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Humor Title: Savage Dominates Hannity In Key Markets Sean Hannity has long been right-wing radio's dominant silver medalist, second only to the untouchable Rush Limbaugh. So when Michael Savage, his new competitor in afternoon drivetime, started throwing punches in the hopes of ginning up a public feud, Hannity demurred. But now the first month's numbers are in, and in at least five of nation's largest markets, Savage is not only beating Hannity -- he's trouncing him. In January, in the coveted 25-to-54 year-old demographic, Savage beat and in some cases doubled Hannity's average quarter-hour (AQH) audience, according to new Nielsen numbers provided by an industry insider. In New York, Savage's program on WABC averaged 9,500 AQH for 25-54, while Hannity's WOR program averaged just 5,000. In Dallas, Savage's WBAP program averaged 3,600 to Hannity's 1,900 on KSKY. In San Francisco, his KSFO program averaged 3,700, almost doubling Hannity's 2,000 on KNEW. In Detroit, his WJR-AM program had a 4,200, more than five-times Hannity's 800 on WDTK-AM. To be fair, there are some markets where Savage and Hannity's programs don't run head-to-head, due to delays. In Chicago, Savage outperformed Hannity 3,800 to 1,700, but that was due in part to the fact that his show (on WLS) is delayed until 6 p.m., whereas Hannity's (on WIND) airs live at 2 p.m. Hannity also continues to command a far larger national audience, with more than 13.25 million listeners per week to Savage's 5.0 million, according to the latest data from Talkers, the industry trade publication. Hannity is broadcast on roughly 500 stations, Savage is broadcast on roughly 200 stations. Overall, Hannity’s move to WOR has boosted that station's 25-to-54 drivetime audience by 22 percent year-over-year, while WABC drivetime has declined 35.3 percent in the demo. Hannity has also boosted the 25-to-54 audience in markets like Dallas and Los Angeles. “The Sean Hannity Show reaches more than 13 million listeners on more than 500 affiliates weekly, and we are excited by the progress we are seeing out of the gate with recent affiliate movement," a spokesperson for Premiere Networks, the Clear Channel subsidiary that syndicates Hannity, said in a statement. "This is a marathon, not a sprint, and we look forward to continued growth and success." Still, the numbers are a boon to Savage, who moved his "Savage Nation” program to the 3-6 p.m. drivetime slot after Hannity split with Cumulus last year and re-upped his contract with Premiere. The move put Hannity and Savage in direct competition with one another, and became an important arena in the ongoing war between Clear Channel and Cumulus. In an email to POLITICO, Savage attributed the victory to his "higher education" and the show's attention to subjects beyond politics. "Sean never had any real competition until I moved into drivetime," Savage wrote. "Sean, being a Republican lifer, has marginalized himself. His audience has discovered what my audience has come to expect over the past 20 years. Obama and Congress are not the sun, the moon and the stars. There are galaxies of subjects out there. My higher education and home-spun humor, bashed by Hannity, apparently appeals to the masses." Such jabs are typical for Savage, who has often punched up against Hannity, one of the dominant names in conservative talk radio. In an interview with our colleague Mackenzie Weinger last month, Savage took a direct shot at Hannity's intelligence, saying the Fox News host "has no education" and "doesn’t have the capacity to go beyond the Democrat-Republican talking points." At the time, Hannity resisted the invitation to a public spitting match: "This guy is obsessed with me, I’m not obsessed with him," he said. However, in a longer statement, first published by Breitbart, Hannity called Savage "an angry, depressed, and jealous human being who has been hanging around the backwaters of broadcasting for too many years." Around the same time, Hannity referred to Savage on his show, albeit not by name, as "a phony conservative."
Poster Comment: I love having Savage on in the afternoon and especially enjoy the fact that he bumped hannity off the 50,000 watt-flamethrower, WJR-Detroit. Way to go Michael!!!
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