Thread: Talk Radio changes; Rush and Beck Will Remain Powerhouses

Talk Radio Publisher Harrison: Dramatic Changes Ahead in Formats; Rush and Beck Will Remain Powerhouses

Friday, June 19, 2009 4:44 PM

By: Jim Meyers

Michael Harrison, founder and publisher of Talkers magazine, tells Newsmax that a revolution is underway in the media that will soon fundamentally change the way Americans get information.

He suggests that radio and television stations, as well as their print brethren in newspapers, will fall to the wayside as new multimedia platforms crop up on the Web. [Editor's Note: To see the full interview, go here now]

In a wide-ranging interview, Harrison, who founded Talkers magazine in 1990 and is the most widely quoted expert on the talk radio business, offered his views on the transitioning business.

Today, radio hosts broadcasting from more than 1,800 news-talk radio stations cover the nation with chat about everything from politics to sex to automobiles and dozens of other subjects.

Still, the industry has been reeling. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the overall radio industry is in a "hangover" as it witnesses double-digit falls in advertising income.

The Journal noted that once titanic Clear Channel and Citadel Broadcasting have been staggering under enormous debt loads. Citadel, which broadcasts talk over the former Disney/ABC network, has seen its stock value plummet, with trades in its shares falling to as low as one penny.

Harrison expects such media heavyweights as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck to continue to be powerhouses, though he sees their formats changing.

For Harrison “media stationsâ€

"Glenn Beck has been a steady rising star, so it's not that suddenly he's a popular star out of nowhere. What I think [accounts for] the current explosion of Beck mania on both radio and television has been his move from CNN Headline News to the Fox News Channel, where he's been able to be more of a pure form of himself.

"In the process of doing that I think Beck has found his inner show biz character, and he's taken it to the extreme."

I bet CNN Headline News execs/producers are crying now about losing Glenn Beck. Wonder if they've learned anything from it?