call-in show noun1 •In television or radio programming, a type of talk show in which a host and one or more guests sometimes converse with members of the listening or viewing audience who telephone the show while the program is being broadcast.Billed as "the first and only" nationwide call-in show," it invites listeners to "call collect from anywhere in North America to have a heart-to-heart squawk." — 1969 formscall-in shows