Approaching The Summit is a series of special interviews created in partnership with Point to Point Marketing featuring speakers at the upcoming 2026 Barrett Media Audio Summit in New York City. Follow along with this series as prominent names surrounding the event June 30-July 2 share their insights and expectations for what’s to come in the big apple. The Summit takes place at the SVA Theatre on West 23rd Street. For tickets and hotel room reservations, click here or visit the Summit section at the top of the website.
Paul Mason has called Nashville home since April 2020, when he arrived to lead the programming department at 104.5 The Zone. Under his watch, The Zone has dominated the local sports scene, delivering strong local programming and live broadcasts of Tennessee Titans football. He became Spoken Word Programming Operations Manager in 2024, adding programming duties for SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. Prior to moving to music city, he served as PD of NewsTalk 850 WFTL and Fox Sports 640 in West Palm Beach. He also spent six years in Cincinnati as the Assistant Program Director of 700WLW.
Mason has been both an attendee and speaker at numerous Barrett Media Sports Summits and will be speaking at the event later this month. He sat down with Barrett Media from his office in Nashville, TN.
*Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.*
John Mamola: What are you looking forward to as far as attending the summit later this month?
Paul Mason: I’m always looking forward to learn new things. With every year, this industry evolves more and more. It’s nice to come together and learn the latest things and learn from each other.
John Mamola: You’ve been an attendee and speaker multiple times at the Barrett Media Audio Summit. What value do you see the summit providing the attendees and industry professionals that come out?
Paul Mason: I’ll go back to learning. I’ve always been that way. You never know everything, and you’re always going to pick something up and learn something new.
I look forward to being on a panel, but also look forward to watching some of the other panels. Learning some of the newest things that I can then take back to Nashville and possibly apply to what I’m doing here.
John Mamola: How important is it for someone in your position to get out of the office and attend a conference such as the Barrett Media Audio Summit in-person? A conference where you can educate yourself and gather some information and take back home?
Paul Mason: Microsoft Teams and Zoom have obviously offered a lot of conveniences, especially when we’re all so busy. But nothing beats that in-person effect. It’s cliche, but you have to make time.
It’s just a different experience when you do something in person. It’s more personal and easier to learn things while interacting with people. When Jason [Barrett] first put it on my radar that I’m going to definitely carve out time for this.
John Mamola: What do you hope attendees can take away from the session that you’re going to be participating in?
Paul Mason: For me, there’s a lot of very smart programmers there. But there’s also a lot of people new to the industry. Even some students. To me, it’s about paying it back to the next wave of talented programmers and on-air talent. For anyone in our industry to learn something from me just as I learned things from people as I was getting into the business.
So, I definitely enjoy that part of it.
John Mamola: We’ve announced several people that are going to be speaking at the event over the last couple of months. Is there anyone in particular that you’re looking forward to hearing what they have to say? Or a specific topic that you hope is addressed coming up at the summit later this month?
Paul Mason: I wouldn’t say there’s a specific person or individual. The last couple of years, AI has become larger. It’s interesting to hear how people are using that into their day-to-day routine.
It’s not new anymore, but it’s been around for a couple of years now. There’s still a lot of wild west with AI as we continue to go through it. So, I’m interested in the latest trends and newest things in our industry.
John Mamola: How have you seen the event evolve since the first time that you attended?
Paul Mason: The first summit I attended was the news/talk event here in Nashville. I just feel like it just gets larger each year. The second one I went to in New York felt bigger. Now, this one where you have every format spread over three days.
This just feels like a Super Bowl type of event you can’t miss. Everything’s happening all in one place across our entire industry.
John Mamola: Are you planning on attending the days of the news and music summit as well? An opportunity to see if there’s any different approach to certain things or some added tips for education purposes?
Paul Mason: Obviously being the program director for Super Talk 99.7 WWTN, it would definitely behoove me to be at the news talk day. So, I’ll be sitting in on those panels.
As for music, I’m always curious what’s happening on the music side too. This all kind of works together. So, I plan on doing a lot of learning. As well as being on the panel for the sports summit.
John Mamola: Do any moments from the previous Barrett Media summits that you’ve attended stand out?
Paul Mason: What stands out to me is just the things that I take away that I might see. Something might give me a different perspective on how things are done.
I’m very much into video. There was one programmer that I had connected with that was doing some things as well that was equally into it. I was able to take some things that they were doing and bring it back here to Nashville. That to me is what sticks out. Those things you learn just by having those side conversations with people.
It’s not just what you see on the stage, but those times where you can get some breakout one-on-one time with people. It’s really helpful.
John Mamola: What are your top tier items as far as opportunities, but also challenges that face the industry today that you hope are discussed at the summit?
Paul Mason: The way technology is going and learning how that fits into what we do. I think the other challenge is finding that next wave of people coming to our industry.
Learning how we overcome those challenges to get the newest on-air talent and people representing our brands in the door.
Purchase your tickets to the 2026 BSM Summit here, and for more information BarrettMedia.com
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
