Cenk Uygur: A Challenge to Rush: Prove Your Ratings

How many listeners does Rush Limbaugh have? Well, in the press there are only two numbers you’ll ever see – 20 million or 15 million. Those are large numbers, so that is why Limbaugh is taken seriously and is believed to be influential. I’ve got news for you – those numbers are a total fabrication. They’re made up out of whole cloth. You want to know where the 20 million number came from? It was first printed in Billboard magazine back in 1993.

Cenk doesn’t buy Rush’s claim and neither do I. There has never been an independent accounting of his listener count. He doesn’t subscribe to any of the radio ratings services. Back in Air America days, there was a discussion that Rush was only in the top-ten in one of the top 20 markets. He had been in the top 25 in NYC only once in the prior 36 months.