Rush Limbaugh off the air in Erie, PA

[kingchuck69]

GoErie.com: Limbaugh out, Miller inat WJET-AM/1400

Limbaugh out, Miller in at WJET-AM/1400

Rush Limbaugh is out, and Dennis Miller is in at WJET-AM/1400.


"The Dennis Miller Show" replaced Limbaugh's long-running syndicated show on Friday at noon, said Joe Lang, operations manager for Erie's Connoisseur Media radio stations.

Miller, a Pittsburgh native, is an alumnus of "Saturday Night Live" and continues to work as a stand-up comic.

"Limbaugh's fee kept going up every year. I mean, it was a lot of money," Lang said. "We had to make a decision on whether to cut someone locally or keep Rush Limbaugh, and we felt it was more important to keep someone on the local payroll.

"We never really get any direct ad revenue from Rush Limbaugh," he added.

Lang anticipates protest from devoted Limbaugh fans. The show has aired in Erie since 1991.

"The Rush people are very loyal," Lang said. "I'm sure the Rush population is not going to like it. But I hope they understand it came down to him or a local person."

Lang said Connoissuer recently laid off two employees and did not want to cut a third.

"The Dennis Miller Show" airs weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. It debuted in March 2007 on Westwood One.

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According to the ratings, WJET was in 8th place with a 3.9. However, most of the stations they were beating were distant signals. Erie doesn't have a lot of stations or competition. As a matter of fact, WJET is Erie's sole talk station.

I have to wonder if there's a market bigger than Erie with no Rush affiliate. Right now, he has about 600 stations.

With Obama's victory and nobody having any respect for anything Republican, I wonder and hope that more stations will follow suit. Rush Limbaugh is so 1988.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I like listening to Rush. Sounds like the station owner made the right call. He thinks the fees are too high for the show and he can make more money off Dennis Miller. Makes sense to me.

 

[Jleimer]

I like listening to Rush. Sounds like the station owner made the right call. He thinks the fees are too high for the show and he can make more money off Dennis Miller. Makes sense to me.

Besides that Rush is too far to the right for alot of people in America , I find Dennis alot more mainstream then Rush.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

GoErie.com: Limbaugh out, Miller inat WJET-AM/1400
I have to wonder if there's a market bigger than Erie with no Rush affiliate.

Satellite radio?

 

[kingchuck69]

Satellite radio?

I was referring to cities.

 

[jwt873]

I don't think there is any market that doesn't have a Rush affilliate He's carried by around 600 stations. There are 23 stations in PA alone ... It doesn't matter where you go in the country, if you spin the AM dial in the afternoon you'll hear him.

Actually, I think JET taking on Miller might be a good move for them. They're offering their audience a bit of a change.

 

[kingchuck69]

I don't think there is any market that doesn't have a Rush affilliate He's carried by around 600 stations. There are 23 stations in PA alone ... It doesn't matter where you go in the country, if you spin the AM dial in the afternoon you'll hear him.

Actually, I think JET taking on Miller might be a good move for them. They're offering their audience a bit of a change.

That list is slightly out of date.

I looked at his Michigan list and they have WKBZ 1520 in Muskegon listed. That station's been silent for years!

 

[JoeTan]

Rush sucks BUT he'd do real well on Sat radio.

 

[IronJabroni]

the artie lange of conservative talk

 

[Clevey]

Besides that Rush is too far to the right for alot of people in America , I find Dennis alot more mainstream then Rush.

He's also the #1 show in all of the country. His fans can still hear him in Erie on a number of other stations, albeit nonlocal ones. Miller gives people another choice. As a business decision, this will probably hurt WJET's ratings, but the difference in fees for the shows, particularly if they get ad revenue for Miller's show, will make it a win-win proposition.

 

[tbone]

I don't think he will go to sat, it took him forever to embrace the internet for his show and dido cam. The people in PA can always go to other radio station's websites that have streaming and listen to it over the internet. You won't even have to listen to most of the commercials instead you will hear dead air.

 

[ctkatz]

not hearing limbaugh in this country is as hard as not hearing coast to coast am at night. somewhere on some station someone has his show on.

 

[Sirius Rich]

Content is King.

 

[Jon]

You can even get Rush Limbaugh on the Clear Channel app on the iPhone which I never thought I would see.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[TheScionicMan]

I can't help but question the ratings for FM. Like Howard, I'm sure Rush has loyal ditto-heads that will fudge the ratings books in his favor. With the big changes in the PPM markets, it only makes it seem more likely. Programmers feel like they need to have him. I don't know a single person that still listens to him. I listened for quite a while in the early 90's when I first got hooked on talk radio. I argued with him as much as I agreed with him. Once I saw a picture of him, I just couldn't listen anymore. Talking personal responsibility and self-control and he's all bloated up...

 

[Jon]

I can't help but question the ratings for FM. Like Howard, I'm sure Rush has loyal ditto-heads that will fudge the ratings books in his favor. With the big changes in the PPM markets, it only makes it seem more likely. Programmers feel like they need to have him. I don't know a single person that still listens to him. I listened for quite a while in the early 90's when I first got hooked on talk radio. I argued with him as much as I agreed with him. Once I saw a picture of him, I just couldn't listen anymore. Talking personal responsibility and self-control and he's all bloated up...

Not to mention the oxycontin issues. Kinda hypocritical. I still catch him on occassion when Tirico and Van Pelt are getting boring on ESPN Radio, but that's about it.

 

[jduffy]

Besides that Rush is too far to the right for alot of people in America , I find Dennis alot more mainstream then Rush.

A talk show host with the largest listener audience in America is hardly too right for many Americans else he would not have all these listeners.

 

[ctkatz]

A talk show host with the largest listener audience in America is hardly too right for many Americans else he would not have all these listeners.

that argument makes no sense whatsoever. just because something is more widely available doesn't make it better.

nascar is popular. formula 1 is better.
the nfl is popular. the nhl is better.
ipods are popular. irivers are better.
firefox is popular. opera is better.
american idol is popular. anything that is played on an oldies station, satellite or terrestrial is better by exponential factors.

i could put you live on the most popular radio station in every single radio market 6 hours a day 7 days a week. but that does not mean that you are mainstream or connect with the american people either. its easy to claim (but have no proof of) the numbers that rush boasts he gets every week when you are on as many stations as he is and you give your show away for free to most markets.

i could tell you that rush is not in tune with the american people. just look at recent polling. the people in this country are to the left of center, and limbaugh is far right.

 

[HecticArt]

It's a sign of the times. The anti-extreme-conservative backlash, big corporations taking advantage of the little guy (Rush taking advantage of the local stations) etc.

The thing I find most funny about it, is that Dennis Miller is like the anti-Rush. Talk about system shock to the Rush loyals when they tune in expecting to hear Rush.

 

[TheScionicMan]

You've also got to assume that Arbitron's rating system has any validity to it. Funny how things changed drastically once they started using the PPM and not what someone writes down in a diary.

Oh yeah, Budweiser is the "King of Beers", but most people I know don't find it palatable...