LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Steve Gruber has built a talk radio career on stories—some shocking, some small, but always told with a blunt, uncompromising style. This year, that persistence earned him a place among the nation’s top broadcasters: No. 95 on Talkers magazine’s “Heavy Hundred.” He’s the only Michigan-based host to make the 2025 list, an accomplishment he has now earned two years running.

Heavy hitters.

The “Heavy Hundred” is compiled annually by Talkers editors, who weigh factors like ratings and reach with less tangible qualities such as “courage,” “impact,” and “uniqueness.” The list covers thousands of radio hosts nationwide, with Sean Hannity, Dave Ramsey, and Brian Kilmeade leading the 2025 rankings.

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For Gruber, the recognition is a team win. “Hard work pays off, and I don’t mean just for me. I mean for the team,” he said. “We have a dedicated team of professionals that work hard every day to deliver commentary, but also with the background of facts. We want to be factually supported in whatever position we take and we are, we do our homework.”

A longtime journalist.

Gruber has been in the business for nearly three decades, starting at a Lansing Community College radio station and later working as an investigative reporter for NBC in Columbus. In 1994, he launched Wolf Creek Productions, producing outdoor programming for an international audience and completing three documentaries. 

Gruber returned to radio with The Steve Gruber Show in 2012, now airing on 20  affiliates across Michigan and earning him five “Best Morning Personality” awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. He is also now a regular White House correspondent.

What keeps him going is the chase? “What keeps me going are the stories,” Gruber said. “Whether it’s a story about the administration—this one, the last one, the one that could come in 2028—those are interesting. Personal stories about people struggling and overcoming the odds—whatever it may be—there’s always a great story. And every day I feel like I run into a story that keeps me going for another day.”

The daily pace gives way to purpose.

As for the pace of the job, he calls it “vicious.” 

“It used to be you’d have a big story that would last a couple of days or maybe a week. Now stories don’t last an hour or two before they get blasted out by another big story,” Gruber said. “You’ve got to be educated on what’s happening … Be prepared, do your homework, and never be surprised.”

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This approach, however, has given his show real-world impact. One example: his exclusive with a whistleblower on PFAS contamination—long-lasting “forever chemicals” that persist in water, soil, and the human body. 

“As a result of that interview, the governor’s administration changed everything about PFAS and began testing for PFAS and putting labs in Michigan,” Gruber recalled. “We changed public policy here and how we deal with forever chemicals in Michigan.”

For him, that’s the point of the job. “If you work hard, tell the truth, and are diligent about respecting the facts, you can really have impact,” Gruber said. 

Champions of the free market.

While Talkers editors note the “Heavy Hundred” is “as much art as science,” Gruber points to his ranking as validation of the principles that guide his show: “We’re champions of the free market … the American Constitution … free speech … and individual rights,” he said. 

Always direct, Gruber summed it up in his own way: “Never be shocked. I’ve seen some shocking things in my life up close … but in this business, you can’t be surprised. You just keep going, because the next story’s already waiting.”