The change talk radio needs?

Amid all the pressures on the radio industry, news-talk stations see an opportunity — and his name is Barack Obama.

After eight years of playing defense for President Bush, the conservatives who dominate talk radio are back on offense. Hours after Obama's election, the country's most popular radio host, Rush Limbaugh, was talking about the "rebirth of principled opposition." Sean Hannity, the second-highest-rated host, quickly cast his afternoon show as the home of "conservatism in exile."

It is a lively time to be behind the microphone. One television talker, Joe Scarborough, is starting a radio show. Another, Bill O'Reilly, is ending his.

Several of the supporting actors in this year's Republican primaries are showing interest in the medium, too. Fred Thompson, the "Law & Order" star and former senator turned presidential candidate, will begin hosting a two-hour show in March, as the syndicator Westwood One is expected to announce this week. Thompson's show would take the place of O'Reilly's.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and Republican presidential candidate, had been in negotiations with Westwood One for O'Reilly's time slot, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

Mike Huckabee, the former Republican presidential candidate who now has a weekend program on the Fox News Channel, is trying radio as well, hosting short segments for ABC Radio beginning Jan. 5.

While there are plenty of topics to talk about — and plenty of hosts willing to do the talking — nagging questions about the business remain. A sharp advertising downturn is limiting revenues for stations. And some hosts are worrying about the relevance of talk radio in a digital age.

But the radio microphone, at least for now, still works. This year, news talk ranked as the most popular radio format in the United States, surpassing country music for the first time ever. Forty stations have added news talk in the last year, for a total of 2,064 that use the format, up from about 1,500 a decade ago, according to the trade publication M Street.

That means 2,064 stations need 24 hours of programming every day. Stations with tight budgets increasingly rely on programs from Premiere Radio Networks, ABC Radio Networks and other syndication companies.

Five of the highest-paid syndicated names in news-talk radio — Limbaugh, Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage and Laura Ingraham — signed new contracts in the past 12 months, all but guaranteeing that they will be rallying listeners for the duration of Obama's four-year term. Limbaugh's landmark contract, announced in July, promised a total of $400 million through 2016.

With a Democrat in the White House, "the conservative hosts will have more fun. There's no doubt about that," said Gary Schonfeld, the president of network programming for Westwood One.

But will listeners stay tuned? Talk radio usually "becomes a little less popular the year after an election," said Maja Mijatovic, the vice president and director of national radio for the media buying agency Horizon Media.

However, next year promises to be a unique one, with grim forecasts about the economy and renewed interest in the presidency. Advertisers and syndicators are expecting a busy year because of the incoming administration. "I think people are going to tune in more than ever," Mijatovic said.

Premiere Radio, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, is projecting a consistent audience from 2008 to 2009 as it signs on advertisers. "There's more to talk about than there has been in a hundred years," said Charlie Rahilly, the president of Premiere. "There is something almost historical in nature in the news every single day."