I know answer is "talk radio", but only had access to that on long car trips. I first heard of him in the 90s, was he around before then?
I doubt he had a web presence. Imdb only shows 9 TV appearance besides his short TV show. I don't recall him in print.
Remember, I'm just talking about the 90s. After 2000 he was well known.
HIS RADIO SHOW BEGAN IN THE LATE 80S...HIS TV SHOW RAN FOR 3 OR 4 YEARS I THINK IN THE EARLY TO MID 90S...HE WROTE MANY BOOKS AS WELL,AT LEAST 3 OR 4 OF THEM COMING OUT IN THE EARLY TO MID 90S...THE 90S WERE THE GOLDEN AGE OF LIMBAUGH.
shareOk, the TV show was 92-96, but Imdb only lists 6 episodes: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103531/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_27
One of the reviews notes it ran 2-3AM. Late 90s saw a flood of conservative TV/radio, so Rush was the first.
For me, the 90s Internet exposed me to libertarians in various Usenet science and sci-fi groups. Conservatives later.
In that time it was possible to become a big star from terrestrial radio alone. His radio show was nationwide.
A quick story on Rush's reputation as a "King Maker".
In 1992 an election year, Rush Limbaugh's show was starting to gain traction, he was touting the Georgian Republican representative Newt Gingrich to be THE candidate for the Republican party to his listeners.
George Bush Sr., who was obviously running for re-election, caught wind of this and invited Rush to the White House for a weekend stay. The President greeted Rush when he arrived and in a act of respect, carried Limbaugh's bags to the Lincoln bedroom.
By speaking the truth at a time when it was rarely heard on the airwaves. It was a novelty, and he was good at doing it in an entertaining way.
shareBecause the country is politically divided 50/50.
Before Limbaugh came along there’s was ABC CBS NBC CNN. Between them there were one conservative commentator, George Will, who appeared on This Week With David Brinkley.
One!
Limbaugh completely revolutionized talk radio. Is responsible for the existence of Fox News and other non Communist Democrat party News Outlets.
He’s one of the most influential people in the last century. More so than most presidents.
So for conservatives he was a fresh voice. An opinion they agreed with. It was stunning when he came along. He’s uplifting and optimistic and pro America. And the hate filled communist left despise that.
Limbaugh's radio show airs for three hours each weekday beginning at noon Eastern Time on both AM and FM radio. The program is also broadcast worldwide on the Armed Forces Radio Network.
Radio broadcasting shifted from AM to FM in the 1970s because of the opportunity to broadcast music in stereo with better fidelity. Limbaugh's show was first nationally syndicated in August 1988, on the AM radio band. Limbaugh's popularity paved the way for other conservative talk radio programming to become commonplace on AM radio. The show increased its audience in the 1990s to the extent that even some FM stations picked it up. AM's poor sound quality and lack of stereo make a talk show format like Limbaugh's preferable for AM radio. As of January 2019 about half of Limbaugh's affiliate stations are on the FM dial.
Basically this and his controversial viewpoints that garnered his fame.
His radio audience began to grow simply by word of mouth. That's how I got hooked on it. As radio syndicates began to multiply, he hosted this heavily-advertised Rush to Excellence tour, which I attended in Virginia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvkzuPuOF0Y
Because he was like the Howard Stern of Republican radio, a right-wing shock jock. His show was VERY entertaining. For the most part, he made it "cool" to be a conservative.
20 million listeners per day is a monumental achievement. But he still didn't have a big enough influence to determine the outcome of presidential elections. I think only two Republicans won during his time on the radio and TV.
Also, he didn't like Trump at first but Trump won him over after a while. Oddly enough, Fox News didn't like Trump either, It was CNN that gave Trump the biggest stage when he first announced he was running. But then Trump made a few politically incorrect statements and they turned on him like rabid dogs.