Future of Talk Radio

          This article is talking about talk radio now, and what it will become. It talks more about the political aspect of talk radio, and how that's what's keeping it alive right now. It mentions how Barack Obama calling out Rush Limbaugh was a huge advertisement for talk radio, because Americans were suddenly interested in what he had to say, whether they agreed with him or not. In the beginning of the article, he also talks about radio as a medium itself. He says that the generation of the baby boom is very familiar with radio, and still uses it as a primary source of techonology. Younger generations, however, aren't as familiar with radio due to today's rapidly growing technology. Therefore, once the younger generation starts to get older, radio (and the programs that come with it) may be in trouble.
         I feel this article is important and why it's going to impact the industry, because it's giving hope that radio programs are going to stick around for a while, therefore having regular radio as a medium sticking around for a while. If the political shows are still poplular, and politicians are talking positively and negatively about these conservative/liberal talk show hosts, then people are going to be drawn to what they have to say more and more. When they start listening to these programs, they will be drawn to radio more and more, and potentially using FM radio as well. This may give both AM and FM radio a few more years of strength.
             A negative aspect to this is that the younger generation is growing up fast, and will soon be taking over. Since they don't know how to use radio as well, that means less and less listeners as time goes on. This means it's possible that the political talk shows won't even be able to save radio anymore.
             As of now, this may impact the audiences of talk radio in a positive way. If more politicians are calling out these show hosts, then the more interesting the discussions wil be on the show. The audience will get more entertainment and be more ammused by the show. On a negative note, since the younger generation is growing up fast (causing radio to decline in listeners) then radio may die out sooner than we think causing the current listeners to have nothing.

For an example of political talk radio, click here

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/05/04/the_future_of_talk_radio/?page=3