Well, Utah television viewers. The Baron of Bombast is about invade the Beehive State.
That's right. Beginning Monday on KTVX-Ch. 4, the "Rush Limbaugh Show" will air weekdays at 2 p.m.For those of you unfamiliar with Limbaugh, he's the politically conservative host of a rather controversial radio show. And, like his radio show, his TV program consists almost entirely of nothing but Rush and his opinions.
For 30 minutes, he sits behind a desk and expounds on his views. Views that, in addition to being right wing, are often amusing.
Because even if you don't agree with Limbaugh, he can be quite entertaining - in a sometimes rather offensive way.
Anyway, your local television editor has received lots and lots of calls wondering where Limbaugh can be found. And your calls to the local stations - at least Ch. 4 - have also had an impact.
(That and the fact that the syndicated show "That's Amore" turned out to be a real dud. It's being banished to weekdays at 1:05 a.m.)
So beginning Monday, we'll have a chance to see Limbaugh for ourselves.
ELECTION REPORTING RESULTS: Like the political races themselves, Tuesday night's coverage of the election had its own winners and losers.
On local TV, KBYU's poll (and, by way of KBYU's poll, KUTV) turned out to be winners.
And KTVX, by way of some faulty projections, was a loser.
The KBYU exit poll, which KUTV was smart enough to work out a deal to report, was right on every count. Just as the polls were closing, Ch. 2 (and Ch. 11) were reporting all the winners correctly, including the close races that saw Karen Shepherd elected to Congress and Jan Graham win the attorney general's post.
Over on KSL, Dan Jones was also right on every race that he was willing to project that early. But he held off on declaring a winner in the attorney general and 2nd Congressional District races until the wee hours of the morning.
Meanwhile, over on KTVX, Dave Spatafore was telling viewers how Enid Greene was leading Shepherd and how Scott Burns was leading Graham.
Adding to the confusion was the fact that Ch. 4 never made it clear whether Spatafore was talking about exit polls, early vote returns or what - at least not until much later in the evening.
KTVX made some other strange decisions on election night. Sitting next to anchors Randall Carlisle and Kimberly Perkins them was former network newsman Sander Vanocur, the father of KTVX's Chris Vanocur.
Now, Sander Vanocur is a respected newsman of impeccable credentials, but having him comment on the local races certainly didn't add any credibility.
As for Chris Vanocur and his "Vanocur Group" - Spatafore, Randy Horiuchi and Bud Scruggs - they're an enjoyable Sunday afternoon break. But on election night, it was all a bit too smug, a bit too labored, a bit too light.
And it didn't help that they were talking about Greene and Burns as winners when the evening began.
CAN'T RESIST: Your local TV editor tried to resist making this observation, but he's just too weak.
Murphy Brown still has a job. Dan Quayle doesn't. (At least not after Jan. 20.)