TALKERS magazine is the leading trade publication serving the talk radio industry in America. It was dubbed “The Bible of Talk Radio” by Business Week Magazine. As technology and media trends have evolved, the publication has expanded to serve the cutting edge of the “New Talk Media” which includes talk on the internet as well as cable television and satellite radio. TALKERS magazine was launched
during the Summer of 1990 by Michael Harrison, a radio broadcasting innovator and trade journalist who has been at the center of many of the exciting pop radio revolutions of the past 30-plus years. TALKERS magazine features news stories about the non-stop happenings in talk radio and the new talk media including articles about top hosts and stations, developments at the networks, interviews with movers and shakers, the opinions of industry participants and leaders, and fast-breaking developments in technology. The publication 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 magazine research as a guideline to see where they fit into the industry’s scheme of things, 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 happing in the business. Hardly a week goes by in which TALKERS magazine is not cited in a major publication or TV broadcast dealing with news stories, public opinion or talk radio specifically. According to TALKERS magazine 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, 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 magazine has an international readership 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, and Hong Kong), including the most important talk show hosts. TALKERS magazine subscribers also include the top executives of TV networks, the brass at the largest entertainment companies, the editors of major newspapers and magazines, 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 becoming TALKERS magazine subscribers, not to mention fans of this website — talkers.com. TALKERS magazine advertisers run the gamut from major record companies to labor unions, from book publishers to insurance companies, from political action committees to broadcast equipment manufacturers, from consumer magazines to beer companies and, of course, radio program suppliers, networks, and syndicators. Because of the phenomenal growth of talk radio, its impact on society, and the colorful nature of both its broadcasters and its listeners, TALKERS magazine emerged in the nineties as one of the most important trade journals in American industry and on the contemporary cultural scene. Now, at the outset of the 21st century, with the promise of talk on the internet and the growth of cable talk shows, 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 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 pages. The publication, together with the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts co-presented the industry’s annual talk radio convention between 1991 and 1997. TALKERS magazine is now the presenter and sponsor of the leading annual industry gathering called “The New Media Seminar” now going into its 12th annual installment. Outstanding keynote speakers at the the New Media Seminar include none other than George W. The publication also sponsors an ongoing series of bi-annual public forums at the United States Chamber of Commerce on the relationship between the new media and public policy as well as a series of forums at leading think tanks such as The Heritage Foundation. Participants in these have included, not just leading radio talk show hosts, but Members of Congress and other government officials as well. A number of these programs have been carried live on C-SPAN. The publication sponsors an annual radio row “Talk Radio Day at the United Nations” and “It’s Time to Talk About Domestic Violence Day” in association with Liz Claiborne, Inc. TALKERS magazine now also offers the industry’s most comprehensive annual information directory. TALKERS magazine, talk radio, and the new talk media — very much a part of each other, and on the move toward playing an even larger and increasingly more important role in 21st century America!
