Industry News

TALKERS 2023 Conference Nearing Advance Sellout

The 26th annual installment of the talk media industry’s longest running and most important gathering set for Friday, June 2 at Hofstra University on Long Island is nearing an advance sellout. Conference organizers estimate it will reach that point at any time within the next two weeks. Thus 5:00 pm ET on Tuesday, May 23 has been set as the absolute cutoff point – although it could reach the limit any time before that. According to TALKERS VP/executive editor Kevin Casey, “Industry professionals who have attended the TALKERS conference in the past enjoy it and find it to be a valuable experience for a number of reasons beyond the remarkable quality of the speakers and pertinence of the agenda. They appreciate the intimacy of the environment and outstanding ‘who’s who’ in talk media makeup of their fellow attendees. We work very diligently to keep this event within those parameters. Thus, it is only open to people who work within or are associated in some way with the media industry – there is no online open registration – and it all happens within one power-packed day with absolutely no down time.” More than 60 luminaries from the talk media industry are set to speak at a power-packed day of fireside chats, solo addresses, panel discussions, workshops, award presentations, new equipment showcases and endless networking opportunities. All in a beautiful indoor/outdoor state-of-the-art environment conducive to one-on-one conversations. The time to register is now. See more about the agenda, registration, sponsorship and hotel information here

Industry News

Two Leading Edge CEO Fireside Chats Set for TALKERS 2023

Two leading CEO “Fireside Chats” have been scheduled for TALKERS 2023 adding to the impact of a power-packed day of sessions and presentations set for the talk media industry’s major annual gathering. The event will feature approximately 60 outstanding speakers on Friday, June 2 at Hofstra University on Long Island.

Connoisseur Media CEO/founder Jeff Warshaw and Newsmax Media CEO/founder Christopher Ruddy will each engage in candid one-on-one conversations with TALKERS publisher/founder Michael Harrison about the present and future state of talk media.

Jeff Warshaw describes himself as a “lifelong broadcaster.” He built his first station while still a student at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1993, he founded Connoisseur Communications Partners LP, a 39-station group which he later sold to Cumulus Broadcasting in 2000 for $258 million. At this time, he pioneered notable progress in integrating legacy media with emerging digital technology. In 2004, he formed Connoisseur Media which now operates 13 radio station brands and digital assets in five markets. Highly respected and celebrated industry-wide for his outspoken candor and bullish approach to radio station ownership, Jeff Warshaw serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters, the executive committee of the Radio Advertising Bureau, and is chairman of the Nielsen Audio advisory council. Harrison describes Warshaw as “one of the most knowledgeable, emerging forces to be reckoned with among radio industry leaders.”

Christopher Ruddy founded Newsmax in 1998 to publish online and offline content in the fields of news, politics, health and finance. Newsmax.com ranks consistently as one of the country’s most-trafficked news websites. Newsmax TV, a cable and over-the-top media service news channel started in 2014, has shown remarkable growth becoming one of the nation’s leading television news and political opinion sources.  Newsmax recently entered the field of talk radio with a syndication arm and is reportedly exploring expansion into radio station ownership. As a journalist, Christopher Ruddy previously worked at the New York Post and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. He was also awarded a Media Fellowship at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. He holds a BA summa cum laude in history from St. John’s University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the London School of Economics. Harrison describes Ruddy as “a key player in emerging 21st century media.”

For more information about TALKERS 2023, see story below