Was Rush Missed?

[joesbucks]

Some of the major markets have reported ratings this past week. New York, Philly, Detroit, LA, Boston, Chicago, San Diego. Here are the results for the total day Rush stations by market comparing Fall 02, Summer 03 and Fall 03. While it's difficult to say that Rush was or wasn't a factor since I don't have daypart information, the stations overall didn't suffer and in 7 out of 8 stations, they had higher ratings than this time last year and 6 of 8 were better this fall than last summer when Rush was on.

Below are the numbers from All Access:

Lsited in this orderNew York, LA, Philly, Chicago, Detroit, San Diego, Allentown and Boston.

WABC Fa02 3.2 Su03 3.5 Fa03 3.3

KFI 3.6 4.2 4.7

WPHT 2.9 2.8 3.0

WLS 4.5 4.0 4.8

WJR 6.1 5.8 5.8

KOGO 4.3 4.8 6.5

WAEB 3.8 3.5 4.9

WRKO 4.2 4.5 5.3

The question is, why were these stations not realing from Rush being gone and are the minor league hosts able to draw as large an audience as the great one? Some stations pay big $$ for Rush, yet the minor league guys seemed to not hurt anyone, and in fact most stations reporting to date have improved.

[okie01]

Two factors at work, possibly:

1. Rush's audience is a loyal one. Not only to him, but to his show.

2. The substitute hosts, as a group, are damn good. There's no reason to turn off Roger Hedgecock.

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[cyborg]

I agree. If they took off his show completely, I think we'd all see a different picture.

[Marylander]

Very big conclusions from little data. Rush was gone one month, not one season. I listened to the others to see who Rush thought would be good replacements, and they were good, but they were not Rush. He's got all their good points and adds his own complexity, which is great entertainment.

[joesbucks]

I think I pointed that out, that the data is limited. Yet those same stations saw dramatic increase when Rush began on them, yet when he's gone during a significant amount of time during the rating period, virtually all stations saw increased ratings.

[Andy from Beaverton]

Given the choice between Roger and Rush, I would choose Roger. Rush has lost what had made him great over the past few years.

[jim35]

Personally, I prefer Rush. I usually listen to his guest hosts, but they're just not the same. Give me the all-knowing, all-seeing Maha Rushie every time.

[Nick Danger]

Given the choice between Roger and Rush, I would choose Roger.

Are you aware of a certain messiness in Roger Hedgecock's past?

[Bommer]

Nope! Spill the beans Nick!

[Nick Danger]

From sandiego-online.com:

To anyone who would listen, Hedgecock claimed he was the victim of a vendetta by Miller and the press. He sued The San Diego Union. He hired a San Diego lawyer specializing in drug cases for his first trial and then a Las Vegas lawyer who represented organized-crime figures for his second. When the second jury convicted him of conspiracy and perjury, he claimed a bailiff’s comments to jurors constituted tampering, although the trial judge disagreed.

As he imposed sentence, Judge William L. Todd Jr. said he had no doubt of Hedgecock’s guilt and that he had “violated the public trust in an onerous, onerous way... Your conduct ... is reprehensible in every sense of the word because you violated the public trust, completely, over and over again.” Facing automatic ouster under state law, Hedgecock had resigned at 3 p.m., December 5, 1985, just minutes before being sentenced.

The whole story

[Andy from Beaverton]

Are you aware of a certain messiness in Roger Hedgecock's past?
Are you aware of a certain messiness in Rush Limbaugh's past? Touché!!!

[Enterprise]

I suspect that had there been a much longer absence, the audience numbers may have declined. It is not something I wish to see happen however. I want Rush to stay as long as he can.

[duckln]

Mark Belling was better by a mile!

[Bommer]

Interesting Nick, but I found this at http://www.edwardhumes.com/articles/mean_toll.shtml Not sure what the truth is.

1990: The headline-grabbing corruption prosecution and conviction of former San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock is thrown out when it is revealed that the bailiff in his trial had assured jurors Hedgecock was guilty, plied them with liquor during deliberations, talked over the evidence with them, partied with them during and after deliberations, and told them that a previous hung jury had failed to do its job by focusing on meaningless details raised by the defense. The bailiff and jurors admitted this gross misconduct to state law enforcement officials shortly after Hedgecock’s conviction. There is no question this sort of misbehavior tainted the case and automatically entitled Hedgecock to a new trial, but prosecutors in San Diego kept this information secret for five years. When the improprieties finally came to light — only after the California Supreme Court compelled prosecutors to divulge the information they had guarded so long — Hedgecock was exonerated. In exchange for his plea to a single misdemeanor, numerous felonies were dismissed. He is now a radio talk show host.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

BINGO ! BUMPS

[DJ Frisat]

Nice try, nimrods.

The ratings remained high as a show of support to the man and an ideology, which was succesfully upheld (for the most part) by his guest hosts.

We believe in this stuff, and we prefer Maja Rushie as the prime exoponent; to tune out in droves during his absence would have served no purpose.

[jrawk]

3 Words:

Walter E. Williams!

-- lates
-- jrawk

[litany_of_lies]

Find it very hard to believe that Hedgecock was guilty in light of what I see from both articles and his current popularity in SD.

Ponzi scheme victims come in all stripes, but just because you take contributions or help from them doesn't mean you're a criminal, unless you know the nature of the scheme at the time you're taking the money or the help. Doesn't appear that Hedgecock knew.

He would appear to be the Ollie North of SD, based on what I see.

[flowerplough]

Rush ain't what he used to be; Hedgecock, Hannity, Beck, etc. all lecture less and entertain more.