RUSH: The first thing I want to address is something that comes up frequently both in my private emails from you, conversations with my friends, and phone calls from you on the program. And that is the fear that we’re losing, the fear that we are now outnumbered, the fear that the left has finally pulled it off because of Twitter and because of the Drive-By Media and the way they make things appear. They constantly get away with laughing at us, making fun of us, impugning us, destroying us. And they have created this illusion that a majority of Americans literally support the destruction of American cities, like Portland and like Seattle.
And I’m here to tell you nothing could be further from the truth, but I want to give you some evidence. It’s one thing for me to come here and tell you that Twitter is not America. It’s not even close, folks. What you see on Twitter isn’t even close to representing a majority of thought in this country. But the media, for reasons that we have explained in great detail, uses Twitter because Twitter has become a stand-in for public opinion, in their world, in the media’s world.
Twitter has become a way to advance their own agenda by lying to their readers and viewers, implying that Twitter is a stand-in for majority public opinion. It isn’t. I mean, in terms of the number of users, the population of America, 300 and some million, the adult population, take a hundred million off, 200-some-odd-million. The number of Twitter users is 80 million and many of those are not even real people. Many of those are what are called bots, robots, bots for short, doing the bidding of a really a tiny number of angry, fit-to-be-tied, out-of-sorts leftists.
But I can say this all day long, and I have, and I have attempted to, with confidence alone, persuade you that I’m right. But let me give you some evidence. What do you think the most-watched network in all of television was in June and July? Not just last week, but in June and July, what do you think was the most-watched network to go along with the most-listened-to radio talk show in the country?
From noon to three the most-listened-to program in America is the Rush Limbaugh program. Our model projections have us at 55 million users. Our actual, real — what are the actual, real ratings now from the ratings companies that we acknowledge and accept? What is the… (interruption) So we’re at 28 million, which is a record, 28 million cume in a week. That means — gee, folks. That means in any 15-minute sweep seven million people are listening to the program at any time, 28 million unduplicated.
You would not believe the time spent listening. That’s how our model projections give us 55 million. Time spent a huge, huge factor in radio ratings. But I’m not allowed to say much more than that out of fear, the accusation that I am manipulating them. I’m not. Just reporting the data to you.
Fox News Channel was the most-watched television network of all networks in June and July. More than ABC, more than NBC, more than CBS. More viewers than the big three over-the-air broadcast networks. Those over-the-air broadcast networks are considered to be the creme de la creme. They are considered to be the kings of potential audience reach. A lot of people have canceled cable. Cord cutters. A lot of people are going streaming. But even before that happened, when cable was king, it was still the fact that — well, let me give you an example, the NFL.
This will explain to you the perceived importance of over-the-air television broadcasting. Do you know who pays the NFL more in rights fees per game than any other network? It would be ESPN. Who is it that gets the worst schedule every week, the National Football League? That would be ESPN. ESPN gets the least attractive schedule and pays the most per game in rights fees. The number-one most-watched television show for the last number of years over the course of a seasonal broadcast year has been NBC Sunday Night Football. They don’t pay nearly as much as ESPN pays.
The reason is that — and Sunday night NBC gets the best games of the week, on balance. I show you this just to demonstrate how over-the-air broadcast networks, as opposed… I know they’re delivered by cable, but they are not cable networks. They’re over the air with owned and operated stations. They are still considered the creme de la creme. They get the best programming.
Well, again, that’s up for grabs, too, because cable — some of the other independent networks — now have far fewer boundaries. They actually do produce and write far more entertaining television shows than the big three networks do, but it’s still… The vast majority of advertising revenue goes to the big three networks. It’s still a holdover.
And yet the most-watched network of all networks in June and July was the Fox News Channel. It was the highest-rated TV channel in prime time, 8 to 11 p.m. Not just on cable. Not just on news networks. I’m talking about all of television. This would be Tucker Carlson (Chatsworth Osborne Jr.), Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham.
And then on front of those you’ve got The Story and the Bret Baier hour at six. You’ve got Shannon Bream coming on at 11. They own it, folks. They are so far ahead of CNN and MSNBC and even ESPN. They’re ahead of ABC, CBS, and NBC, according to Nielsen. Now, MSNBC’s also increased its audience from a year ago, but their prime-time big draw — Rachel Maddow — is trending in the wrong direction now. Now, why do I mention this?
Because, folks, there’s simply no way this happens in a country dominated by the left. There’s no way this happens in a country dominated by Twitter, dominated by the kind of things happening in Seattle and Portland, the state of Washington, the state of Oregon, now Illinois and Chicago, and Minneapolis in Minnesota. It’s the best evidence yet you’re not alone.
It’s the best evidence yet you’re not sitting out there the only guy, the only woman who gets it. All of America — the vast majority of America — is tuning in and watching the Fox News Channel. The vast majority of people listening to radio are tuning in to this program and other conservative talk radio. What does it all mean? It means that there is one heck of a huge majority out there that the Drive-By Media is ignoring, attempting to downplay, attempting to suggest doesn’t exist.
They want to dispirit you. They want to depress you. They want to do everything they can to convince you that your side is lost, that you have no hope of ever winning again. And, by the way, these numbers are from Nielsen. Nielsen’s the official ratings company that all of television accepts. Now, is this happening because everybody hates Trump?
I mean, that’s what they would tell you. Is this happening because everybody hates me and thinks that I am unnecessarily critical of Joe Biden and the Democrats? Are people listening and watching conservative media in record numbers because they’re fed up with Trump? Here’s a guess. I think people are fed up with narratives that are anti-America, that are anti-American culture, that promote all these renegades and reprobates.
And people are fed up with it. Common sense tells us people are fed up with it. They’re sick of narratives. People want news. People want the truth. People want reality. People want to know what is. They don’t want to watch a bunch of narratives. They don’t want to watch a bunch of stories that are being created. They want more reality in news and news commentary.
They know what’s going on in Portland and most other cities run by Democrats. The truth is working parents have to be furious at Democrats and teachers’ unions threatening to shut down public schools. You think the vast majority of Americans are standing up applauding that? There’s no way, folks. There’s no way a vast majority of Americans are standing up and applauding anything the Democrats are doing.
But you wouldn’t know that if your viewing habits include the Drive-By Media. People are shocked. Encouraging results with an inexpensive treatment using hydroxychloroquine is treated by the media as if it is poison. The American people know that whatever it is, it isn’t poison. It isn’t what the Democrats and the media say that it is. I think in real-world people watching Fox and listening to talk radio see Donald Trump working his butt off.
I think they see him doing everything humanly possible to deal with the economy and the shutdown and the coronavirus. I also think they see how destructive and — folks, it’s unmistakable — how hateful the Democrat Party is. And I think there are more people out there than you would even guess who are scared to death what Democrats will do to the country if they gain control of the executive branch and the entire federal government.
They can see what’s going on in Portland. They can see what’s happening in Seattle. They can see defunding the cops. They can see all this. The American people have a unique ability to be able to project. If the Democrats are willing to let this happen in cities that they run, then what are they gonna do when they gain control of the whole country?
These are legitimate questions that people are asking. I think they’re scared to death what Democrats will do. I also think this. I think they know the biggest scandal in their lifetimes and maybe even American history has been buried. The Trump-Russia collusion story. Don’t kid yourselves. The vast majority of Americans heard Bill Barr say, “The Mueller report said no collusion.”
They heard it. The Democrats know they heard it, which is why they kept doubling down on it, first with impeachment and Stormy Daniels and Michael Avenatti. Those were not the people nor incidents that a majority of Americans stood up and cheered for and hoped would become reality. Now, athletes are backing a Marxist organization, Black Lives Matter.
They’re proudly kneeling during the national anthem. They know that Joe Biden’s hiding in his basement. These issues matter to America’s adults. They want to know more, not less, about them, which is why they’re not tuning in to CNN or MSNBC. It’s a big deal, folks, these ratings. It’s a big deal, ’cause, I’m telling you, people are not watching Fox News… I mean, do you realize for a cable network to be the most watched…? Just in the normal course of things. It’s not a special event where there’s something happening that’s only happening on cable. Just a normal night. For two months, the idea that a cable network would be the most watched when they’re not playing Star Wars or some other thing, is almost unheard of. And I’m telling you, this is not happening because a majority of Americans hate Trump.
It’s the exact opposite, in fact.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Brian in Bailey, Colorado. I want to squeeze a phone call in before the break. How are you doing, Brian? Welcome to the program.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush and it’s an honor to be on. I’ll get to the point. You’ve mentioned Twitter. You’re like, “Hey, it’s not the real world, and there’s not that many people using it.” I think it’s even less than you think. The reason I say that is I myself have four separate Twitter accounts that I use for different purposes. I have one for politics. I have one for a cover band I play in. I have one solely for fantasy football updates.
And I enjoy writing short stories, so I have one with some other authors and we just like to share work with one another. But I use four as one individual — and I could tell you several friends I have who have two, three, four accounts. Especially if they have a political account, they don’t use their real name or face. They use an alias for obvious reasons. So I think that number you’ve been giving is probably even less.
RUSH: Well, you know, I hadn’t factored that in, ’cause I don’t use Twitter. We have a Rush Limbaugh Show Twitter account, and we put things on it largely to promote attention to the website. The website’s where everything happens here. The website and the accompanying RushLimbaugh.com app that is found both for your iPhone, your iPad, now available on Apple TV and CarPlay and Android Auto. That’s primarily it.
So I didn’t even factor that in. You may have a point, that a lot of users have more than one account, which would, of course, decrease the number of people. If Twitter reports 80 million users, they could be reporting total accounts. Regardless how you divvy this up, the fact remains that Twitter isn’t America. Not yet. But the Democrats believe that it is. The media believe that it is and want it to be. I’m glad you called out there, Brian.