I think his ratings have fallen because people like me are sick and tired of him diverting off to talk about Deflate Gate or whatever football story there is and try to connect it to the topic of the day. He’ll do it at the drop of a hat. The other day, he started out talking about the day’s major events and in the first 15-20 minutes he wandered on off to football.
Frankly, it is his show and he can talk about what he wants, but I don’t have to listen to him anymore when he blathers on about football, either.
I think he’s lost his edge myself.
Irony of ironies, Rush is being slowly done in by, of all things, capitalism.
He is unique in that he charges a big up-front fee to carry his show. Yet revenues in radio are dropping everywhere as younger people eschew it in favor of online services (my 23 year old does not even own a radio).
The result of this is that Rush’s show is only marginally profitable to stations now after they pay his bill. They can schedule a local show or a bartered program with half the ratings that will turn out to be much more profitable. Radio has changed, and Rush seriously needs to revisit his business model.
This is part of an overall trend and has virtually nothing to do with Sandra Fluke as these articles maintain.
Rush’s other problem is that he keeps turning off his longtime audience by spending hour upon hour talking about book promotion, deflated footballs, and tea. He needs to get back to what made him great. More humorous updates and Paul Shanklin parodies wouldn’t hurt.
I suspect you’re on to something here. As someone who detests football I don’t even bother to listen to Rush during football season.
Ratings snapshots mean nothing. There are multiple delivery methods available these days.
BUT...and here is where I think he has lost his edge...
Yesterday he was attempting to talk about Uber. Now I do give him credit he admits he knows very little about Uber and even insinuated someone of his celebrity would never be able to use Uber.
My first thought when he made that admission was, “and that indicates how you've lost touch with the common listener.” He has grown too old and too rich.
I also hold a certain amount of resentment when he tells listeners...now is not the time to act. He...his greatness...will tell us when. And the progressive agenda rolls ahead leaving us in the dust.
Another conversation he had this past week was about “objective truth” has died. That conversation was so old and shows he wasn't paying much attention to the core principles of the Tea Party or 912 movement.
Rush has lost his edge because his success has caused him to lose his touch of the common.
I agree. When he starts in on football or other sports, promoting his books or tea or begins repeating himself during long monologues, I change the station. Also, he used to be optimistic talking about how we are winning but he seems to have lost that.
He seems to have become more shrill. I miss his comic song adaptations which now have become rare.
He's had a long, very long, and successful run. And even with declining ratings, I think he's still #1.
I found him exciting and interesting for years, roughly 1990 to 2000 or so. Now I listen rarely, and don't find him all that interesting or entertaining. That could well be me, or just plain "bored with familiarity." But there is a crop of new people every day.
I'm really glad he is and was successful. I believe his efforts have brightened and energized many a conservative. I wish him well, and hope he gets to "wind down" in a way that suits his desires perfectly.
Nope he doesn't broadcast in Spanish. </s>