Palm Beach, Florida — Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio kingpin who invented the modern day conservative talk format and single-handedly revitalized AM radio in the process, has died after battling stage 4 lung cancer for the past year. He was 70.
Limbaugh’s conservative ideology may have served as talking points for the Republican Party but it was his showmanship, entertaining style and mastery of the radio medium that made him broadcast radio’s most successful talk show host.
“The Rush Limbaugh Show,” a radio mainstay for more than three decades, broadcasts weekdays from noon-3pm Eastern on more than 650 affiliates reaching millions of listeners, syndicated by iHeartMedia’s Premiere Networks. His show “continues to be the most-listened-to national radio talk show in America,” according to Premiere, with whom he signed a new long-term syndication deal in early January.
Widely credited with reviving AM radio, Limbaugh and his partners launched the show Aug. 1, 1988 with 56 radio stations, and in just a few months, an additional 100 affiliates were added, paving the way for the expansion of the talk radio format. “The Rush Limbaugh Show” marked its 31st year in national syndication in August 2019. Since then it expanded to include its own mobile app, the subscription-based online platform Rush 24/7 and The Limbaugh Letter, a monthly print and digital magazine.
Limbaugh first disclosed the stunning news that he was being treated for advanced lung cancer on his Feb. 3 show. He said then that the diagnosis had been confirmed by two medical institutions since he first noticed something wasn’t right on Jan. 12.
“He made AM radio viable again…. It is an amazing entity what he’s created here,” Dom Giordano, who hosts 9am-12pm on Entercom talk WPHT Philadelphia (1210), said after Limbaugh made the bombshell announcement in February. “He didn’t pioneer per-se talk radio, but he took it to a level that is unprecedented.”
“Rush Limbaugh created this format… the talk radio format, which for the first time in mass media gave you a voice,” said Chris Salcedo, 9-11am host at Cumulus Media news/talk WBAP Dallas (820).
Their remarks were part of an outpouring of support after Limbaugh first broke the news of his cancer diagnosis. Salem Radio Network host Hugh Hewitt called Limbaugh in a Twitter post “the guy who built the national talk radio mall, bringing voice to tens of millions who never had one. Everyone else is just a tenant,” added Hewitt, calling Limbaugh “a gentleman and a help to everyone in the business.”
“Talk radio wouldn’t be anything like it is if it wasn’t for Rush,” Sean Hannity said.
Limbaugh received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump in February during his State of the Union address in Washington.
Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation presented Rush Limbaugh with its inaugural Titan of Conservatism Award during the organization’s annual President’s Club Meeting. The group also named its new state-of-the-art studios the Rush Limbaugh Radio Studios.
While Limbaugh offered occasional updates on his cancer treatments on his radio show in the months since revealing his diagnosis, he has largely stuck to delivering the type of daily show that his audience, for decades, has turned out in droves for. But during his last show prior to the Thanksgiving weekend, he broke format for a segment to reflect on his career and to thank those who helped make it possible.
“I’m never gonna be able to adequately thank the people who are responsible for one of the greatest lives anybody could have,” he said on that show. “I am doing what I was born to do. It was what I wanted to do since I was 8 years old. I have met the goals I set for myself. I’ve maintained them. And I have been able to do it all, for the most part, on my terms.
“It cannot get any better,” Limbaugh continued. “I have been so thankful for the blessings that I have and to be able to share all of this with you and tell you how grateful I am, how gratified I am that you have made this possible.”
Story courtesy InsideRadio.com
