Beck is #3 and gaining.
Sorry, that doesn’t wash. Hannity, Limbaugh, and Levin all talk about and promote each other. Mainly because they are friends and probably because they all belong to the same syndicated group. Coulter, Limbaugh, Levin, Hannity, and Ingraham all promote and push the other’s books. Only Ingraham pushes a book by Beck. Beck is taking a lot of the stuff mentioned first by Levin and then by others and expanding on it - drawing diagrams, putting faces to names, etc.
I don’t believe there is any serious animosity between the parties. Hannity (as well as O’Reilly) may be seeing Beck in their reaerviews, but I’m sure Rush doesn’t care. Rush likely looks at Beck the way Wayne Gretzky looks at the latest NHL phenom.
And Mark Levin? He’s got his own thing going. He is maybe the most passionate, genuine man in radio. If he criticizes Beck it’s for good reason, and not because of any fear of “competition”. Mark is one-of-a-kind.
Other than that, I agree with your speculation that there is caution. Beck may be too new as a national star; he rose very quickly and stars can fade as quickly as they rose. It’s smart to be careful about what wagon you hitch your own star to.