To identify the descriptors most frequently associated with four popular television talk show hosts and to isolate the fundamental dimensions of the images of those talk show hosts, a study surveyed 209 students from Memphis State University and the University of Arkansas (Little Rock) about their impressions of Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, and Phil Donahue. Three items--exposure, saliency, and familiarity--were used to construct viewer involvement. In a pilot study, students from different universities listed all of the words they associated with each of the four talk show hosts. The most frequently listed descriptors and their opposites were used to create the semantic differential scales for this study. The images of the four hosts were assessed using four instruments of 20 nine-point semantic differential scales. Separate factor analyses were run on each group of 20 semantic differential scales. Analyses revealed that Carson was characterized by his class, Letterman by his arrogant wit, Winfrey by her appearance and concern, and Donahue by his competence and liberalness. (Nine tables of data are appended). (MM)