[IRCA] The Future of Radio...according to Rush.

["W. Curt Deegan" <WWWR@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Today the issue of the Future of Radio came up, no doubt much to the 
chagrin of some, on The Rush Limbaugh Show.  With some 600 stations, many 
if not most AM, and millions of listeners over any week long period, love 
him or hate him you have to admit he knows radio.

The transcript of his broadcast comments from his web site is appended below.

The link to the transcript is:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_091506/content/across_the_fruited_plain.guest.html

Curt
-------
W. Curt Deegan
Boca Raton, (southeast) Florida

----------

Rush on the Future of Radio
September 15, 2006

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Ray in Dayton, Ohio. It's nice to have you on the program, sir. Welcome.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. Good afternoon.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: Terra dittos to you.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: First I want to say thank you for all of your years of service. I 
think I've been listening to you for about 17 years, and it's been an 
absolute education so thanks for that.
RUSH: Thank you. I really appreciate that, more than you know. Thank you.

CALLER: Well, my question is what your thoughts are about the changes in 
radio. You know, we're hearing things about HD radio and, of course, 
satellite, and I'm interested in knowing if you've thought of going over to 
satellite from terrestrial or what your thoughts are on that.

RUSH: Yeah, I'll be glad to answer this question. It comes up now and then, 
usually on Open Line Friday, and whenever I go speak to groups of radio 
management people, the question always comes up. I think that the new 
delivery systems, podcasting, satellite radio, all of this, HD radio, 
they're fine and so forth, but I don't think anything will... I was asked 
the other day by a radio magazine during an interview, "What do you think 
the next gimmick is going to be that works in radio? Is it going to be 
satellite? Is it going to be podcasting, HD, or is it something that we 
don't know of yet, radio broadcast to your telephone, what's it going to 
be?" And I said, "I don't think it's gimmicks that make radio work now. I 
think it's content." Radio is no different today than it's ever been. 
People listen to what they want to listen to, and they'll go wherever they 
have to, to get it. I mean, AM was supposed to die when FM came along. All 
of radio was supposed to be dead when television came along.
Look at it now. Everybody and their uncle wants a radio show now because 
everybody thinks that's where the majority impact is taking place in a lot 
of political and cultural ways -- and there aren't any gimmicks that have 
made this happen. There are no gimmicks in radio. There is no stereo on AM. 
FM is what it is; AM's been what it's always been. It's content, content, 
content, content. As to me going to satellite radio, you know, I started 
this program in 1988, and I started at a time when nobody in radio thought 
it would work because a nationally syndicated program in the daytime -- a 
couple of them or three had been tried, but they really didn't make any 
impact. They weren't making any money. There are a couple reasons, aside 
from what the conventional wisdom is, as to why that was the case. But 
regardless, they weren't. Syndicated radio was a nighttime affair, 
nighttime and overnight affair, so local stations wouldn't have to hire 
local people. They'd just bring in some satellite show, and the companies 
that syndicated those shows for the most part were not using those programs 
to make money. They were using them as loss leaders to get other aspects of 
their network offerings broadcast during the daytime, like newscasts and 
the commercials contained therein.

So when I started in '88, it wasn't thought to be possible. But look what 
happened. In the process, there are a lot of radio stations, Ray, that took 
a tremendous risk in taking the program for business reasons, and 
controversy reasons, political reasons. I mean there were people out to 
kill the program and destroy advertisers that supported the program. We had 
quite a huge business challenge ahead of us. The business aspect, the big 
model success of this program is one that's never really been fully 
explored and is thus not understood by even those trying to imitate it 
today, even on the conservative side. In the process of building up to 600 
stations, these are the stations that enabled me to succeed. I couldn't 
have done it without them. Now, satellite is an intriguing thing for some 
reasons, but it simply doesn't offer me the opportunity to maximize the 
reach that I would have with the American people. I cannot do both with one 
radio show. To put this program up on satellite would be to cannibalize the 
radio show on radio stations around the country.

I get emails from people repeatedly, "When are you going to be on XM or 
when are you going to be on Sirius?" The only way it would be possible is 
if I did a different show every day and put that one up on satellite. It 
would make no business sense to cannibalize these radio stations who have 
supported me -- and believe me, I've put these radio stations through a lot 
of challenges as I have my own broadcast partners just in the last five 
years. They've all stuck with us. We haven't lost one station. We haven't 
lost an advertiser. It would make no sense for me to say, "You know what, 
guys? Thanks for all these great years but I'm heading off to satellite." 
The second reason is, and this is nothing against satellite, but what's the 
combined subscribers they have now? Is it six million? I thought it was 12 
million. Ten to 12 million people. All right. That would be the universe of 
the audience that I would have access to, the universe -- and they're 
offering 250 channels, and they have music and I mean they really do niche 
stuff on satellite.
I mean, you people would never her from me again. If I went satellite I 
could probably get the liberals at DNC to give me a house in Hawaii and $50 
million to go to satellite. They'd probably pay me a hundred million 
dollars and the house in Hawaii to retire. The liberals would love for me 
to go to satellite because that would be the end of any impact. They'd 
simply ignore me and if you didn't have satellite, and most of the country 
doesn't... It wouldn't make any sense. This is not to criticize the 
satellite people. You know, they've got a business model; they're trying to 
make it work, and I wish I could help them in some way, but I'm not going 
to do a second show just for satellite. People say, "Aren't you afraid 
people are going to lose you and not listen to you and go to satellite?" 
No, I'm not afraid of that. What will make people stop listening to me is 
if the show gets boring or uninteresting, because it goes back to what I 
told you a moment ago: content, content, content. If people want to listen 
to it they'll do it with two tin cans and a piece of string, and it doesn't 
matter where it is.

If the content on satellite was something people really, really, really 
wanted, they'd be doing better than they are. I don't mean that as a 
put-down. I'm speaking as a businessman. I have to look at it in a host of 
ways. Now some of you say, "Well, yeah, but if I travel around the country 
there are some dead spots and I can't pick up the show." It's not possible. 
Other people may do it. I don't think it would be right to do. If I were to 
go to satellite, I would have to leave terrestrial radio, and I have judged 
that it doesn't make any sense for you or me to do that.

Plus, I've loved radio since I grew up. I started when I was 16, and radio 
has done nothing other than fire me seven times to make me want to screw 
it, and I didn't want to screw it even then because I still loved it. It 
was eight times, I think, actually. I keep forgetting one, but it actually 
is eight. So that's the answer. I appreciate everybody's interest in this. 
I'm glad you called and asked the question because it gives me an 
opportunity to answer it to people who have not heard the answer on 
previous programs or prior occasions because they may not have been 
listening. But again, I mean, the best way to explain this to you is this 
question, I want to repeat this that I got from Radio, Inc., the reporter 
he said, "What's the next gimmick?" and I don't think it's gimmicks that 
work; I don't think it's tricks that work. I think it's content, content, 
content.

I mean, people watched Seinfeld not because Seinfeld did promotions and 
gave away money and was all over the place doing personal appearances. They 
watched Seinfeld because it was a good show -- and people watch ''24'' not 
because there's anything ancillary going on; they watch it because they 
love the show, and if ''24'' happened to change networks, guess what? They 
would go to where that network is. But we're talking cable and television 
with national penetration. It's not gimmicks. A lot of people think it is, 
but it isn't. It's just quality and content. So I'm not worried about it.
Hey, look, the best way to explain this to you is throughout this from 1988 
when I started this, there was nobody else doing what I'm doing. Now, 
everybody's doing it. Conservatives, liberals, and we haven't lost any 
audience here. All these conservative shows are building their own, because 
none of them are up against me. (Well, a couple are, but you never heard of 
them. There's a reason.) We expanded the pie. The radio business pie. The 
New York Times has a story: "Radio in Bad Trouble Outside of Drive Time." I 
recognize what this story is all about, and it's bogus. Network radio, 
we've expanded the pie. There are people advertising that have never been 
in advertising before. That's a great business thing. There are more voices 
and more opinions being heard than ever before -- and now, radio is looking 
to syndicated people to save the day. And just 18 years ago, it was thought 
to be impossible, wouldn't work. So content, content, content. Growth, 
growth, growth. We haven't had a down year yet, in 18 years. We don't 
expect one this year. Well, we're way ahead this year anyway. So there's no 
reason to change anything, other than to try to continue to get better and 
dazzle you people more tomorrow than you were even today.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: One more thing on this satellite radio business. I practiced great 
restraint in the last explanation here about why various things are the way 
they are with me. People are sending me letters, "Well, so-and-so is on 
satellite and radio stations, too. Why can't you do it?" I'm not them, and 
I don't know what their financial arrangements are with radio stations. 
Folks, you just have to trust me. I'm the one who knows here. It's amazing 
to me how many people -- I don't care where I go -- who think I have no 
idea what I'm doing. I'm doing it all wrong. I'm not thinking of something. 
You want to know how we're dealing with those of you who say you can't get 
the program when you're driving around, there are dead spots, maybe you 
there out there on a mountain valley and the radio signals are out there? 
It's called the Internet, and it's called Rush 24/7.

This program is available via podcast where you can listen to it any time 
of day, and it's available 20 minutes after the program every day. It's 
just like having it on satellite except you're paying me instead of them 
(laughing) to join Rush 24/7. What in the world, folks? We're trying to 
accommodate everybody that wants to hear this program. If they have to time 
shift it, if you have to listen to it when you can't listen to it live, 
it's available in other formats. It's available on the Dittocam every day 
-- we've got some video upgrades coming with that down the road, too -- but 
we're doing everything we can to make this program available to everybody 
in one form or another. There's no difference in listening to it on your 
iPod, traveling around than listening to it auto radio or satellite 
receiver or what have you. But it's not being denied you. It is not being 
denied you. We're everywhere out there.
END TRANSCRIPT

The Rush Limbaugh Show ® , The Rush Limbaugh Show - RUSH 24/7®



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