Within the journalistic tradition, the names Edward R. Murrow, Mike Wallace, Ted Koppel and Bill Moyers stand out. News talk hosts like Murrow, Koppel, and Moyers do not have bands, sidekicks, or a studio audience. Their roles as talk show hosts are extensions of their roles as reporters and news commentators. Their shows appear in evening when more adult and older aged viewers are watching. The morning host teams that mix "happy talk" and information also generally come from the news background. This format was pioneered by NBC's Sylvester "Pat" Weaver and host Dave Garroway with the Today show in the early 1950s. Hosts who started out on early morning news talk shows and went on to anchor the evening news or primetime interview shows include: Walter Cronkite, John Chancellor, Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw, and Jane Pauley. Each developed a distinctive style within the more conversational format of their morning show.
Coming from a journalism background but engaging in a wider arena of cultural topics were hosts like Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey, and Geraldo Rivera. Mixing news, entertainment, and public affairs, Phil Donahue established "talk television," an extension of the "hot topic" live radio call-in shows of the 1960s. Donahue himself ran a radio show in Dayton, Ohio before premiering his daytime television talk show. Donahue's Dayton show, later syndicated nationally, featured audience members talking about the social issues that affected their lives.

在新闻报道的传统，名称爱德华默罗，迈克华莱士，特德科佩尔和比尔莫耶斯脱颖而出。新闻主持人像默罗，科佩尔，和莫耶斯没有乐队，伙伴，或一个电台听众。他们作为脱口秀主持人的角色是自己为记者和新闻评论员角色的扩展。他们的节目出现在，很多的成人和老年人年龄观众正在收看的傍晚。上午的节目“快乐的谈话”和信息也普遍来自该新闻背景。此形式的首创是NBC的Sylvester“pat”和出现在20世纪50年代初的Dave Garroway with the Today show。那些主持人开始在早间新闻谈话节目和晚间新闻主播或黄金访谈节目的包括：沃尔特克朗凯特，约翰校长，芭芭拉华特丝，汤姆布罗考，和简保利。每个人都在他们的早晨节目中发展出一种风格独特的多会话形式。
来自新闻背景，但从事文化领域的广泛话题的主持人有像菲尔休，奥普拉和热拉尔多里韦拉。新闻，娱乐，及公共事务，菲尔休创立了“talk television ”是一种出现在20世纪60年代电台直播的通话节目“hot topic”的发展。在主持他的白天电视谈话节目前,Donahue自己的主持一个在俄亥俄州代顿的广播节目。最后一句,实在不知道该怎么翻..