TALKERS (commonly referred to as “TALKERS magazine”) is the leading trade publication serving the talk media industry in America. It was dubbed “The Bible of Talk Radio” by Business Week as it initially focused on news/talk, all news, all sports, and a variety of spoken work genres emerging on the radio dial. As technology and media trends evolved over the years, the publication expanded to serve the forms of talk media beyond just talk radio — which includes talk content distributed digitally, via satellite and on cable television.
TALKERS was launched as a print publication during the Summer of 1990 by its founder Michael Harrison, a multi-format radio broadcasting innovator and industry trade journalist who has been at the center of many of the exciting pop radio revolutions of the past half-century, both on air and behind the scenes.
TALKERS is published in digital-only formats and features news stories, photos and videos relevant to the non-stop happenings in talk media with a focus on top hosts and stations, developments at the networks, interviews with movers and shakers, the opinions of industry leaders, advertising sales trends and fast-breaking developments in technology.
TALKERS also conducts ongoing research of the topics and opinions discussed and expressed on hundreds of talk stations and programs across America and compiles them into surveys and graphs which have become the standard of the industry.
In addition to talk broadcasters using TALKERS research as a guideline to see where they fit into the industry landscape, the consumer press also regularly turns to the publication to capture the mood of the public as it is expressed in talk media in addition to learning about what’s happening in the business. Hardly a week goes by in which TALKERS is not cited in a major publication or TV broadcast dealing with news stories, public opinion or talk media specifically.
According to TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison, “Talk media is collectively the most accurate bellwether of American public opinion in the mass media today.”
Since 1990, the growth of TALKERS magazine has been parallel to that of the talk radio industry – which includes its many sub-formats – with many observers crediting the publication with not just chronicling the talk radio phenomenon, but playing a significant role in supporting and fueling the medium’s spectacular rise to prominence. Talk radio is the most-listened to radio genre today and certainly the most important.
TALKERS has an international readership in the English-speaking world that includes the key participants at most talk radio stations and networks in the United States and Canada (plus the U.K, Ireland, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Hong Kong), including the most important talk show hosts on air, online, on satellite and in podcasting.
TALKERS magazine readers also include the top executives of TV networks, management at the largest entertainment companies, editors of major publications, members of congress, governors of states, and even the President of the United States. And, the hardcore fans of talk radio — its most dedicated listeners — are consumers of the content on Talkers.com and its affiliated products.
TALKERS magazine advertisers include radio program suppliers, broadcast equipment manufacturers and distributors, book publishers, record companies, political action committees and more.
Because of the phenomenal growth of talk media, its impact on society, and the colorful nature of both its personalities and its listeners, TALKERS magazine emerged in the 1990s as one of the most important trade journals in American industry and on the contemporary cultural scene. Now, with the industry headed boldly into the third decade of the 21st century, and with the exponential growth of the many spoken-word formats and delivery systems, TALKERS magazine’s potential for expansion is unlimited.
TALKERS magazine’s writers include some of the most respected media professionals in the country and it has published exclusive print, audio and video interviews with some of the nation’s most important newsmakers. These include Presidents of the United States, key broadcasting executives, business and government leaders, as well as show business figures.
TALKERS magazine has expanded into an array of media beyond its writings. It has organized and presented the talk media industry’s longest-running and most important national convention – now in its 25th consecutive year in addition to countless individual forums, seminars and radio rows around the country on subjects that include politics, foreign policy, domestic violence, health care and economics.
TALKERS magazine and the talk media are very much a part of each other and on the move toward playing an even larger and increasingly more important role in digital-era America!
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Additionally, the station will air “The Conners Commentary” feature at 12:03 pm, and 3:30 pm. Conners says, “The fabric of my journalistic soul still requires that I am fair, but now, I freely express my opinions. I am thrilled to join the ‘NewsTalkSTL’ family and be part of the city’s newest and fastest-growing radio station.” Conners anchored St. Louis television news broadcasts from 1975 to 2014 before making the move to radio. Station president of programming Jeff Allen says,
“This is the first, major change to our weekday line up since signing on a year and a half ago. That speaks to how significant we feel adding Larry is. Larry Conners is a strong, local, conservative voice that needs to be heard.”
