NEWS BLOG (WSAU) In Central Wisconsin, Rush Limbaugh is number one. During his three hour broadcast more adults in the Wausau-Stevens Point area listen to WSAU than any other radio station.

Last summer, even though they missed the playoffs, the Brewers also won their ratings time slot. They had a 36-share… making them the most-listened-to nighttime broadcast on the radio.

So what should we do when the Brewers have a weekday afternoon game that conflicts with The Rush Limbaugh Show?

In past years we'd move the Brewers game to our sister-station, WRIG. Rush Limbaugh would air on WSAU without interruption. That solution doesn’t work this year. Since becoming WSAU-AM-FM, we are no longer allowed to split our broadcast between the AM and FM frequencies. Putting the Brewers on WRIG leaves the fans in Wisconsin Rapids, Marshfield, and Stevens Point without a way to hear the games.

Here is how those situations will be handled this season:

When the Brewers play on a weekday afternoon, we’ll carry their game live on WSAU-AM-FM. But we will tape delay The Rush Limbaugh Show, and will broadcast Rush once the Brewers broadcast is over.

We’ll try out this new approach today, when the Badgers play an afternoon basketball game at the Big 10 tournament. The game broadcast begins at 12:15. When the game’s over, you’ll hear the 12-noon and 1pm hour of The Rush Limbaugh Show.

Rush and our sports broadcasts are both very popular. This seems like the best way to handle weekday afternoon sporting events.

Chris Conley
Operations Manager, Midwest Communications-Wausau
3.12.10