TALKERS founder Michael Harrison was interviewed by guest host Lee Elci on multi-media talk star Wayne Allyn Root‘s nationally syndicated program “The WAR Zone” this past Tuesday (7/7). Elci, the daily morning host on WJJF, New London, CT, is an occasional guest host on the popular “WAR Zone” show. Harrison and Elci engaged in a candid examination of the state of politics and media in America at this drama-filled juncture in the nation’s history. Not to be missed. To see the uninterrupted excerpted dialogue, please click here.
TALKERS continues to post information-laden videos recorded at the TALKERS 2026: Radio’s Next Chapter conference recently held at Hofstra University (6/5). More than 65 speakers participated in the power-packed day’s events. Today’s entry is a one-on-one conversation titled, “Doing Talk on a Music Station,” which explores the diverse world of talk shows programmed on predominantly music-formatted stations. Many of these shows, usually heard in the morning, are on mostly classic rock or adult contemporary outlets, and are a hybrid of general news/talk radio – leaning heavily on social issues – mixed with a component of celebrity gossip, sports, and the hosts’ personal, real-life stories. They are usually comprised of a host and a co-host or simply two equal co-hosts. The special guest in this video is Mike “Bax” Baxendale, the long running co-host of the wildly successful morning show on classic rock station WAQY-FM (Rock 102), Springfield, MA. Facilitating the dialogue is WPG, Atlantic City morning host Harry Hurley. Baxendale – who is a household name in the Western Massachusetts-Northern Connecticut market – has co-hosted the dominant show for the past 31 years working for a couple of decades with the late John O’ Brien and more recently with Steve Nagle. Don’t miss this! Stay tuned to TALKERS for continuous daily postings of engaging sessions from the 28th installment of the longest running and most important annual talk media industry gathering. To view this presentation in its entirety, please click here.
The Grammy Award-winning Canadian singer and songwriter whose powerhouse voice propelled Blood, Sweat & Tears to the summit of popular music, died peacefully last evening at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. He was 84.
TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison was friends with Clayton-Thomas and the group back in the early 1970s while he was the morning host at pioneering album rocker WNEW-FM, New York. However, by the mid-seventies, Harrison lost touch with Clayton-Thomas and the group. Move the clock ahead to March of 2020 and David Clayton-Thomas was promoting a new solo album – the latest of many that enjoyed hit status in his native Canada – and Harrison had the opportunity to catch up with his old friend in an interview conducted during the height of the COVID pandemic. Clayton-Thomas was quarantining in Toronto, and Harrison was doing the same in Massachusetts. TALKERS has isolated a segment of the archival interview with the rock legend in which Clayton-Thomas recounts the history of how he joined the band. Interested broadcasters wishing to use any or all of this clip are free to do so. Please click here. (Photo credit: Marie Byers)
As TALKERS reported in a breaking news alert yesterday afternoon (6/22), North Georgia-based talk radio mainstay Martha Zoller passed away at the age of 67 on Monday. Zoller recently announced in TALKERS that she would be retiring from daily talk show hosting later this summer on Jacobs Media’s WDUN-AM/FM, Gainesville, where she presided over a hugely popular midday program since 2019. The decision was made due to heart-related health issues. She planned to remain with the powerful station as an occasional political consultant and commentator. Zoller, the 2023 recipient of the TALKERS “Woman of the Year” award, was an influential figure in Georgia politics having run for Congress in the U.S. 9th District as a Republican in 2012. Before that she served her first stint as a radio talk show host in North Georgia for a number of years. She was also a member of the State Board of Education representing District 9 in Northeast, Georgia in addition to engaging in a number of other community-oriented activities.
TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison stated, “We knew that she was dealing with heart issues after a recent, unexpected cardiac episode and her withdrawal from a speaking role at the recent TALKERS conference, but this terrible news came as a shock because we all thought she was basically on the mend. Martha was a woman of great strength, energy, and character – a truly beloved figure in the broadcasting industry. This is a horrible loss to her family and friends, as well as being a devastating blow to talk radio in America.”
Memorial Park Funeral Home Riverside Chapel in Gainesville will be handling funeral arrangements.
TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison (l) and Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis (r) pictured above in ‘Keynote One-on-One” conversation at TALKERS 2026.
The 28th annual edition of the talk media industry’s longest running and most important national gathering – TALKERS 2026: Radio’s Next Chapter – took place at the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication on the Long Island, NY campus of Hofstra University this past Friday (6/5). It was produced in conjunction with Hofstra’s multi-Marconi Award winning campus radio station, WRHU-FM. The vibrant, sold-out gathering presented 65 speakers and 338 registered attendees engaged in the sharing of perspectives, advice, and ideas within the fertile environment of dynamic collegial networking.
The main themes of the conference included an intense focus on the future of radio and talk media in the multi-platform digital world of the second quarter of the 21st century. These included exploration of such existential questions as how to gain profile traction in a noisy world; how to regain the public’s trust in the media; how to meet the challenge of generating revenue in a fractured and challenging economy; what entrepreneurial opportunities exist for individuals and independent companies in this new environment; how to expand programming options; how to recruit new talent; how to attract younger demos; how to deal with the enormous unforgiving power of algorithms in scoring the game; how to effectively control and exploit AI; how to make a living in this business; and so much more.
Speakers and attendees included a cross section of talk media professionals from the words of talent, management, ownership, syndication, journalism, engineering, politics, sports, the law, academia, and music – even pro-wrestling!
TALKERS founder Michael Harrison expressed his deep gratitude to the industry: “We worked day and night for months putting this one together, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Heartfelt thanks to our speakers, attendees, and sponsors, as well as our dear friends and partners at Hofstra University, where it all started for me.”
TALKERS VP / executive editor Kevin Casey states, “We have enough text, photos, and video from this historic media event to keep us busy putting it together and maximizing the intellectual riches for a long time to come. It was a content motherlode!” TALKERS will provide full coverage of TALKERS 2026: Radio’s Next Chapter over the coming days, weeks and months on its website, newsletter and video channel. Stand by!
The editors of TALKERS announce the publication of the 2026 list of the 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America – known colloquially as the Heavy Hundred. This annual feature is created by the editors of TALKERS with input from industry leaders and ranks, from one to 100, the most important talk radio hosts in America based of several factors including (in alphabetical order): courage, effort, impact, longevity, potential, ratings, recognition, revenue, service, talent, and uniqueness. To be considered for inclusion on the Heavy Hundred, talk hosts must be working at the time of publication and have a regularly scheduled professional show on the air at a minimum of one terrestrial station or satellite radio station. TALKERS executive editor Kevin Casey says, “This is one of the most difficult features that TALKERS does each year. There are so many deserving hosts working at stations across America for whom a case could be made for their inclusion on this list. With that said, we are proud of all the hard-working hosts who made this year’s Heavy Hundred and congratulate them on receiving this honor.” See the 2026 Heavy Hundred here.