America's Top 25 Talk-Radio Hosts

Some of the most impacting and influential people in our world to day are talk-radio hosts. NewsMax has carefully choose their top 25 candidates in talk-radio. They include:

1. Rush Limbaugh is more than America’s most widely listened-to talk-radio host ("the most listened-to radio host on the planet," he likes to say). He is also the father of the current era of talk radio, and an influential player on America’s political scene. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Rush Limbaugh as America's most influential in America.

2. Bill O'Reilly has established himself as one of the nation's top media personalities. O'Reilly’s influence and power derive from being able to throw a double punch — the most-watched cable TV host and a widely syndicated radio host. His twist: He covers world events from a working-class populist perspective. Every week he finds occasions to agree with something a prominent Democratic politician has said, although O’Reilly has also remarked that “the Democratic Party has been hijacked by the far left.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Bill O’Reilly as America’s second most influential in America.

3. Don Imus is the most curmudgeonly of America’s major talk hosts. Although slightly liberal, Imus’s sharp tongue slashes Republican and Democratic politicians alike. Imus’ unvarnished candor attracts an upscale, urbane audience, which in turn makes big-name polls and savvy writers (or as he calls them, “lying, thieving politicians or liberal weenie pundits”) eager to face his fire as guests. His program is the must-listen-to morning show for movers and shakers. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Don Imus as America’s third most influential in America.

4.Michael Savage is individualistic, iconoclastic, and eclectic; a passionate populist who sometimes sounds like a shock jock. Savage wrote: “Those who listen to me say they hear a bit of Plato, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Moses, Jesus, and Frankenstein.” NewsMax 25 Top Radio Hosts rates Michael Savage as America’s fourth most influential in America.

5.Sean Hannity is a talk host with a pugilistic demeanor who polarizes issues into contests between good guys in white hats and bad guys in black. Hannity’s passion and energy make him a powerful and attractive cheerleader for conservative listeners seeking certitude, emotional catharsis, and a gladiatorial champion for their political beliefs. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Sean Hannity as America’s fifth most influential in America.

6. Laura Ingraham is a brilliant, still-rising star whose insider knowledge of government, droll humor, and feisty, fervent conservatism attract more listeners every day to the syndicated radio show she began in 2001. Ingraham speaks from her heart when she says of liberal elitists: “They think you’re stupid. They think all freedom-loving Americans are stupid. They think patriotism is stupid. They think church-going is stupid.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Laura Ingraham as America’s sixth most influential in America.

7. Glenn Beck’s relentless good humor can make important topics seem less urgent, he offers a welcome return to an era of civility. Independent-minded Beck is a gentle man who continues to grow as a radio giant. “I hope people feel goodness from my show,” he says, “and accepts me for who I am, flaws and all.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Glenn Beck as America’s seventh most influential in America.

8. Dr. Laura Schlesinger is seen as a cultural and political talk host because she — sin of sins — judgmentally asserts that some politically correct behaviors are wrong. Dr. Laura is an anchor of firm values in a society morally adrift, and millions tune to her for personal moral rearmament. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Dr. Laura Schlesinger as America’s eighth most influential in America.

9. Neil Boortz, “the talk master,” is America’s most popular Libertarian talk-show host. Boortz advocates smaller government and more individual liberty. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Neil Boortz as America’s ninth most influential in America.

10.Al Franken, the brightest star of Air America Radio, is the left’s latest attempt to create its own Limbaugh, a master of commingling comedy with serious issues. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Al Franken as America’s tenth most influential in America.

11. Mike Gallagher a talk host in the Hannity style who sees right vs. left as right vs. wrong has said, “Our country is battling for her very soul, for patriotism, Judeo-Christian morals, and strong families. Liberal lunatics have surrounded us with their agenda-driven ideology. It’s time to fight back.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Mike Gallagher as America’s 11th most influential in America.

12. Erich “Mancow” Muller is known for his wild behavior. His show features a large cast of characters, adolescent pranks, and a “Drunk Chick Friday” segment. He is very popular for the younger generation of listeners. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Mancow as America’s 12th most influential in America.

13. Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed “king of all media,” is a talk-radio superstar whose audience once rivaled Limbaugh’s. In 2006, he became the biggest player in direct satellite radio, and, through a $500 plus million deal, the highest paid talk host in the world. He has been called the “the most innovative and high-profile talk host in the business” by Talkers Magazine. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Howard Stern as America’s 13th most influential in America.

14. Bill Bennett Bennett’s radio show, Morning in America, was launched in April 2004. On the air he often exhibits the patience and certitude of a priest. For Bennett, “The greatest thing about getting up each morning is that I can engage in a conversation with the American people, something I’ve tried to do for as long as I can remember.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Bill Bennett as America’s 14th most influential in America.

15. Opie & Anthony epitomize radio’s new “cringe” shock jocks, who are always driven to top themselves. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Opie and Anthony as America’s 15th most influential in America.

16. Ed Schultz a converted “moderate” Republican is now a “progressive liberal.” Schultz describes himself as a “gun-totin’, red meat-eatin’ lefty” out to slay the “right-wing radio dragon.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Ed Schultz as America’s 16th most influential in America.

17. Michael Medved the bright and intellectual self-described “cultural crusader on politics and culture” has always enjoyed debating politics. As he told NewsMax, “I love talk radio because this medium is about ideas and argument.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Michael Medved as America’s 17th most influential in America.

18. Randi Rhodes is the main “hit man” at Air America Radio, the liberal network launched in 2004 as a partisan ally of the Democratic Party. She wears a button that says “NPR [National Public Radio] Is Nice, I’m Not.” She has been described as, “a chain-smoking bottle blonde … [who] is part Joan Rivers, part shock jock Howard Stern, part Saturday Night Lives’ ‘Coffee Talk’ lady. But mostly, she’s her rude, crude, loud, brazen, gleefully scatological self,” by the Miami Herald. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Randi Rhodes as America’s 18th most influential in America.

19. Jim Bohannon describes himself as “a militant moderate”. A soft-edged liberal, Bohannon’s nighttime show features calm, sometimes narcoleptic conversation with a wide range of topics, guests, and points of view. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Jim Bohannon as America’s 18th most influential in America

20. G. Gordon Liddy has brought unique insights about government and the world to more than a million talk-radio listeners. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates G. Gordon Liddy as America’s 20th most influential in America.

21. Diane Rehm is one of the more moderate voices empowered by taxpayer-supported NPR. Her underlying worldview and tone is “eat your broccoli . . . we know best” paternalistic liberalism. She interviews more liberals than conservatives, but welcomes a wide variety of politicians, policy-makers, intellectuals, artists, and authors. She says, “It’s crucial we hear not only the voices of policy-makers and experts, but that everyone has a chance to offer their opinions . . .” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Diane Rehm as America’s 21st most influential in America.

22. Larry Elder is America’s pre-eminent libertarian-conservative African-American radio talk show host. He advocates reducing government by 80 percent, abolishing government public schools, and slashing taxes. He coined the term “Victicrat” to describe those who seek political power by claiming to represent victims of racism or poverty. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Larry Elder as America’s 22nd most influential in America.

23. Michael Reagan’s radio show is a forum where Republican voices and conservative values come together. NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Michael Reagan as America’s 23rd most influential in America.

24. Tammy Bruce is living with one foot at each end of the political spectrum, she has both conservative and liberal critics. But her feisty, courageous, independent-minded approach to issues and her intelligence and humor have won her a large and loyal audience. She describes herself as “a pro-choice, gun-owning, pro-death penalty, openly gay, voted-for-President-Reagan progressive feminist Democrat” and as “half Italian, half Irish, and half troublemaker.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Tammy Bruce as America’s 24th most influential in America.

25. Tom Leykis, the poor man’s Howard Stern, used to focus on politics and boasted that his was the only radio show “not hosted by a right-wing wacko or a convicted felon.” NewsMax Top 25 Radio Hosts rates Tom Leykis as America’s 25th most influential in America.