Radio News
Radio station newscasts can range from as little as a minute to as much as the station's entire schedule, such as the case of all-news radio, or talk radio. Stations dedicated to news or talk will often feature newscasts, or bulletins, usually at the top of the hour, usually between 3 and 8 minutes in length. They can be a mix of local, national, and international news, as well as sport, entertainment, weather, and traffic, or they may be incorporated into separate bulletins. All-news radio stations exist in some countries, primarily located in major metropolitan areas such as New York City, Toronto, and Chicago, which often broadcast local, national, and international news and feature stories on a set time schedule.
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news. It is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks. Some all-news stations may carry sports, public affairs programs, simulcasts of TV news magazine, political affairs shows like 60 Minutes and Face the Nation, or national radio shows revolving around news such as the CBS News Weekend Roundup. Many stations brand themselves as news radio but only run continuous news during the morning and afternoon drive times. These stations are properly identified as talk radio stations. Also, some National Public Radio stations brand themselves as News and Information stations, which means that in addition to running the NPR news magazines like Morning Edition and All Things Considered, they run other information programs such as Fresh Air, Talk of the Nation, and the BBC World Service .
NPR
National Public Radio, one of the News and Information stations.
History
Broadcasting pioneer Arthur W. Arundel is credited with creating the first 24-hour all- news station, radio or television, in the United States in January 1961 on his owned and operated WAVA in Washington. The station's success was largely driven by the the fact that the nation's capital was riveted to news of the Vietnam War and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy. Arundel helped other stations in New York and Chicago also to convert to his all-news format and then met direct competition from Washington Post-owned WTOP in 1969.
All-news has for years been a top-rated radio format in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities, but as big city traffic worsens and people work longer hours that increase the urgency of planning their day ahead, the focus of such stations has increasingly been on traffic and weather, often updated every 10 minutes. Attempts at long-form commercial all-news stations, such as Washington Post Radio, have been largely unsuccessful.
The Rise of Conservative Talk Radio
Conservative talk radio (or right talk) is a talk radio format in the United States devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. In 1987, the FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine, and AM radio began to make changes. The changes paved the way for syndicated personality Rush Limbaugh and others like him to rise to prominence by "offering a voice for the 'silent majority'" that he believed had gone unheard by the mainstream media. Within the next decade, conservative talk radio schedules had developed the most listener loyalty (highest ratings) and performed particularly well when compared with most mixed or liberal/progressive talk radio. By 1991, Limbaugh had become the number one most syndicated radio host and AM radio had been revived.
The September 11, 2001 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 and The Radio Factor all launched into national syndication at this time. Conservative talk radio includes personalities, both local and nationally-syndicated, such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, and many others. As of 2013, Limbaugh and Hannity are the most listened-to radio programs of any format in the United States, and other conservative talk shows also rank highly. [2] Conservative talk is heard almost entirely on commercial radio; public radio in the United States has historically been perceived as having a more liberal lean, and noncommercial community radio is generally very progressive in ideology.