By Brad Friedman on 3/16/2012, 1:56pm PT  

Citing Rush Limbaugh's current self-inflicted woes, John Parikhal, CEO of Joint Communications, a 30+ year old media consulting operation, tells radio industry publication NTS Media Online that the future may be gloomy for folks in the talk radio "attack" business.

He charges that "out of touch" Limbaugh "is the proverbial canary in a coal mine" as Americans who have "been in 'attack' mode" for 15 years are beginning to realize "that attack has gained them nothing"...

“For the past 15 years, Americans have been in ‘attack’ mode,” Parikhal told NTS MediaOnline Today. “Against Bush, Obama, big business, welfare, abortion, religion – you name it, they attacked it. Finally, people are realizing that attack has gained them nothing — not jobs, security, safety, or anything else. Today, people are getting sick of attack. It’s like a guest who over-stayed at the party. So people are looking for answers.” Citing changing demographics, an America that’s becoming more brown, and the growing ranks of women in higher education, Parikhal says Limbaugh is the proverbial canary in a coal mine. “He’s out of touch with ‘brown’ America and with women. He attacks the very things that aging Boomers are relying on. Marshall McLuhan used to say that people laugh when they think things are under control. And, that’s why there’s a pile-on now that Rush is under attack. He doesn’t have answers that work. Things are not under control. So he’s fair game. When he ‘attacks contraception’ in a country where 38% of babies last year were born to single moms (much higher among Blacks and Hispanics), he sends a message that he’s out of touch. The way he chose to frame his attack was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s not more complicated than that.”

That's one big canary. Don't know if Parikhal has nailed it or not, but his thoughts are certainly of note, as what has happened to Limbaugh --- Clear Channel-owned Premier Radio's $38 million/year baby --- has also served to put other RW talkers on pins and needles at the moment, while they watch to see how thinks shake out for poor Rush, whose big advertisers are now trampling each other to run away from.

On KFI, the 50,000-watt AM blowtorch which has been carrying Limbaugh out here in Los Angeles for decades, commercial breaks are now largely filled with local-only spots, campaign ads for the GOP Presidential primary (usually from Newt Gingrich's Super PAC), with almost every break punctuated with what could be a stinging foretelling of Rush's future: An ad from Glenn Beck and his online-only GBTV venture.

In a related story today, Media Matters' Eric Boehlert looks at the precarious place in which Clear Channel (as currently owned by Mitt Romney's Bain Capital, LLC) now finds itself --- thanks to the less-than-conservative all-in bet the media behemoth has banked on Rush, in "Struggling Clear Channel And Rush Limbaugh's $400 Million Payday".

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Article Categories: Accountability, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Media Reform