I think one of the issues surrounding Farage is that, and while no doubt he is an effective self-publicist, he is portrayed by the some sections of the media as being important on a UK-wide basis as opposed to just being locally important in areas where UKIP have some support and is seen as a potential threat by other parties.
I can't speak for my fellow Scots of course, but here in Scotland UKIP are pretty much a fringe party so the prominence Farage does get in UK media (such as the BBC) is disproportionate to the relevance of UKIP here in Scotland. We have our very own UKIP clown of course, by the name of Coburn, but he doesn't have much in the way of even local prominence (apart from when he makes an utter fool of himself: he has a talent for that).