You are correct the 9-12 AM Eastern slot is as tough as it gets. Overly crowded and now the Darwinian process is well under way.
Nothing personal but only the strong shall survive and that will be Laura on top(IMHO because she is far and above the best of the bunch) followed by Boortz(only since hes been there forever),Beck (only because he has a TV show) and Gallagher and Miller duking it out for basement honors(only because someone has to be at the bottom).
Do these talk show numbers include xm listeners, because that is where a lot of people tune in to these national hosts?