• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, December 19, 2013

I guess it’s some sort of comment on American society that a fictional newscaster famous for his clueless preening is both better known than his real counterparts (also famous for their clueless preening).

That’s according to some amusing, if slightly depressing, data collected by Marketwired’s social listening software, powered by Sysomos. Marketwired found that Ron Burgundy, the pompous pompadour-ed local newscaster of Channel 4 San Diego fame, beat out any number of national rivals when it comes to social media buzz.

From June to December of this year, Marketwired tallied 566,997 mentions of Ron Burgundy on various social media channels, including 11,668 blog mentions, 7,880 mentions in forums, and a whopping 529,986 mentions on Twitter. What’s more the voice of San Diego garnered a 91% favorable rating, suggesting that Ron, as per his own assessment, is indeed “kind of a big deal.”

That compares to 560,425 total mentions and an 85% favorable rating for Anderson Cooper, whose hair is almost as perfectly coiffed as Ron’s, but who sadly lacks his effulgent mustache. In third place is Megyn Kelly of Fox News, with 339,554 mentions and a 74% favorable rating, followed by Katie Couric of ABC, with 241,879 mentions and an 83% favorable rating. Wolf Blitzer rounds out the top five with 131,309 mentions and a 76% favorable rating.

Don’t act like you’re not impressed.  It’s science.