Eddie Schultz 7th Most Popular Talk Radio Host Overall?

That’s the claim from Talker’s Magazine, something that liberals and Schultz himself are trumpeting. The only thing is that Talker’s numbers don’t quite pass the smell test. As Brian Maloney points out:

…two years ago, when liberal talk radio had dozens more affiliates than it does today, Big Eddie didn’t even make the list. Now, after a steady stream of station losses, we’re to believe he has 3.25 million listeners and ranks seventh overall? In 2006, they ranked him 10th and reported an audience of over 2 million.
So where did libtalk grow over the past year? At its remaining stations, ratings are lower than ever.

There’s some serious issues with the Talker’s ratings. Anyone familiar with the down-fall of Air America knows that liberal talk radio has been hemorrhaging listeners and affiliates for years. But now we’re supposed to believe that Big Eddie, despite being on far fewer stations now than he was when he first started, has more listeners.
Pardon me if I’m more than a little skeptical. I mean, if Big Eddie is so popular nationally why has he come back to North Dakota to do his local talk show again in the (relatively) tiny Fargo market?
That’s not exactly the hallmark of a radio personality who is having a great deal of success?