaugh mentioned Wikipedia in the final minutes of his show, calling it “… some kind of left wing Internet encyclopedia”, in response to the viewing of Pope Benedict XVI Wikipedia Article (most likely dated April 19 2005 at 2:52 p.m. EST).

On April 22, 2005, during his radio program, Rush retracted his previous assertion that Wikipedia was “… some kind of left wing Internet encyclopedia” by stating that he had received incorrect information from one of his staff members.

On May 3, 2005, Rush said that he would enter the words "afristocracy" and "ghettocracy" into Wikipedia so that they would spread.

On June 21, 2005, Rush mentioned Wikipedia in reference to the LA Times experiment with a wiki editorial page in addition to mentioning that his own profile was inaccurate in some respects.

Notes

External links

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com — Website of The Rush Limbaugh Show and Rush 24/7 content service
http://www.paulshanklin.com — Website of Paul Shanklin
http://www.paulsilhan.com — Website of Paul Silhan