Limbaugh: Politico Story "Laundry List of Lies"

Long-time talk show host Rush Limbaugh is facing troubles and the business of talk radio is on “shaky ground,” Weekly Standard associate editor Ethan Epstein recently argued in a 3,800-word dissertation published at Politico magazine. (See original posting: Click Here)

Nothing could be further from the truth says America’s self-proclaimed “anchorman.”

The article, according to Limbaugh, is an attempt to interfere with his business model with “lies” at a time when he is known to be at the end of the eight-year iHeart Media deal that he signed with Clear Channel (now iHeart), in 2008, and is presumably in negotiations for a new one.

Rush Limbaugh

“The Politico story is a long and worn out laundry list of lies about my business timed to the end of my iHeart deal,” Limbaugh told Breitbart News Wednesday evening.

According to Breitbart, the numbers tend to back up Limbaugh, who isn’t showing signs of hemorrhaging audience at all.

According to ratings provided by Nielsen Audio, the Rush Limbaugh Show’s average quarter hour (AQH) audience in every demographic has increased by at least 30 percent, including overall AQH by 37 percent, over the previous year.

Despite affiliation changes in some major markets, evidence used by his naysayers as a sign Limbaugh’s future is in peril, Limbaugh has enjoyed huge gains. In the nation’s top three markets, Nielsen Audio shows the talk radio giant’s AQH is up 151 percent in New York City, 18 percent in Los Angeles and 215 percent in Chicago in the coveted 25-54 demographic.

Limbaugh’s overall national ratings continue to lead talk radio as they have continuously for more than a quarter of a century and no one else has come close. In the last year alone, his numbers in 25-54 audience is up 37 percent across the United States.

Critics, including Epstein, have been dismissive or reluctant to note this in their analyses.

In fact, Epstein’s article is the same song and dance routine that we’ve seen play out before. The mainstream media has offered up multiple iterations of the Limbaugh radio obituary since he stormed The Rush Limbaugh Show airwaves in the late 1980s.