UPDATE: Topic Driven Social Radio has launched on TalkStreamLive.com of which the below article was based on. To participate and learn about this exiting new phase of Talk Radio visit their site.

Internet Killed the Radio Star  There is a looming change in the way we go about choosing our favorite Talk Radio shows in addition creating a ripple effect being felt anywhere from a dusty radio station broadcasting to a tiny market from a remote desert location all the way to the megawatt giants transmitting atop the Empire State building. A certain Internet streaming pioneer is about to revolutionize the distribution of Talk Radio by way of "Topic Driven-Social Radio". TopTalkRadio.com has just been notified directly from the source that it's unleashing of the "Topic Driven" format whereby listeners can direct the discussion and drive the traffic to their favorite Talk Shows and discover new ones is reportedly only "Days away".  This new redirected and uncontainable firestorm of Talk Radio traffic will navigate and spread with "speed of a click" real time trending talk radio topics created, posted and shared through social media. This design should certainly cause a shift in both discovery listener traffic as well as devoted listener traffic on the Internet consequentially potentially even playing a role in the shaping of talk radio programming across the board where producers will be scrambling in keeping up with relevant and time sensitive content that is all the flurry during their shows.    Personality driven talk radio is for the most part either in a state of stagnation, shrinkage or slow death hence this new form of talk radio can not only breath new life in thes dormant shows but also better level the playing field between well known brands and the bonanza of independent Internet only hosts. "Talk Show discovery" will be a new and heavily used industry term and it's importance paramount for many careers will either rise like a phoenix or sink like a stones depending on their discovery numbers. Although it is clear how this potentially can provide new opportunities for smaller known hosts and shows to compete for some of the same markets dominated by the On-Air behemoths they will both need to sharpen their game to compete for headlining and top posted discussion topics.  For the last 50 years talk radio has come in a few basic flavors; caller driven, personality driven and sometimes a mixture of both.  Enter the age of the socnets and we will soon witness the birth of a new form of talk radio. Don't worry, Talk Radio will never die but it will change. There is something very powerful about a hash tag that will soon leave the tower and transmitter in the dust bin of history. The # tag is the key that will carry talk radio to new distribution and markets only dreamed of and will also drive the discussions of the shows. It is foreseeable how this could pose fears among big market repeater radio stations that are in the business airing syndicated shows as their 60 mile market radius cannot compete with socnets and the smart distribution as friends share talk shows with each other without geographic limitations and other corporate restraints. Will the Internet make or break the Internet star? Well if anything at all it will certainly prove an interesting evolutionary phase to witness it's measurement of impact Topic Driven Social Radio will have on the industry on numerous levels. TopTalkRadio.com/KJK/TSL/BF 7/10/2012

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