![]() ![]() “There’s something magical about the intimacy of radio that younger readers simply cannot possibly appreciate,” the commentator Matt Lewis wrote in The Daily Beast after Mr. Limbaugh’s program was the only megaphone for his divisive, hyperpartisan brand of commentary. His shock-jock antics infuriated Democratic presidents and endeared himself to Republican ones as early as 1992, President George Bush invited him to spend a night in the Lincoln Bedroom.īefore Fox News and the MAGA internet, Mr. He was the first conservative icon in national media, bringing an ideology more closely associated with elite organs like National Review to a mass audience. Limbaugh’s success may have ensured his show’s eventual obsolescence. (iHeartMedia might not mind: It also syndicates Mr. Harrison said in an interview, noting that conservative radio consumers can simply switch to other popular Limbaugh-like hosts, including Mr. So some stations could choose to stop airing the Limbaugh program entirely, regardless of who sits in the chair. Michael Harrison, publisher of the industry magazine Talkers, said that many affiliates had signed contracts specific to Mr. “Please note that we will continue with this transitional programming until his audience is prepared to say goodbye,” Premiere Networks, the iHeartMedia subsidiary that employed Mr. For now, the syndicator is re-airing the “Best of Rush,” introduced by a rotating group of guest hosts. IHeartMedia, the Texas-based radio conglomerate run by a chief executive in New York, Bob Pittman, controls the fate of “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” which appears on roughly 600 stations nationwide. He added, “I don’t think you’ll see it ever again where one person is the king of this realm.” I follow 25-, 26-year-old conservatives on Instagram who are sharing two-minute videos that young people connect with personally.” If you’re more of a moderate Republican, you’ve got The Bulwark and Charlie Sykes. “If you’re pro-Trump, you’ve got Breitbart and Newsmax. “There’s so many different platforms to interact with conservative voices, and there are so many more voices,” said Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist and longtime press aide to Mitt Romney. Jimmy Fallon may host “The Tonight Show,” but he’ll never be Johnny Carson. Limbaugh’s golden microphone is unlikely to command quite the same sway. Trump and his fans.Īll of which means that whichever conservative pundit inherits Mr. Once the enfant terrible of conservatives, El Rushbo sometimes sounded tame when compared with conspiracy sites like Gateway Pundit and Infowars, which engaged in harder-edged rhetoric, to the delight of Donald J. Limbaugh’s live broadcasts on a radio at lunch break. ![]() ![]() Younger MAGA devotees are more likely to download popular podcasts from Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino than try to catch Mr. Limbaugh paving the way, became hugely influential in mainstream Republican politics. Limbaugh’s monopoly on outrage was fractured by a thousand rivals.įox News, which Sean Hannity acknowledged on Wednesday would likely not exist without Mr. About 15 million people a week tuned in for his daily three-hour program.īut Mr. Limbaugh almost single-handedly created a right-wing mass-media universe - with its kneejerk hatred of Democrats, mocking nicknames and own-the-libs glee - that allowed him to imprint his grievances and goals on the national debate. Limbaugh, who died on Wednesday at 70, was uniquely talented among conservative broadcasters, although his popularity and influence on American politics surely rank him in the highest tier. So who now takes the place of Rush Limbaugh as the media ringmaster of the right? ![]()
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