WASHINGTON -- Conservative talkmeister Rush Limbaugh may be bringing his view of the world to a new audience -- the U.S. military -- with an agreement to broadcast his show beginning in January, officials said Tuesday.
'We have been negotiating with Mr. Limbaugh's producers and have reached tentative agreement to air a portion of his three-hour radio talk show starting in January,' said Army Col. Joe Cook, chief of staff for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
Although the negotiations are not completed, Cook described the talks as 'quite amicable' and that a final agreement could be reached soon.
Local station managers will determine the airtime and frequency of Limbaugh's broadcasts, said Cook.
Limbaugh's availability on the overseas service network has been the subject of a contretemps that has simmered for weeks. Among the entertainer's favorite targets are liberals, Democratic congressmen and President Clinton, the commander in chief.
Limbaugh fans abroad have written Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper, protesting that they cannot listen to Limbaugh. And Rep. Robert Dornan, R.-Calif., got about 70 congressmen to sign a letter to Defense Secretary Les Aspin last month, also protesting the lack of Limbaugh from the GI airways.
'We are writing on behalf of our men and women who are truly outraged,' Dornan wrote. 'It is our experience from visiting military bases all over the world that...our armed forces truly admire Rush Limbaugh as much as any radio or television personality in America.'
The Pentagon protested that talk shows were not in big demand overseas, citing an AFRTS survey that showed only 3.9 percent of 50,000 listeners indicated a preference for such programming.
But programming officials with the radio network were more cautious in discussing the Limbaugh deal.
'We have talked with his people and we have an agreement in principle with details to be worked out,' said Gerry Fry, director of programming for Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. 'We're aiming for early January but nothing has been finalized.'
Fry said Limbaugh's program, a two-way talk show with listeners calling in, would be the network's first call-in show of general interest. It currently carries programs on computers and cars.
Fry said under the tentative agreement, only the first hour of Limbaugh's three-hour show would be carried because of time limitations on satellite transmissions.
That hour would be beamed live to stations, but whether listeners could call in would depend on whether the stations choose it carry it live or tape-delayed.
Meanwhile, Aspin telephoned Limbaugh last week to reassure the broadcaster personally that the Pentagon had nothing against him.
In his Tuesday broadcast, Limbaugh thanked Aspin for expediting the agreement with AFRTS, which he said took 32 seconds to reach.
'What better day than Pearl Harbor day to conclude negotiations?' Limbaugh asked.