Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 24, 1993 TAG: 9307240125
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"I thought they were saying `Rest Room,' " she laughed.
Travis hadn't heard of the nationwide phenomenon regarding Rush Limbaugh fans, who enjoy gathering to dine at designated Rush Rooms while they listen to the conservative broadcaster's mid-day radio show.
But she learned quickly. Earlier this month, WFNR began airing Limbaugh in the New River Valley for the first time, and the listener response was dramatic.
"I've done radio for a long time and I've never seen anything like it," she said.
So as of Monday, Limbaugh fans (also known as "ditto heads") will have a place to congregate and commune with their fearless leader.
WFNR and The Farmhouse Restaurant in Christiansburg will be the site of the valley's first Rush Room. They'll be a special menu - lots of Snapple Tea (Limbaugh's favorite) and absolutely no vegetarian dishes.
Between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., The Farmhouse is reserving a banquet room for the faithful, with a sound system and possibly a cellular phone in case someone wants to participate in Limbaugh's politically incorrect national call-in show.
The rotund and bombastic Limbaugh estimates there are up to 150 Rush Rooms across the country where his avid followers gather daily.
"It's a growing thing for restaurants now," said Vonda Strader, a manager at The Farmhouse.
According to "Restaurant Business" magazine, Limbaugh's incendiary brand of commentary has had a mixed influence on the business of bistros that have a Rush Room.
Apparently, having a Rush Room is like serving beets. Customers either love it or hate it.
Rush Rooms have attracted business to some restaurants and repelled it from others, the magazine says.
Roanoke's had a Rush Room for more than two years, which is promoted by the station that carries Limbaugh show there, WFIR-AM.
That station also had the rights to broadcast Limbaugh to the New River Valley, but the signal wasn't strong enough to be heard clearly up here, Travis said.
So WFIR gave WFNR the go-ahead to pick up Limbaugh, which the Christiansburg station did July 5.
That's when the ditto heads began campaigning for a Rush Room.
"Usually, listeners are passive about programming," Travis said. "But his [Limbaugh's] listenership is quite vocal."
Being outspoken is characteristic of Limbaugh, too.
He gleefully voices his opinion on current events and topics such as feminism, gay rights, the environment, and the Clinton Administration's economic policies, which Limbaugh calls the "Raw Deal."
The addition of Limbaugh's show prompted WFNR to bump the popular, down-home local call-in show, "It's Your Time" to an earlier 10 a.m.-to-noon slot.
Soon, Travis said, WFNR's programming will be switched from country and bluegrass music to the news-talk format increasingly favored by radio stations.
That will happen after the Federal Communications Commission acts on WFNR's purchase of WNRV-AM, a Narrows station now off the air, she said.
If the FCC approves the purchase, Travis said WNRV will be back on the air with WFNR's current country-bluegrass programming.
Then "It's Your Time" will return to its old 11 a.m.-to-1 p.m. slot on the new station. The new station will have a better signal to reach more bluegrass fans than WFNR does, she said.
Travis, co-owner and general manager of WFNR-AM and its affiliate, adult contemporary KOOL-FM, said other area restaurants are interested in opening Rush Rooms through the same promotion deal WFNR has with The Farmhouse.
That's bad news for those that can't stomach Limbaugh. But food for thought for his fans.
by CNB