Rush Limbaugh Offers Insights To Show’s Success

On Wednesday, syndicated talk radio personality RushLimbaugh received a call from Michael of Westfield, NY.  Caller Michael was writing a paper for a college coomunications course.  He told El Rushbo, he chose to analyze the reasons why Rush’s show has been successful, how he approaches the show, what makes his show unique, and why it draws such a large audience.

Rush Limbaugh

RUSH:  When I first started using music in a talk show, you shoulda heard the objections from the wizards of smart in the business. And when I told 'em I didn't want to do guests.  "You can't do a talk show without guests."  "Yes, I can."  Why should I have the same roster of guests that's on every other show selling the same book, what do they care about my show's success?  I decided I wanted to be the reason people would listen to radio.  I wanted to find out if I could be the reason, and, if I couldn't, then I'd quit, do something else.  I didn't want to have to invest in a bunch of people who don't care about my success, such as authors and TV stars.  They go from show to show to show.  They don't care which show is popular.  They just wanna be on which one is and get whatever they're doing out there, sell their book or whatever.  And I said, "Why should I depend on those people to be good every day or entertaining in order to attract an audience for me?"

So I just blew up the whole formula for the way a talk show should be done.  But let me give you a scoop, 'cause you wanted to know if there's something you should address specifically.  I'll give you a scoop that even the brightest minds who have tried to analyze this program and figure it out and explain it have never, ever, hit upon, and they've never been curious to look at and they've never understood the importance of, and that is the business model of this program.  Because with all the stuff that you have pointed out, the format stuff, the top 40 energy, the conservative vacuum, all of that's true, but without this program being a commercial financial success, none of that would happen.  And so when we started this program in 1988, we were being penalized by two things.  A, we were new, and nobody ever heard of me.  And so the only advertising we were able to get was what is called -- are you writing this down or recording it?

The reason I am here is to attract and then hold the largest audience possible so that I can then charge confiscatory advertising rates, period.  This is a business, period.  This is not a political party.  This is not a political think tank.  This is not a part of any conservative cause.  This is a business.  And it has business requirements for success that are unique to it, i.e., radio.  If those aren't met, then all the rest of that content stuff is academic.  By the way, what I just told you is gonna irritate the hell out of 'em because the way they're gonna interpret it: "You mean you're just in it for the money?  You're just in it for the money, why, I knew it, he doesn't believe anything."

No, because the next part of it is, how in the world does results-oriented advertising work?  I come here and I say, "This is the best widget on the face of the earth, folks, you need it, you should have it."  Why does that work?  It is because I have been fortunate enough -- this is why I thank this audience, Michael, as often as I do.  I have built a bond of loyalty that's almost familial with the people in this audience.  They who listen regularly trust what I tell them.  They know that I don't lie to them.  They know that I don't make things up.  They know that when I tell 'em what I believe, that I'm being honest with them.  That I don't say outrageous things just to provoke people.  And so they believe me.

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