Limbaugh controversy good for his ratings, and ALL talk radio

[Mark Laurence]

On Mar 7, 2009, at 2:41 AM, Bob Nelson wrote:

> TALKERS magazine reports that what with the Rush Limbaugh  
> controversy, his ratings have skyrocketed
> from 14 to 25 million listeners. It could be just a temporary bump,  
> with people checking him out, out
> of curiosity, and TALKERS' Michael Harrison does admit talk radio  
> listenership can be fluid of
> course. But the attacks on Limbaugh's "I want Obama to fail"  
> position could well result in
> new listeners to political talk radio of any kind.

The most recent full ratings period ended December 8 in most markets,  
when Obama wasn't even President yet.  The most recent monthly PPM  
report ended February 4, the same time as Arbitrends Phase 1 of the  
Winter book.  That's over a month ago and long before Rush was  
anointed as Minority Speaker.

How can anyone make a blanket estimate of radio audience the entire  
country based on that kind of data?  Some people are not letting  
facts get in the way of a good story.  But, since the quote has  
appeared from an industry expert speaking to the Washington Post, it  
will be repeated as gospel truth.