rebranded frequently over the years). Market leader ESPN Radio followed shortly thereafter in 1992, followed by Fox Sports Radio c. 2000 and the near-concurrent entries of CBS Sports Radio and NBC Sports Radio in late 2012 and early 2013. Most of these, however, air on weak, low-budget AM stations; the most successful sports talk stations operate primarily with local programs and supplement their programming with the broadcasting of sports events, usually involving the local teams in the major professional sports leagues. This adds significant expenses to the station's operations, and must be balanced carefully with the regular talk schedule, as an incendiary view about the team by a host can lead to that team pulling their broadcasts from the station. Local stations may also hire personalities with polarizing opinions about sports topics and athletes to make some kind of national impact that might turn off listeners, and in large markets, sports talk stations may be made up of personalities who pay stations for their show time and their advertising, disallowing any natural flow between each program, along with in-station competitions about whose show has the most impact. Ratings Pew researchers found in 2004 that 17% of the public regularly listens to talk radio. This audience is mostly male, middle-aged, and conservative. Among those who regularly listen to talk radio, 41% are Republican and 28% are Democrats. Furthermore, 45% describe themselves as conservatives, compared with 18% who say they are progressive/liberals. In 2011, the Arbitron portable people meter ratings system, compiled data suggesting that out of 11 nationally rated radio formats, talk radio had lost nearly the most market share and ratings continue to slide. In 2013, Arbitron's executive summary noted that " 92% of consumers aged 12 years and older listen to the radio each week" and "news-talk-information and talk-personality remained number one in PPM markets and number two in the rest of the U.S." Some of the most-listened-to radio programs in the United States are talk radio shows or have talk radio elements like The Sean Hannity Show and All Things Considered. See also Mass media and American politics References Further reading History of talk radio Hot talk: Politically oriented talk radio: David C. Barker; Rushed to Judgment: Talk Radio, Persuasion, and American Political Behavior Columbia University Press, 2002 Stephen Earl Bennett; "Americans' Exposure to Political Talk Radio and Their Knowledge of Public Affairs" in Journal of Broadcasting &