Report: Limbaugh ratings down big after 'slut' remarks

A lot less people are interested in what conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has to say after he called Georgetown University law student a "slut" and a "prostitute," according to one industry ratings source.

Politicoreported on Monday that Abritron's key demographic ratings between March 29 and April 25 showed Limbaugh's show had fallen 27 percent in New York City, 31 percent in Houston, 35 percent in Jacksonville and 40 percent in the Seattle-Tacoma market.

"Clearly Sandra Fluke isn't the only one who didn't like Rush calling her a 'slut' given how many viewers that comment incinerated," a listener told Politico's Dylan Byers.

In late March, Limbaugh had claimed that the ratings were up by between 10 percent and 60 percent after he called Fluke a "slut" because she advocated that health insurance cover contraception for women.

"The advertisers who hung in here are going gangbusters, yes," he told his listeners. "I mean, that's the simple truth. The only ones who got hurt are the ones who left."

A radio insider speculated to Politico that Limbaugh's ratings had briefly surged as new listeners tuned in to hear him respond to the controversy.

Earlier this month, Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey said that his company had lost millions dollars after dozens of advertisers pulled their sponsorship from Limbaugh's show. Dickey added that the radio giant was "hit pretty hard" by the loss.

The Arbitron report also indicated that ratings were up by as much as 79 percent in both the San Francisco and Las Vegas markets.