If someone had come along and instantly maintained the ratings that Howard Stern had, that would have been looked at as the second coming of Christ,
Ratings are not the same as votes. (Some) people like to listen to people they disagree with. We learned that when Rush had his drug problem; it made him more interesting.
You're in a dark, quiet room, there's nobody there, and you may not get your first ratings for a year. If you don't enjoy the process, you're not going to get the instant gratification. Radio is not fulfilling to an ego that needs instant excitement and a loud crowd.
It's been good for him, ... His ratings are up.
It's very common in radio for people to re-hire someone they let go. Opie and Anthony have ratings in New York and a loyal following, and they know how to do the shock genre successfully, which not many people do.