Don't worry about Rush, he's got plenty of money and is a fan of Christmas

By Dian Vujovich

It’s no secret that Rush Limbaugh is a media hound who, I’m guessing, doesn’t really give a hoot whether the ink and media coverage he gets is good or bad. What counts most is that he’s getting it.

Speaking of counting, according to a variety of media outlets, the number of companies that have decided to cut their advertising dollars on his daily radio program because of recent rants and slanderous comments is now north of 40.

That number seemed surprisingly high to me. I’m thinking that if I had a national radio program and lost 40 of my sponsors, the show would be off the air. But, not Rush. He likened the loss of sponsors to losing a couple of French fries from a box gotten via take-out at a fast food joint. (I’m guessing McDonald’s fries, but don’t know for sure.) And, said the loss is no big deal given the 18,000 advertisers.

I happened to actually hear him say that 18,000 number and couldn’t help but wonder how in the world the man had so many advertisers. Turns out, that’s not an official number. Rather, it’s a Limbaugh estimate based upon what he guesses are the number of advertisers on the approximately 600 stations that carry his program.

Using his figures, that breaks down to 30 advertisers per show, which seems like a really big number of ads to listen to while you’re listening to him. Since I’m not a listener, here’s a comparison: The Super Bowl we just watched lasted about three hours—the same as Rush’s program. This year there were 36 ads in it so you know how often they popped up.

Looking at this advertising thing from another angle, I’m not sure that advertisers really do matter much to Rush. He did, after all, sign an eight-year contract with Clear Channel in 2008 that totaled around $400 million, according to the WJS.com. So, I’m guessing that losing sponsors isn’t really likely to phase the man. Not until his contract is due to expire in 2016, any way.

We all know that having no money worries gives someone a whole host of freedoms not available to those with financial challenges. So don’t cry for Rush, he lives in a moneyed world very few will ever inhabit.

As for that reference to Christmas, Palm Beacher’s have seen first-hand the mega millionaires generosity: He helped pay for the lights that adorned the palm trees in town during the holiday season and even bought a brand new $50,000 Christmas tree to Worth Avenue a couple of years back. What a guy.