Talk radio

Talk radio is a radio format which features discussion of topical issues. Talk radio typically includes 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.

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.

Related Topics:
Radio stations - KMOX - AM - St. Louis, Missouri - KABC - Los Angeles - Talk show - Ben Hoberman - Robert Hyland

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In the 1970s and early 1980s, 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 (Los Angeles, California), WRKO (Boston, Massachusetts) and WABC (New York, New York) made the switch to all-talk as their ratings slumped due to listener migration to the FM band.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1980s - High fidelity - Stereo - FM radio - WLW - Cincinnati, Ohio - WHAS - Louisville, Kentucky - WHAM - Rochester, New York - WLS - Chicago, Illinois - KFI - Los Angeles, California - WRKO - Boston, Massachusetts - WABC - New York, New York

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Talk radio is not limited to the AM band. "Non-commercial" usually referred to as "public radio", which is located in a reserved spectrum of the FM band, also broadcasts talk programs. Commercial all-talk stations can be found on the FM band in Los Angeles, Boston and other cities. The commercial FM talk stations often feature hosts such as Tom Leykis and Howard Stern whose audiences are comprised of more men than women. These shows often rely less on political discussion and analysis than their AM counterparts, and often employ the use of pranks and staged phone calls for entertainment purposes.

Related Topics:
Tom Leykis - Howard Stern

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In the United Kingdom, the leading talk radio station nationwide is talkSPORT, formerly called Talk Radio. The leading commercial talk radio station is LBC in London, specialising in news talk.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - TalkSPORT - LBC

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