Posted on 05/18/2014 2:07:21 PM PDT by xzins
Host Rank + Host + Minimum weekly audience in millions.
1. Rush Limbaugh 13.50
2. Sean Hannity 12.75
3. Dave Ramsey 7.50
4. Glenn Beck 7.25
4. Mark Levin 7.25
5. Michael Savage 5.50
6. Jim Bohannon 3.25
6. Mike Gallagher 3.25
6. Michael Medved 3.25
6. Doug Stephan 3.25
7. Bill Bennet 3.00
7. Clark Howard 3.00
7. Laura Ingraham 3.00
7. George Noory 3.00
8. Thom Hartman 2.25
8. Dennis Miller 2.25
8. Ed Schultz 2.25
9. Alan Colmes 1.75
9. Don Imus 1.75
9. Stephanie Miller 1.75
9. Todd Schnitt 1.75
10. Herman Cain 1.50
10. Kim Komando 1.50
10. Denis Prager 1.50
11. Andy Dean 1.25
11. Hugh Hewitt 1.25
11. Lars Larson 1.25
12. Bill Handel 1.00
12. Eric Harley & Gary McNamara 1.00
12. Roger Hedgecock 1.00
12. Kevin McCullough 1.00
12. Al Sharpton 1.00
Well over 100 million listeners a week. I’m sure there are overlaps between audiences with talk enthusiasts listening to more than one show. Primarily, though, it’s a conservative audience.
Nice list. I am sorry to see Savage at number 5. He is a blowhard, always talking about how great he is. It’s ok to say you are great, it has to be said, but he is way over the top on his own greatness. Plus he puts down other hosts, although without actually naming them. Hugh Hewitt always sounds like he is yelling, and he is a GOPe type, so he is not on e of my favorites. I am glad to see Levin at 4, although he is much better than Hannity, in my opinion. I wouldn’t mind hearing Herman Cain instead of some of the others, and I think Lars Larson is a bit better than many of those ahead of him on the list.
I don’t understand Alan Colmes being anywhere above 52. He is the most boring talk show host I have ever heard.
7. George Noory 3.00
I wonder how many listeners Art Bell had at his peak?
Look at #4 (Beck and Levin) and you’ll see that Savage is actually at #6 when taken show by show.
Also, his show’s numbers are more than doubled by Hannity’s and Limbaugh’s numbers.
I like Levin a lot. I seldom get a chanc3 to listen so I use the app to listen to segments.
My favorite moment that made him stand out to me was a caller starts off his call talking about how he’ll be fine as opposed to some other area facing a hurricane because those are liberals and he’s conservative. The caller meant it as a joke about how liberals aren’t prepared but Levin gave him a light dressing down for the conceit. Then apologized for being too serious.
I like that in a host. One who takes serious issues seriously but doesn’t like being angry and upset about things.
Prediction: Chris Plante will be in the top 10 once his syndication deal gets rolling. He’s very conservative, very good and very funny. He’s on WMAL in DC (and 3 or 4 other stations) 9-12 M-F. www.wmal.com
Hannity’s really gaining on Rush. Of course, he’s got the prime drive time, which Rush live doesn’t touch.
Seems like Laura Ingraham has fallen. Dave Ramsey isn’t really in the same category as all these political shows. Do none of NPR’s syndicated shows add up to anything?
Good. And good for Sean, though he’s hard for me to take, so ... well.
And good for Levin.
People want the truth.
That’s all.
Any pres candidate should look at this and wise up.
Savage... I like him, but geeze, he can just be so mean spirited.
Ditto, Medved.
I used to do a lot more late night driving than I do now, and I’d listen to Art Bell. For whatever reason talk radio kept me more awake and alert than music did. Engaged my mind, I guess.
I don’t listen much to Noory. He’s not one I’d turn off, though. There are a few on the list that I turn off because I just don’t like listening to them. (I think Imus, Sharpton & Savage are phonies.)
And there are a few I have to be in the mood to listen to. (Ramsey, Gallagher, and Miller)
And there a few I’d never listen to. (Colmes, Hedgecock)
I agree about Ramsey. Not really the same. But, he does have his “get out of debt” focus, and it’s good to hear a dose of it every now and then.
I thought that Mark Steyn had his own show. I would like to see the audience he would pull if he did.
If they’d bring him back, Steve Malzberg would come in second. I miss him on the radio. I wish they had better programming on the weekends. Bring back Steve!!
Steyn is the best columnist writing in our era, in my opinion. He’s been good as a fill-in, but I don’t think his wit and insight show as much on air as they do from his pen.
i’m in Boston and listen to Chris ,on my phone ,every day. He pulls no punches and I really enjoy his show.
“Nice list. I am sorry to see Savage at number 5. He is a blowhard, always talking about how great he is. “
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Exactly...I have almost quit listening to him. He is obsessed with PERCEIVED greatness and popularity. He can not stop talking about how he beats Hannity in New York. So what? big deal. I would not even know that Hannity has a talk show.
Rush is my primary talker, and automatically recorded for me on my DAR.fm service, as I am asleep when he is on live.
What’s going on with Levin? He’s dropping hints that ... well, I don’t know.
I have noticed that he runs a lot of public service announcements (”1-877-KARS-4KIDS”, etc.) so that can’t be a good sign as far as revenues.
Here I thought you were talking about Rush Limbaugh. Rush goes on and on about himself an order of magnitude more that the occasional self promotion of Savage.
Rush talks about his book. Rush talks about what others are saying or quoting about him. You can skip the first half hour of Rush and miss nothing.
Furthermore, Rush is predictable; Savage is not. I like diversity in talk radio. I listen to Laura, Rush, Savage, Hannity, Levin and more.
I see Larry Kudlow hasn’t made the list. I’ve generally liked him despite his high RINOism, but he has really gone off the rails of late with his pro-amnesty rants.
He absolutely doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He claims that illegals don’t get welfare, when the census bureau’s stats show that a majority get food stamps and Medicaid. He says further that they they don’t use or want welfare once they’re legal, either, because they’re here to work instead. Yet, because they overwhelmingly working in low-skilled jobs they are subsidized with everything from EITC to housing, food, and medical subsidies that legal Americans fund. He goes along with their being just like all other previous immigrants, whereas they clearly don’t follow the trajectory that all immigrants do, and they instead are largely dysfunctional by American family, education, and income standards at least three generations in. Thus, he completely misses the boat with his focus on the ‘growth’ that is inevitable with 20 million more people here (and 40 million relatives to follow), without noting that the dominant Latin American population in those figures continues to be majority welfare-funded at least three generations in—and therefore they are a net drag on the American economy. Finally, he completely misses the technological transformation that is eliminating low-skill jobs in this country at a record pace. The last thing our economy needs is 50 to 60 million more low-skill workers.
Sorry, I really got off on a tangential rant here.
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