1988.
Reagan was still the Boss
I caught Rush in the first hour of the New York show on WABC — in July of 1988. I was listening to find out who was replacing Joy Brown. I was surprised (and pleased) by what I heard.
The New York show lasted for a while after the National show started. It was basically the same as the National show, but some local content was included. (Remember the segment that was co-anchored with Kathleen Mahoney!)
Later I learned that WABC was necessary to break Rush’s Sacramento contract, since he had a clause that he could leave Sacramento if he had an offer from a larger market. And the ad buyers wanted a show that came from a LARGE market — i.e. New York City.
Congrats on the 30+ years.