Progressive Talk Drives News/Talk Format to All-Time Audience High

Progressive Talk Drives News/Talk Format to All-Time Audience High

In Fall 2004 ratings, News/Talk format posted 10 percent gain

Progressive Talk the fastest-growing format in radio

WASHINGTON, March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Progressive Talk helped drive the News/Talk format to an all-time audience high and a bigger quarterly gain than any other radio format, according to Democracy Radio CEO Tom Athans and two reports on 4th Quarter 2004 radio ratings.

Two recent studies found that News/Talk stations reached an all-time high in market share and increased their audience size by 10 percent, a larger bump than any other format. The February study by Interep and the March report by the Katz Media Group were based on 4th Quarter Arbitron radio ratings.

These increases were due to the explosive growth of Progressive Talk radio, which is the fastest-growing format in the country. Industry-leader Ed Schultz is now heard on nearly 100 stations -- including 7 of the top 10 markets -- and satellite radio.

Clear Channel, the largest owner of radio stations in the country, has recognized the power of Progressive Talk and has already re-formatted 24 of its largest-market stations to carry the new format. Clear Channel has announced it will reformat another 25 station by the end of the year.

Tom Athans, CEO of Democracy Radio, which pioneered the new Progressive Talk format, made the following statement.

"The record increase in News/Talk listenership is being driven by the explosive growth of Progressive Talk nationwide. These studies are only the latest evidence of an unmistakable trend towards this new format.

Progressive Talk is having a profound impact on the radio industry by bringing new listeners back to the News/Talk format. Millions of Americans, who were not being served by the same stale diet of right-wing chatter, are rediscovering talk radio because there is finally something worth listening to.

Democracy Radio is proud to have pioneered this new format. It was a long and lonely road to convince the old guard that Progressive Talk could be commercially viable. In the coming year this format will grow ever larger, as more stations recognize the huge number of Americans longing for this format."

Democracy Radio is a Washington, D.C.-based corporation dedicated to ending the political imbalance on America's radio airwaves by developing, funding and launching compelling progressive talk radio programming.

Created in 2002 by Tom Athans and Paul Fiddick, Democracy Radio launched The Ed Schultz Show on January 5, 2004. It launched the Stephanie Miller Show in September 2004, and launched its first local show, The Nancy Skinner Show, on Detroit's WDTW, in January 2005.

For more information go to: http://www.democracyradio.org/.

Source: Democracy Radio

CONTACT: Todd Webster, +1-202-547-7700, for Democracy Radio

Web site: http://www.democracyradio.org/

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