This is a sub-thread I know better than to get involved in, but I'll suggest one point: Russ's audience is aging. I don't know what the specific 18-24 male numbers are, but that's where his strength has always been. But move ahead 7 years now from 2000-2007, and those original listeners are edging towards 30, and the new crop of 18-24's are married to their iPods and other distractions. The Hot Talk format is not what it once was, but I'd guess it's due more to attrition...guys get married, get real jobs, etc, and they end up as better candidates for The Ticket, WBAP, KLIF, etc if they even still crave talk. We talk about Chapman and Skip Murphy "aging" with their audiences by changing stations or direction; maybe that's the solution here.