No matter to me, it just shows how little these media pencil pushers really think.
The DC were essentially sold out before their assinine behaviour. The record sales have stayed high relatively speaking, but from what I've read and seen, their sales as a whole have fallen off. Their airplay has plummeted, though I still do occasionally hear their stuff on my local country station. The very mention of their name was enough to elicit loud "boos" at the CMT Flameworthy Music Awards. And the very essence of their core audience is country music: people who work hard, love their country, and live in the Red States.
Their other "base"--teenage girls with no country music ties, are a flighty demographic. Sure, it's hip to like the Vichy Chix now, but these kids change "idols" every other week.
Don't look for the Chicks to stay on "Top of the World" for long...in reality, though, they were never there.