It’s rare for me to go back and look at old columns I’ve written, or to try to answer questions I’ve posed in this space. But this one felt like it deserved a follow-up. When the Daily Wire and Westwood One ended their relationship a year ago, I wanted to see how both sides handled the fallout.
At the time, when I broke the story for Barrett Media that the shows would be leaving Westwood One, it felt like a major shift in the news/talk landscape. Westwood One wasn’t simply losing three shows. It was losing some of the core tentpoles in its conservative talk lineup.
And if we’re being honest, the company has seen its star power shrink even further in the year since. Dan Bongino’s exit only made that picture more bleak. Those are massive hits by any measure. This isn’t a knock on Guy Benson or Vince Coglianese. They host perfectly fine shows. They are reliable and professional. But there’s a difference between “solid” and “top of the food chain.” Bongino and Shapiro carry a level of weight and recognition that drives audience passion in a way few others can replicate.
But this wasn’t a one-sided stumble. The Daily Wire has had its own rough patches since parting ways with terrestrial radio. Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Boreing left the company. Rumors about a potential sale to FOX cropped up. Before that, there were rumblings about financial instability. And at various points this year, Shapiro, Knowles, and Walsh each found themselves in the middle of controversies that generated more heat.
It has been a messy twelve months for both sides of the breakup.
Still, something I wrote last November kept sticking with me: Does The Daily Wire need news/talk radio? Or is it the other way around?
12 months later, I think we have our answer.
In December of last year — the final full month Shapiro’s show aired in national syndication on Westwood One — The Ben Shapiro Show ranked 13th in Podtrac’s Top Podcasts by U.S. Unique Monthly Audience. Fast forward to October 2025, and the show sits at eighth. That is not the trajectory of a brand suffering from a lack of terrestrial presence. In fact, it suggests the opposite. The show lost zero momentum without hundreds of AM and FM affiliates. It may have even gained traction.
So here we are with what feels like a clear, if uncomfortable, conclusion. The Daily Wire has not experienced a dramatic drop in relevance since cutting ties with national radio. Yes, Tucker Carlson said recently that he believes the company will collapse within five years. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s not.
But the numbers today don’t show a product that has shrunk because it left the airwaves. And I’ll admit, when I wrote that column last fall, I think I expected at least some loss of reach or brand strength once the radio megaphone went silent.
I was wrong.
Now the question becomes: What does this result say about the news/talk radio space?
If some of the most influential conservative media figures in the country can leave syndication and come out the other side not only intact but thriving, what does that imply about the leverage radio once had? What does it say about the value proposition that networks like Westwood One offer? And what does it mean that a digital brand — one that often courts controversy — still appears stronger outside the traditional radio ecosystem than inside it?
I’m afraid to dive into the true answer of those questions, because I’m not sure I’ll love the conclusions I reach.
Because if The Daily Wire doesn’t need news/talk radio to remain a powerhouse, but radio needed The Daily Wire, then the balance of power is shifting in ways the industry has been slow to acknowledge.
But one year later, it’s hard to avoid.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
