to the best of my knowledge he always had ratings and was VERY sellable...some of the mrkts include Houston, SF, Baltimore, Indy, New Orleans, Honolulu, Knoxville, Va. Beach
San Francisco -- show airs on 860 KTRB, a station with almost a 0.0 share for the week in Ages 12+, and that's been the case ever since the station signed on a year ago. The ratings are so low that this station has never been listed on R&R's ratings page.
Baltimore -- show is on 1370 WVIE, a throwaway station with a 0.5 share in the fall '07 book.
Houston -- show airs on 950 KPRC, a station whose ratings have fallen by about 50% from 2 years ago. For the week, the station had a 1.6 share in the February PPM. This is arguably Mancow's most noteworthy affiliate.
Indy -- show airs on a Class A rimshooter located 20 miles south of downtown. Another throwaway signal, and another station with almost a 0.0 share. The ratings are so low that it's not listed on R&R's ratings page for Indy.
New Orleans -- airs on a third rate AM station, 690 WIST. 0.7 share in the fall '07 book, a 50% decrease from 1 year earlier (in the aftermath of Katrina).
If Mancow's syndicated show were "sellable," he wouldn't be airing on predominantly third-string stations with little to no budget.
BTW, I didn't even bother mentioning all the large / major markets where Mancow's show was canceled after no more than 12 - 24 months on the air.
While his syndication career has been mediocre, the fact of the matter is he was earning GREAT ratings in Chicago once Howard Stern left the terrestrial airwaves.
Mancow was #1 in Men 25 - 54 in his very last full book in Chicago. He was beating Johnny B by a decent margin.