So much happens so fast these days that it feels impossible to keep up let alone create long-term plans. Just yesterday we were talking about overcoming changes to social media algorithms. Then came the arrival of artificial intelligence and what it could mean for enhancing creativity and productivity. Now, newspaper groups like McClatchey are wiping out newsrooms full of people in favor of AI automation, and those in charge of those AI groups are unable to control their own creations and are predicting the world’s demise within a decade.
Last week, Axios put out a story which showed how much online traffic has collapsed over the past 2 years. Nearly a third of online visits have declined. For every media brand that has chased online traffic and programmatic advertising, it’s a punch to the gut. Many groups have claimed to be all-digital yet lack successful podcasts, video shows, highly read newsletters or valuable websites. What they have is an app, healthy social media accounts and a reliance on pageviews. They’ve chased traffic through Google search and social media boosts because it produced supplemental income. But when that well runs dry, and dollars shrink 40-60%, then what?
I spent the past two weekends reading and watching hours of videos on agentic AI and automation processes. What Claude and ChatGPT can do is beyond incredible. The speed, skill, and precision in which these operations execute is downright scary. It’s easy to call for humans to remain valued, and list why the human spirit and connection must remain prioritized, but if you’re not learning these tools and constantly improving your ability to use them, you’re going to be in rough shape down the line. The media professional of 2036 will be very differently skilled than the 2026 version.
I don’t know where all of this is going. Anyone who tells you they do is full of it. The questions we’re preparing for today will likely change again tomorrow. That’s how fast the modern world of business moves. The issue is that somethings hit so fast that the people responsible for launching products or shaping strategy don’t know what lies ahead themselves. They lean into the moment, not wanting to get left behind, but don’t necessarily know the roads to travel to emerge victorious.
Kings Radio
Case in point, two weeks ago, the Sacramento Kings moved their radio broadcasts away from Sactown Sports (KHTK) after 32-years. They rolled out Kings Radio, proclaiming their games would be available via their app, and promoted a partnership with SiriusXM for in-car distribution. The team tried to frame the announcement like it was racing towards the future, which sounded good in theory, except if you were preparing for this type of pivot you’d likely announce it in the offseason to prepare fans and advertisers. You’d also try to keep a 32-year content partnership to help your fans find your new broadcasting platform.
People in Sacramento will have a harder time hearing their local team this year. That is a fact. Is that what an NBA franchise should be worrying about weeks before the 2026-2027 season starts? How do you tell your fans to pay to hear your games after a 22-win season? What do you tell people who want to listen but can’t use your app inside their vehicle? Furthermore, what do you tell advertisers who rely on connecting with those fans to grow their business? Is being less available to a starved fanbase the smartest decision for 2026?
Long-term this could be a good move for the Kings, but suggesting it as anything else but a poorly rushed decision is insulting to the local fanbase. Sactown Sports, the Kings’ former radio partner will be just fine. Their content and coverage of the team remains unchanged. They’ll just air less live gams at night and on the weekends, avoid afternoon drive interruptions that reduce inventory and ratings, and worry less about trying to recoup a significant financial investment.
This same approach has been used before by the Oakland A’s, the San Jose Sharks, and others. Being less available to fans on the radio, especially when you’re the only game in town and not winning, is certainly an interesting choice. I don’t think this helps the Kings this year but it does raise a question, should we expect more of this from local teams?
I believe so.
If I’m right, where does that leave sports stations who build their identities around play-by-play partners? It’s a good reminder that talent, lineup, brand, and fan connection are the most important assets to an audio brand. Games are additive. Moving forward, will play-by-play broadcasts remain worthy of significant spending for local radio stations? How are teams going to make up the difference and market their product across sports radio brands when the old goose stops paying to lay eggs?
Announcement Season is Coming
As sure as I am about teams taking broadcasts in house more, I’m even more confident and excited about our approach to how we operate our brand. We started our journey with a focus on who we reach and what type of content we serve them. That remains unchanged. To earn continued trust from a specific audience, you need real life experience, knowledge, relationships, consistent content, and a vision and ideas worth following. Fortunately, we’ve done ok in those areas. Because we have experience, and a passion and curiosity to educate, celebrate, challenge and connect, we remain a trusted resource. I don’t worry about producing the most traffic, having the largest social following or luring investors to rapidly advance our growth. I’m doing what I love, keeping the industry informed and connected, trying to make it better, and helping others grow their businesses who invest in our mission.
Next week, we will release our first-ever Top 20 in Audio Advertising. I want to thank Locked On Podcast Network for supporting the series. After a decade of featuring the top radio shows, programmers, and stations across all formats, we are shifting the focus to those who support them. We’re going to highlight the top radio and podcasting advertisers and the professionals who invest on their behalf. The results come out during Advertising Week in New York City and the Radio Hall of Fame celebration in Chicago. Keep an eye out for it.
In addition, Meet The Leaders presented by Point to Point Marketing also gets underway next week. The eight week series starts on Wednesday, October 7th and runs through Wednesday, November 25th. John Mamola and Garrett Searight are teaming up to spearhead the project. Look for some excellent conversations with a number of the media industry’s key decision makers. Prior conversations can be found here.
Then, once we get past the Top 20 in Advertising and the start of Meet The Leaders, I’ll have two big announcements to make in October. One of them involves our annual Top 20 in Radio series. The other includes our plans for the 2027 Barrett Media Summit. My goal is to announce the Top 20 news on Monday, October 12th and the Summit on Monday, October 26th. 2027 will be the best year yet for both.
In Progress
Because of how fast things change, we have to constantly be ready to pivot. In the past year we’ve ramped up our video content by launching The 4-Cast and the Barrett Media Minute. Hopefully you’ve subscribed to the Barrett Media YouTube channel. If not, please do so and help us out. Those two video products have been a good start, but I have plans to make them even stronger in 2027.
Another video product, The Jason Barrett Podcast, should be launching soon. My goal is to deliver 20 episodes per year of the show. I’m also planning to launch a weekly commentary, On Tap with Jason Barrett, which will replace the Quick Hits that I’ve written in prior columns. It’s better suited to be a weekly video than an additional print contribution. Dylan, Stephanie and I have spent the past month at Barrett HQ building sets to prepare different looks for the different types of content we hope to create next year. Once we get rolling, I hope you’ll check it out and share your feedback so we can make it better.
Lastly, I’ve shared before that covering music matters to me. But I’ve also said that too many outlets chase the same stories. We have featured a lot of smart, successful music/radio writers here, but as a brand builds, you have to make adjustments. I’d love to keep everyone for good but certain lanes just require more attention than others. We are going to enter 2027 with a sharpened focus on a few specific formats while also improving our coverage of music, artists and record labels, not just radio. This will be reflected in a few newsletter changes that we have set for 2027.
I’ll get into those details later this year. Until then, it’s full speed ahead like usual. Thanks as always for continuing to read, like, share and comment on our content. Your support is greatly appreciated.
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