KWDJ Dumps Rush Limbaugh

Owner Says He's Ticked As Rush Promotes Web Listening

Eric Kauffman, operator of local conservative talk station Foxtalk 1360 AM KWDJ, said that when he took famous talk show host Rush Limbaugh off the air last week, he found himself the recipient of a firestorm of criticism and feedback from listeners of his conservative talk show line-up.

Ridgecrestca.com reports, over the last week Kauffman estimates his office has received 75-125 calls as well as a number of e-mails on the matter, “...a lot more than normal.

KWDJ will remain a conservative talk station, Kauffman assured listeners during several on-air announcements about the decision last week, simply with new hosts. In fact while host John Gibson is slated to replace Rush, Kauffman says he is currently reworking the line-up, with the exception of a several staples, and is talking suggestions.

“Obviously Rush has a huge following,” Kauffman remarked, “I get that.”

Still, the decision to pull Limbaugh was a business-based decision, Kauffman said, and not about political philosophy.

Why take Limbaugh off the air?

It wasn’t because of Limbaugh’s conservative political views, Kauffman explained several times on the air last week, as well as during a phone interview, but because Limbaugh began telling listeners to tune to his show on his own website, rather than on the radio – that the listening experience was actually better on the internet.

And Kauffman says that he found many listeners in the community were doing just that – turning off their radios and turning on their computers to navigate to Rush’s site.

Read more here.

Tom sez:  Rush has been plugging his online Webcam for years. Not much new here. Perhaps Rush is charging station more that they can afford.