Q&A on the News

Q: Can you name the remaining corporate sponsors for Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and advise if more sponsors are considering opting out? Also, what radio stations have actually dropped his show?

-- Eldridge Holland, Atlanta

A: More than 140 advertisers -- national and local -- have dropped Rush Limbaugh's syndicated radio show since early March, The Hollywood Reporter reported, but it still attracts at least 18,000 local sponsors and about 100 national advertisers. At least two of his 600 affiliate stations -- WBEC in Pittsfield, Mass., and KPUA in Hilo, Hawaii -- have dropped the show in the wake of the controversy surrounding Limbaugh calling Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" on the air in February. Fluke had testified to Congress earlier that month "in support of health insurance plans covering the cost of contraceptives," The Washington Post reported. Late last month, the stations that air Limbaugh's show were told they could start running barter ads -- stations run them so they can pay discounted fees to air the show -- a practice that was suspended for most of March, according to the Post. "... The program retains virtually of all its long-term sponsors, who continue to have great success" with the show, a Premiere Radio Networks spokeswoman told the Post. Limbaugh made about $64 million in 2011, according to Forbes, and published reports have stated that his show brings in anywhere between $120 to $200 million a year. His contract with Premiere and Clear Channel Communications is set to expire in 2016.