The Toast to 10 series, presented by Premiere Networks, is a month-long look back at 10 years of Barrett Media. Throughout the month, you’ll hear from those who have shaped the company, managed and created content, read the site, and partnered with the brand between 2015 and 2025, sharing how they’ve seen it play a role in covering the media industry and educating, celebrating, and challenging the business.
The feedback shared by industry professionals for this series has been eye opening. I knew reflecting on ten years would take us down many paths, and what mattered most was highlighting our readers, partners, and friends who we’ve had the privilege of covering. Seeing the feedback on how much our work is enjoyed and valued is humbling. It makes the countless sacrifices well worth it.
Those who know me best know that I’m laser focused on what I do. I don’t take much time to absorb what kind of impact we’ve had on the industry because there’s always more to do. I appreciate all of the kind words said about myself and our brand but lately I’m feeling a little like Reese Bobby in Step Brothers. The overflow of positivity has me ready to get thrown out of an Applebees. John and Garrett did a heck of a job finding everyone under the sun who loves us. The haters must not have been available, haha.
In all seriousness, I’m proud of the past decade, but the past is in the past. My focus now is on the future. Demetri Ravanos and I spoke last week as we put a bow on a great 8-year run together. He reminded me that sometimes things run their course, and a new direction is needed. I believe that staying fresh requires constant evolution. If growth demands changing editors/writers, modifying content, launching new events, creating new partnership opportunities, learning new areas of the industry or switching how and where we promote ourselves, we’ll adapt. We can’t afford not to.
Stephanie Eads has told me many times that I’m comfortable being the asshole. It’s why I took the stage to Falling in Reverse’s Just Like You at the Barrett Bash. Nobody wants to be the bad guy, but when you own or manage a company, you have to make tough calls. Saying yes is easy. Doing what’s difficult to protect and grow your product, culture and bottom line is harder. I’d prefer the consistency of our first 6-7 years with staff over the past 3-4 years of changes, but with growth comes more work, responsibility, expectations, and headaches.
This is what I love to do. I expect to do it well, and for years to come. I want to work with people who share my love and passion for the industry, and see the value of working with and for us. If we remain educated and connected across the industry, retain trust from our partners, align with new groups, and hire people who are committed and love writing stories and sharing information, maybe we can write a note like this again in 2035.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Just as media managers analyze ratings, content wins and losses, sales activity vs. revenue production, etc., I do the same with our business. I examine if the audience reads our writers, which brands-people-issues connect best, which days-hours-platforms we perform best on, what parts of our newsletter matter most, which sponsorships best help our partners, and who values our work. When I make decisions, I use data and my gut to guide them. My own tastes and opinions matter less than what our readers and partners enjoy.
My goal of making this a daily destination for media coverage remains unchanged. Despite having a large reach across the business, I know we can still get bigger and better. Having 25K receive our newsletters is great, reaching 50K is even better. As Coach Red famously said in The Waterboy, “The only thing better than one Crawfish dinner is five Crawfish dinner.” With that in mind, here’s what we have planned to serve our readers and partners in 2026.
Newsletter and Website Separation
Starting Monday October 13th, The Nooner will be sent 3x per week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday) to music radio and record label professionals. If you enjoy our music radio content and would like to receive it, click here to sign up. This new video below will hit our social platforms today to promote it. This newsletter is where you’ll receive our Music columns, features, and news. It will also include valuable stories on the internet from other great music/radio outlets. The plan is to deliver eight stories per delivery.
The Barrett Media Morning Edition and Evening Edition newsletters will prioritize sports and news media content starting October 13th. There’s a lot of crossover between those two areas, much more than what we see with music radio. The story count will become 5-6 articles each morning, and 8 in the evening. Columns, features, and original pieces will occupy the morning edition. News of the day remains prioritized in the evening edition.
Additionally, readers will see the website sections return to Sports, News, Music, and Business in November. Showcasing radio/audio and television/video together made sense, but certain content areas get lost this way. Feedback from our audience suggests a preference for the original way so we’re adjusting to satisfy our readers.
New Talent and Expanded Coverage
With increased interest, business, and expectations comes a need for more help. I’m looking for a Sports TV Columnist, News TV Columnist, and Country Radio Columnist. I may also add a Daily Media News Writer. If you think you can help, email me at Jason@BarrettMedia.com. I’d also like to add a Sales Specialist. Selling B2B for an industry outlet is different than selling radio-TV-podcast ads. Prior experience and the right fit is necessary so email Stephanie@BarrettMedia.com if you’re interested.
Some additions I’m excited to announce today will bolster our music/radio coverage. I’m excited to welcome Phil Becker to our writing team. I’ve been a fan of Phil’s writing for a while, and his knowledge, passion, and success as Alpha Media’s Executive Vice President of Content are well documented. We have a lot in common and share a ton of mutual friendships. I’m excited to have Phil write a weekly column for us on Wednesday’s, starting October 1st. His insights will make industry professionals smarter.
I am also thrilled to welcome Gunz and Terrie Carr to our crew. I’ve been a fan of both for years. They each are passionate about music, have media backgrounds, enjoy connecting with people, and have existing relationships with artists and labels. Mike will write a weekly artist feature on Wednesdays starting October 1st. Terrie will add a weekly artist feature on Mondays starting October 13th. In addition, Mike Stern will expand his role, adding a weekly music radio feature on Friday’s starting October 3rd.
I have more to evaluate to make sure we enter 2026 with momentum. First though I’m taking a vacation October 4-13. Dylan Barrett and I are heading to London, Paris, and Amsterdam as part of his college graduation gift.
The First-Ever Barrett Media Mega Summit
The BSM Summit and BNM Summit have both been successful but day 2 is harder for media folks to attend than day 1 in both formats. In addition, as a brand that cover music, sports, and news media daily, music radio is absent from our conferences. That is going to change in 2026. The idea of doing three two-day events didn’t feel right but neither did going another year without including music radio. So we’re going to do something cool, different, and exciting.
New York City will be the location. We will announce the date and venue later but in 2026, the Barrett Media Summit will become a three-day event. It will feature news media on day 1, sports media on day 2, and music radio on day 3. The Premiere Networks awards ceremony will close each show. After-parties will follow each day’s sessions.
This will allow industry professionals to choose between attending one day for format specific issues or staying for additional days to learn and connect with folks from other areas of the business. Individual and combo sponsorships and tickets will be available. Stay tuned for additional details!
Top 20 Series Expansion
The radio industry has a strong connection to our Top 20 series. It delivers massive interest and grew even larger last year with the addition of music radio. We are continuing it in 2026 except the series will move to February. We’ll start with sports radio during Super Bowl week, followed by News/Talk, and Music. Twenty one days of lists will be revealed during the month with over 750 shows, stations, and PDs featured. The voting process will once again include radio executives and program directors.
But next year, the Top 20 series won’t just highlight those working on radio content. We’re expanding the series. This is something I have wanted to do for years. As we enter the next decade, it’s time to take the plunge. The above image shows what we’re introducing to celebrate the best in the media business in 2026. It’s a large undertaking but this business is too big to only showcase one side of it. More details to come in the near future.
Social Media Changes, More Videos and New Digital Shows
Barrett Media is now on YouTube, Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, and Rumble. Across each platform you’ll find our daily Barrett Media Minute video voiced by Garrett Searight. You may have also noticed more personality and programmer clips from our Summits, and produced videos for the Newsletter, Jobs Section, Member Directory, and other things we offer. That’s all Dylan Barrett. We are also putting more social promotion on columns and features, and less on news unless it’s big or a breaking story. Folks looking for news can find it on the website and receive it in our newsletters.
In addition, we will launch two new video shows starting in January 2026. Yours truly is getting back behind the mic with The Jason Barrett Podcast. It will be available in both audio and video form. My goal is to talk with media pros across all corners of the industry not just sports radio. We will also introduce The 4-Cast, a new weekly video show featuring our editors/writers and a rotating industry guest. The roundtable styled show will cover the four top media stories each week in twenty minutes or less.
Closing:
I like to look at our company like a book. The first ten chapters were excellent but they’ve already been written. Chapter eleven won’t retain your interest if we don’t add new wrinkles, characters, and advance the story. Some people who write here will land bigger opportunities, lose interest in the industry, find new areas of passion, and in some cases, fail to perform or fit in. Business partnerships and consulting clients may change too, so while we’re aligned, we might as well enjoy the ride because it doesn’t last forever.
To grow our business, subscribers, traffic, and conference attendees, evolving is critical. We’ve adapted many times since 2015, and will do more of it during the next decade. I hope those leading media companies and making marketing decisions are thinking similarly because a brand like ours elevates this industry. We have covered it extensively for ten years and have helped many partners grow their businesses. The Toast to 10 has reinforced that. We’re not the biggest site on the internet or the largest traffic driver but I’ll put our knowledge, relationships, depth of coverage, and ability to grow awareness and business up against anyone.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters today and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
