Dave Ramsey bigger than Savage? Dave just retold the history of his growth, and made the assertion that he and Savage are now fighting over who is #3…
Ramsey claims to have 400+ affiliates, which may be true. What that doesn’t tell you is that many of those stations are low power religious stations in unrated markets. His popularity here is #14 for the past week based on number of listen attempts. Being on TV has an obvious affect on a radio person’s ratings (see: Glenn Beck), and Ramsey is currently the right person at the right place to deal with people’s financial problems, so he’s definitely on an upward trend – but not quite #3 yet….
Don’t forget that a large chunk of Dave’s affiliates are junk affiliates that air him in the evening and weekend slots, and preempt him heavily for sports, basically throwing his show wherever they have a hole in the schedule. He hardly has the clout of someone like Limbaugh to demand the time slot he’s got.