On this day in 1988, The Rush Limbaugh Show first hit the airwaves as a nationally syndicated program. It was the first of its kind, a politically charged, center-right talk radio show. The show quickly became a smashing success.
“The name is Rush Limbaugh, and after only two years on the national dial, he has more listeners (about five million a week) than any other talk-show host and a list of stations (nearly 300) that grows every day,” Lewis Grossberger wrote for The New York Times on December 16, 1990.
Since that start, Limbaugh has inspired an entire generation of movement conservatives. “Rush babies,” began their ideological journey in the back seat of their Limbaugh-listening parents’ cars. Many of these early converts have never stopped listening.
Tuesday, Limbaugh and company, now with an estimated audience of over 26 million, started their 30th year of broadcasting.
Limbaugh commemorated the occasion by offering highlights of his 29 years on the air.
“Starting our 30th year today at the EIB Network,” Limbaugh proclaimed at the opening of his program. “You know, I started my broadcast career in August of 1968. Well, it’s 50 years today. I actually started radio at age 16. So 50 years total, starting year 30 for the EIB Network.”
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