| Talk radio is a radio format which features discussion of topical
issues. Talk radio shows typically include an element of listener participation, usually broadcasting conversations with
listeners who have placed telephone calls to speak with the program's host. Generally, the shows are organized into segments, a
program segment followed by a commercial segment. In public (non-commercial) radio, sometimes music is played in place of
commercials to separate the program segments. Listener contributions are usually screened by a show's producer(s) in order to
maximize audience interest and, in the case of commercial talk radio, attract advertisers.
Commercial talk radio's market share is evaluated by Arbitron, a commercial rating service. Stations utilizing Arbitron's
information are contractually forbidden to mention Arbitron on the air.
History
Two radio stations—KMOX,
1120 AM in St.
Louis, Missouri, and KABC, 790 AM in Los Angeles—adopted an all-talk show format in 1960, and both claim to be the first to have done so. KABC station
manager Ben Hoberman and KMOX
station manager Robert Hyland independently developed the all-talk
format. While "all-talk" was new, call-in talk programs had existed in a number of markets prior to 1960.
In the late 1970s, as listeners abandoned AM music formats for the high fidelity stereo sound of the
FM radio dial, the Talk Radio format began to catch on in more large cities. Former
music stations such as WLW (Cincinnati, Ohio), WHAS
(Louisville, Kentucky), WHAM (Rochester, New York), WLS (Chicago, Illinois), KFI AM (Los Angeles, California)
and WABC (New York, New
York) made the switch to all-talk as their ratings slumped due to listener migration to the FM band.
Talk radio is not limited to AM radio; shows like Talk of the
Nation and Car Talk can also be found on the FM-based National Public Radio network. Commercial all-talk stations can
be found on the FM band in Los Angeles, Boston and other cities.
In the United Kingdom, the leading talk radio station is talkSPORT, formerly called Talk Radio.
U.S. politically-oriented talk radio
The United States saw dramatic growth in the popularity of talk radio
during the 1990s. The repeal of the FCC "fairness doctrine" in 1987—which had required that stations provide
free air time for responses to any controversial opinions that were broadcast—provided an opportunity for a kind of flatly
partisan and (often intentionally inflammatory) programming that had not previously existed. (There had been some precursors for
this, such as the Los Angeles-area controversialist Joe Pyne, who would attack callers on his program in the early 1960s—one of his famous insults to callers
was "gargle with razor blades!") The most successful pioneer in the 1990s talk radio movement was the politically conservative humorist Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh's success demonstrated that there was a market for passionately delivered
conservative (and in most cases, partisan Republican) commentary on contemporary events, and many nationally-syndicated hosts
have followed Limbaugh's lead in recent years, including Sean Hannity,
G. Gordon Liddy, Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Larry Elder, and Michael
Reagan. Libertarians such as Neal Boortz and Gary Nolan have
also achieved some success. The Salem Radio Network
syndicates a group of religiously-oriented conservative pundits, including evangelical Christian Hugh Hewitt and Jewish conservatives Dennis
Prager and Michael Medved. Many of these hosts also publish books,
appear on television, and give public lectures (Limbaugh, again, was a pioneer of this model of multi-media punditry).
Politically liberal talk radio aimed at a national audience has also emerged, although an organized attempt to provide
liberal/Democratic commentary to counter the dominance of conservative politics in talk radio is largely a fledgling enterprise.
Air America Radio, a network featuring The Al Franken Show that was founded in 2004 as a "progressive
alternative" to right-wing talk, is a prominent example of liberal talk on commercial radio, and there are syndicated liberal
talk programs of recent vintage as well, such as The Ed
Schultz Show. A number of earlier syndicated programs were hosted by prominent Democrats who were not experienced
broadcasters, such as Jim Hightower, Jerry Brown, Mario Cuomo and Alan Dershowitz; these met with limited success.
Left-wing opinion radio has long existed on the Pacifica network, though only
available in a small number of cities, and in formats that more often act as a volunteer-run community forum than as a platform
for charismatic hosts who would be likely to attract a large audience. Some conservatives argue that the long-format news
programming on National Public Radio serves as a platform
for liberal commentary on radio, although the network denies any partisan agenda.
Variety of formats
Other topics of discussion in talk radio include:
Others specialize in talk radio comedy such as Phil Hendrie. George Noory and Art Bell take turns hosting the late-night talk radio show Coast to Coast AM, which deals with a variety of paranormal topics. Some shock jocks such as Howard Stern, Don Imus, and Tom Leykis, are also talk radio hosts.
Sports talk radio can be found locally and nationally (with the networks ESPN Radio, Fox Sports, and Sporting News Network).
Sports talk stations like WFAN in New York City and WEEI in Boston have done well in the ratings (aided by baseball and football
game broadcasts.)
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