Early years Notable early conservatives in talk radio ranged from commentators such as
Paul Harvey and
Fulton Lewis (later succeeded by Lewis's son,
Fulton Lewis III) to long-form shows hosted by
Clarence Manion,
Bob Grant,
Alan Burke,
Barry Farber and
Joe Pyne. Because of the
Fairness Doctrine, a
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy requiring controversial viewpoints to be balanced by opposing opinions on air, conservative talk did not have the dominance it gained in later years, and liberal hosts were as common on radio as conservative ones. Furthermore, the threat of the Fairness Doctrine discouraged many radio stations from hiring controversial hosts. By the 1980s,
AM radio was in severe decline.
Top 40 radio had already migrated to the higher fidelity of
FM, and the few remaining AM formats, particularly
country music, were headed in the same direction or, in the case of formats such as
MOR, falling out of favor entirely. Talk radio, not needing the high fidelity required for music, became an attractive format for AM radio station operators. However, in order to capitalize on this, operators needed compelling content.
Deregulation of talk radio Conservative talk radio did not experience its significant growth until 1987, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to abolish the
Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine had previously required radio stations to present contrasting views. Subsequent to the FCC's decision to stop using the rule, radio stations could then choose to be either solely conservative or solely liberal. Another form of deregulation from the American government came from the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, which allowed companies to own more radio stations and for some shows to become nationally
syndicated. Before the deregulation, radio stations were predominantly owned by local community leaders. Clear Channel Communications rose to become a major figure in talk radio in the United States; although it only owned one major "
flagship" caliber radio station (
KFI Los Angeles), Clear Channel owned a large number of key AM stations in other large markets, allowing it to establish a national presence. Thus, the deregulation from the abolishment of the Fairness Doctrine and the institution of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 have assisted conservative talk radio as a whole gain popularity throughout the United States.
Rise of conservative talk radio in 2005 , originally a film critic, joined the early wave of conservative talk hosts in the 1990s. was part of the early 2000s wave of new national conservative talkers. Within the next decade, conservative talk radio became the dominant form of commercial talk radio in the United States; those stations that had homogenized to an all-conservative format soon came to garner more listeners than those that followed the older
full-service model (at the time,
progressive talk radio did not have enough hosts for a station to field an all-liberal lineup, despite the efforts of populist
Chuck Harder). By 1991, Limbaugh had become the number one most syndicated radio host and AM radio had been revived. With multiple large-market stations now owned by a small number of companies, syndicated programs could be disseminated more easily than before. During the late 1990s, political talk radio (other than Limbaugh) was still only a portion of the talk radio environment; other subgenres such as lifestyle talk (
Laura Schlessinger), truck talk (
Bill Mack,
Dale Sommers) or paranormal talk (
Art Bell's
Coast to Coast AM) and general interest political interviews and talk (
Jim Bohannon,
Joey Reynolds) generally made up AM talk stations’ lineups. The
September 11 attacks brought on a wave of nationalism and a desire to rally around the United States and its government, which was led at the time by the
Republican Party. This environment led to a large increase in national conservative talk radio hosts:
The Glenn Beck Program,
The Sean Hannity Show,
The Laura Ingraham Show,
Batchelor and Alexander (which follows a
news magazine format) and
The Radio Factor all launched into national syndication at this time;
The Savage Nation, which had launched nationwide a year prior, saw a large increase in syndication around this time as well. The success of conservative talk radio led to imitation attempts with
progressive talk radio in the mid-2000s, led by the launch of
Air America Radio. However, Air America suffered from weaker stations and inexperienced management and ceased operations in 2010. By the end of the decade, the format was near extinction. Even longtime noncommercial progressive talk outlet
Pacifica found itself in serious financial difficulties, being forced to end local operations of its New York outlet
WBAI in 2019 (then forced to resume them after the station's workers revolted). ==Audience and advertising==