Rush Limbaugh's advertisers spent $363 million on all of radio last year, and the advertiser boycott of his show could rearrange millions of that, according to Nielsen.
As of today, 45 advertisers have pulled their media schedules from Limbaugh's show after he called a Georgetown University student a "slut" because she supported the president's plan to require healthcare providers to include contraception in their coverage.
The boycott has left his show awash in public service announcements, Ad Council campaigns and messages from non-profit groups -- few of which carry any revenue at all. Even some of those free advertisers want out: The American Heart Association has asked for its ads to be pulled.
We asked Nielsen to calculate how much ad money is spent on Limbaugh's show. The audience ratings and adspend monitor doesn't measure show-level spending, but it was able to tell us how much money each advertiser spent on radio overall last year: $363 million.
That overall universe is now being rearranged into other radio stations and other media.
It is not known how big a slice Limbaugh takes of the total $363 million universe, but it is a large one: He has the biggest audience in radio (15 million people per week). Revenues from that must cover the eight-year, $400 million contract he signed in 2008.
UPDATE: Limbaugh told his listeners: "Everything is fine on the business side. Everything's cool. There is not a thing to worry about."
A company-by-company breakdown of what Rush Limbaugh's advertisers spent on radio in 2011.
Note: The green highlight on Ascension Health, Daughters of Charity Health Systems and Prevea Health Services indicates only one of these advertises under the "St. Vincents" name on the show. It is not known which one. Their spending is tiny, regardless.
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See Also:
- Here's What Conservatives REALLY Think About The Rush Limbaugh Ad Boycott
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