Toast to 10: Then, Now, Tomorrow

The Toast to 10 series presented by Premiere Networks, is a month-long series looking back on 10 years of Barrett Media. Throughout the month, you’ll hear from those who’ve shaped the company, managed and created the content, read the site, and partnered with the brand between 2015-2025 to share how they’ve seen it play a role in covering the media industry and educating, celebrating, and challenging the business.

Celebrating 10-years in business is a feat that I’m very proud of. I’m not the type to seek credit or slow down but knowing this is a special achievement isn’t lost on me. But how do I capture 10 years worth of trials and tribulations in business in a digestible column? I’m not sure that’s possible. If you don’t like reading, I’d exit now. This article will take you through various parts of our journey, and give you an idea of where I see us moving in the future.

None of this happens without the support of our readers, our partners, our clients, our members/voices, and many staffers and contributors. The list is endless. We’re spending the month of September highlighting the different parts of this brand that have helped it survive and thrive during the past ten years.

Opening Statement

The odds of a business lasting 10 years are 35% according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For an independent media outlet, the odds are even lower. Yet here we are still plugging away. To say that I expected this when I announced the brand’s arrival in September 2015 would be false. At that time, I had saved enough money before leaving 95.7 The Game to move home to NY, gain custody of my son, and give it a full-year of effort. At best, maybe I could’ve pushed it eighteen months.

I paid the first six months of rent up front to make sure my family was supported and finances weren’t a distraction. From there, I locked myself in our downstairs office 13-16 hours per day and began building the brand. It’s evolved many times to what you see currently when you visit our website, follow our socials, open our newsletters, or attend our conferences. I’m constantly examining our business and the marketplace, building/strengthening relationships, and have a good feel of when to stay the course and when to pivot. I’ve made many mistakes in business since 2015, and there are times the stress of doing this takes its toll. However, not once have I woken up in ten years dreading what I do. That itself is success.

The SportsRadioPD.com Years (2015-2019)

Sportsradiopd.com was created to give folks in sports radio an outlet they could turn to for ideas, insight, and information. The site launched in June 2014 before I even knew Barrett Sports Media would be a thing. I was programming 95.7 The Game and my contract stated that I needed permission for outside ventures. Since I knew that I was going to leave 95.7 The Game the next summer to return to New York, and the company wasn’t necessarily encouraging of folks exploring side projects, I chose to roll the dice. If they fired me, I’d just get a head start on moving home.

We didn’t provide content every day back then. I’d interview people at other stations occasionally, and use it as an opportunity to create content and scout talent either for 95.7 The Game or a future employer. From there I started adding my opinions and insights, and even announced my forthcoming departure from The Game. There were other sites at that time like Insideradio.com, RadioInk.com, Talkers.com, RadioInsight.com, AllAccess.com, and others, but most overlooked sports radio, prioritizing music or business. The industry didn’t have Andrew Marchand covering it daily, frontofficesports.com and The Ringer didn’t exist, and newspapers disliked sports radio and only wrote about it when it involved talent and could help drive clicks. I saw an opening, built the website, and hoped people would check it out.

My first two consulting clients didn’t sign on until April/May 2016. One was a prior employer, and an outlet that I’m proud to still work with today. I didn’t sell website or newsletter advertising or have any idea of SEO, Google Adsense or other online revenue affiliate models, which meant that I worked the first 8 months for free. It was simply a website with informative content, podcasts created by myself or promoted through a content sharing partnership with a former employee and friend Zach McCrite, some promotion on a personal Twitter and Facebook account, and direct emailing of links to industry folks. To suggest it was a business would be a stretch.

I did everything myself during the first two years including talking to people across the format, gaining inside information, and pursuing consulting work. Content grew from 30 to 300 to 3,000 to 30,000, and suddenly there were expectations. My motto was ‘I’d rather reach 500 executives than 5,000 fans’, because I wanted to work with the industry. However, when you start sharing thoughts and reporting news, things change. Suddenly, PDs and on-air friends became hesitant to talk, and clients got annoyed if they were ranked lower than competitors on Top 20 lists. A friend once said, ‘this isn’t what a consultant is supposed to do’. I replied, ‘I’m not a consultant, I’m a business partner and publisher and I write what I see, hear, think, and feel.’

I challenged the sports radio industry over shortcomings with diversity, called out the Talkers Heavy Hundred, highlighted under the radar talent, shared local ratings stories, visited studios/offices for in-person stories, and tackled topics few could. Each time I hit the road to help clients though, the site got quiet. Soon, folks would ask ‘where’s your content?’. As expectations grew by 2017, I added Demetri Ravanos, Dave Greene, Tyler McComas, Brian Noe, Andy Masur, Matt Fishman, and Andy Drake to help. Brandon Contes, Jeff Caves, Jack Ferris, Chrissy Paradis and others would get involved later.

Where things really started to change was in March 2017. ESPN began to attract attention over an increase in political commentary. I knew it was a hot topic, so I conducted a survey, which to my surprise, received over 1300 responses. I shared the information along with my perspective and thought it’d be helpful to senior leadership.

Instead, I was blasted publicly and privately by many at the company. Others internally reached out to show support. Interest in the piece went nuts. Bob Iger was even asked about it on an earnings call. Months later, the issue reached its peak when Jemele Hill called out President Trump. I wrote a follow up, which produced even more reaction. I discovered that our voice and coverage mattered, and amplifying it was important.

There are plenty of others that produced impact and ruffled a few feathers. I’ll go deeper in detail this month when I reflect on the 10 biggest stories we’ve created during the past decade.

Barrett Sports Media Arrives (2019-2024)

Our first think-tank in 2018 in Chicago planted the seeds for a website name change. My friend, Mitch Rosen who runs 670 The Score and BetMGM Network offered space in his building to gather the format’s top programmers. I had no idea if I could deliver a compelling agenda, keep a conference on time, make it visually appealing or sway 40-50 people to join us, but as luck would have it, they did.

As interest continued to grow, I made the decision in 2019 to rename the URL from sportsradiopd.com to BarrettSportsMedia.com. With sports television coverage increasing, yours truly no longer programming a sports station, and the company name already known as BSM, the Sports Radio PD name felt disconnected. We built a sharper looking website, got more active on social media, and took another step forward.

That paved the way for making the BSM Summit a public event in 2019. We hosted it in Los Angeles at the Grammy Museum. I also started hosting more podcasts, consulting brands everywhere, was quoted often in mainstream publications, and got more involved creating custom content projects with Demetri Ravanos who was now working full-time. We started to accept advertising on the website too. Core Image Studio, Mark Rider Voiceovers, and Steve Stone Voiceovers were among our first clients. Today, we still work with Core Image Studio and Steve Stone, and are proud to do so.

All was trending upward until March 2020 when the pandemic hit. That provided a valuable business lesson. Three weeks after it started I had one client cancel and two others pause. I told Demetri Ravanos at the time, ‘this may be it’. We created the SportsCenter Greatest Anchor Tournament which gave folks something fun to get involved with on social media during an otherwise depressing time. Shortly thereafter, we created the ‘Managing the Crisis’ podcast, featuring leaders across the industry from radio, TV, advertising, etc.

Once again, luck was on my side. A conversation with an advertising executive friend of mine helped her gain business. In return, she placed advertising buys on three of my partners radio stations. This was during a time when stations were losing 40-60% of revenue each month. That unexpected situation was a huge help and reinforced my belief in being a business partner more than a consultant.

Knowing we had to convey a position of strength regardless of the climate, I added Jay Mariotti, Rob Guerrera, John Michaels, and Seth Everett. Individually nobody broke the bank but collectively, the costs coupled with less consulting work tested my convictions of whether or not it was a wise business move. A few months later, a key client came on board, and ESPN would sign on for a 3-month campaign to promote its new morning show. Those two business deals helped us finish the pandemic year up, something I never thought possible in March.

BSM would continue to grow between 2020-2024, increasing in traffic each year. The Summits became a hit, the Top 20’s really took off, and newsletters became a force in 2023. We added a few talented writers too. Ryan Glasspiegel joined as a contributor after his stints at The Big Lead and Outkick. He has since gone on to Front Office Sports after the NY Post and is crushing it. Brandon Contes wrapped up a 4-year run here, moving to Mediate and Awful Announcing. Derek Futterman would start his career with us too before leaving in July.

Meanwhile, business growth meant more demand on the content side. Garrett Searight and Alex Reynolds would join full-time in 2023 to help stabilize our editorial and social media teams alongside Demetri Ravanos. Soon we were cranking out content all-day and at night, producing annual gains each year. Demetri would reach a point where he wanted to pursue another challenge. That led to Dave Greene returning to become sports editor. Dave performed those duties until February 2025, which is when John Mamola came on board.

Speaking of John Mamola, he’ll have a piece this week that looks at things on the editorial side. I’m curious to hear how they view the brand, business, and key responsibilities.

Say Hello to Barrett News Media (2020-2024)

During the pandemic and two-months before the 2020 election, I made the decision to enter the news/talk media space. Barrett News Media was born with a staff comprised of Rick Schultz, Ryan Hedrick, Eduardo Razo, Jordan Bondurant, Doug Pucci, Angel James, Kathryn Maddux, Kyle Thomas, Chrissy Paradis, and Pete Mundo. Jim Cryns and Jesse Karangu would join months later. Perry Simon, Andy Bloom, Dr. Ed Cohen, Peter Thiele, Krystina Alarcon Carroll, Dave Williams, Brian Shactman, Jim Avila, Lauren Ashburn, Bill Zito and others would get involved down the line.

Though we didn’t have strong collective format experience or relationships when we launched, serving daily content was needed for the news/talk format. Our prioritization of daily news started to gain traction, and as the connections grew, so too did the interest. The first few times I heard Mark Simone, Mike Gallagher, Bill Cunningham, Sid Rosenberg and other notable talent mention our work on their shows, I knew we were on the right track.

During our first two years, a few of our stories struck a nerve. Because relationships weren’t formed and trust wasn’t established, some questioned if we were singling them out. We even had a situation where I had to part ways with a writer who did something professionally indefensible with an accomplished host.

After making staffing adjustments and meeting with groups, things started to settle down. By 2023 we were creating our first news summit in Nashville, moving it to Washington D.C. in 2024, and now in 2025, we’re days away from hosting it in New York City. We now partner with Newsmax, Ramsey Show, Mike Gallagher, Erick Erickson, Premiere Networks, Radio America, JJ Surma Voiceovers, Red Apple Media, Salem Radio Network, and Jim Cutler on the news side through our newsletters, website, and conferences. Those relationships exist because we’ve put the time in to build relationships and highlight them the right way.

Let me address one thing that some have raised a few times which is inaccurate. We cover news/talk media not politics. I don’t care if folks lean right or left or prefer Fox, CNN, MSNBC (MS Now), Newsmax or something else. If they work in broadcasting, have a story to tell, or a connection to a media angle, we’ll consider writing about it.

Since moving into this space, we’ve had folks at right leaning networks speculate that we lean left. Others at left-leaning networks have suggested the opposite. The news/talk radio format in general is heavily right leaning. That’s beyond our control. Garrett Searight and I try to treat everyone with respect regardless of their political beliefs. If you think there’s an agenda here because of the coverage, you’re entitled to your opinion. I’m just here to tell you, it’s incorrect. Everything we do runs thru the filter of ‘does it matter to a news media industry professional?’.

Barrett Media is Born With Music Coverage (2024-Present)

Covering music radio began entering my head around 2020 after we went into news, but I didn’t expect to take the plunge until 2026-2027. Once All Access shut down and a year passed without others making original content a greater focus, I decided ‘the heck with waiting, we’re going in now’. I wrote at length about it last July when we rebranded. Though we’ve only scratched the surface, I’m glad to be in the space. I believe it has great potential.

We launched with Jeff Lynn, Charese Fruge, Ron Harrell, Robby Bridges, Keith Berman, Jacquie Cadorette, Amy Snider and DC Hendrix representing our writing team. As is the case with building a brand, some things worked, some didn’t, and eventually, tweaks had to be made. Keith Cunningham, Mike Stern, Ken Johnson, and Jim Ryan joined in April 2025, and so far, so good.

The biggest challenge covering music radio is two fold. First, it takes time to build trust, consistency, relationships, and enthusiasm in a foreign space, especially when folks only think of reading industry websites for job listings and hired/fired stories. It took us 2 years covering news media before we established trust and interest. With music radio, we have stronger columnists at launch time than we did with news, however, day-to-day news is more of a challenge. Can we create stuff and post it? Yes, but whether or not it matters to enough people is a different issue.

We did come out of the gate strong with the introduction of 20 Brands in 20 Days. We brought that back in 2025 too, and I see it as an annual staple moving forward. I’ve also enjoyed publishing a few pieces turned in by Shitty Radio Jock. Something tells me the next piece from Shitty is likely to produce some interest.

Without question though, our biggest music radio hit was introducing format professionals to the Top 20 series. Highlighting 9 formats in 9 days was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. I was pleasantly surprised by the willingness to participate across the industry by format programmers and executives. It has opened the door to building relationships, which is excellent.

Personally, what I really enjoyed most about the first year of covering music was seeing how engaged and supportive folks were at CRS and Morning Show Bootcamp. It felt like those events truly mattered to those attending them. Some in sports and news feel that way too about our events but there are many who don’t ever attend and don’t know what they’re missing out on.

The move to become Barrett Media wasn’t just about music though. We brought everything under one roof, reformatted our newsletters, added John Mamola as sports editor when Dave Greene left, and continue to explore ways to grow. We’re in the early innings of the rebrand and performing at a similar pace to 2025. The goal is to be higher and with a few tweaks I’m confident we’ll get there. In the coming weeks, John Mamola, Garrett Searight and I will share how folks in multiple formats view the brand. Keep an eye out for it.

Future of the Brand

I expect the next ten years to be more challenging than the past ten. When we arrived, the space was light. Now, it’s heavy. Between the rise of streaming/podcasting, the decline of traditional media, the explosion of artificial intelligence, and the frequent changes to social media algorithms, I see a lot of turbulence for us and others between 2025-2035. Fortunately, our business model isn’t built on traffic, we’re carrying no debt, and we’re solid at looking around the corner and changing our direction when it makes sense to pivot.

As I look ahead, I’m confident that we’ll be more active in video form. Writing is still our foundation, but visual promotion matters. We are now active on 9 platforms, and plan to increase video content. If you’re following along, you’ve likely seen our Barrett Media Minute, clips of different media people, and videos promoting our newsletters, member directory, and jobs listings. More long-form content is on the horizon.

Our Sports and News/Talk radio coverage remains our greatest strength. The lack of local ratings battles due to groups cancelling Nielsen, and reduced competition and/or high profile names on the national stage have made it less appealing to readers, but overall, there’s still a lot worth highlighting. If/When Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, Jim Rome, Chris Russo and others sign off during the next decade, I wonder who emerges as the format’s next top voices.

Where we have work to do covering sports/news is in the television/digital space. Adding more quality people to write who know the business and have relationships inside of it is important. We’re in good shape with most sports networks but I’d like to make inroads with one or two others. News television is more complicated, but I remain interested in building productive relationships.

Music radio coverage on the other hand is a work in progress. I entered the space knowing it’d take time. News took 2-3 years before we got it right. We’ve had a number of wins and prioritized building relationships and attending key events. I plan to do more of that in 2025-2026. I’m also working on establishing ourselves with record labels and artists too.

But there has to be more original content to interest professionals beyond a morning column and/or feature. I’m more interested exploring the why behind key issues than monitoring individual social media posts to create stories about where someone got hired. Jeff Lynn did a nice job for us and recently exited after a 14 month run, and I’m using it as an opportunity to take a fresh look at where we are, where we want to go, and what’s needed. Should we have more focus on artists? Labels? More on-air or programming features? Let me know at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.

There may be a shift in how we present music content in the future in our newsletters. We began sending out The Nooner on Friday’s and the response so far has been excellent. We will likely add a Tuesday delivery at some point. That could change the presentation of content in the morning and evening edition newsletters. We’re reviewing data and will make an informed decision in the future. Once I know for sure, I’ll update you.

With the BNM Summit and Barrett Bash upon us, conferences are another

Lastly, I’ve put a lot of attention over the past decade on the content arm of our business. But now it’s time to add some sales support. Stephanie Eads and I handle everything, and could use a sharp, savvy, experienced sales professional. Between the website, newsletters, social media, video, conferences, and custom content, we have a ton to monetize. Passion for the brand and B2B knowledge is a must. Interested parties can reach out to Stephanie for more details at Stephanie@BarrettMedia.com.

Closing Statement

You can have a great idea and believe strongly in it but sometimes you have the wrong strategy, people, or just bad timing. Many on the outside looking in see us a strong brand. The traffic, consulting, and advertising partnerships support that we are. Our conferences and Top 20’s are viewed favorably. We gain access to key people for stories regardless of who’s writing for us.

But to run a business successfully requires significant investment and being nimble. I’ll provide opportunity and resources, but I do expect folks who write here to have passion and knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry, be open to feedback, meet deadlines, promote their content, and create material that appeals to a broad professional audience. If growth stalls or declines, I’m going to examine why and make adjustments. If it’s due to poor internal decision making, I address it and reset expectations. This is fun and rewarding but it is still work. If anyone doesn’t want to be here, I don’t want them to stay because it’s not going to be good for us or them.

A business that understands its audiences interests and serves them what they value consistently, has a strong chance to thrive. I try to use that approach with our marketing partners, consulting clients, and anyone who makes time to attend one of our conferences. If they’re happy, we’re happy, and the results are positive, the relationship is likely to continue. We’re not trying to reinvent anything or suggest we’ve unlocked the secrets to permanent success. We’re just trying to play a small role in making the industry better. It’s worked ok from 2015 to now. Maybe if we play our cards right we can do this again in 2035.

Thanks for your continued support. It truly makes a difference in everything we do!