Barrett Media’s Top 20 of 2026 in Audio Advertising concludes with the industry’s top advertising executives. To view the previous lists featuring the top agencies, local and national radio advertisers, and podcast advertisers, go here.
These results represent the feedback supplied by one hundred and forty four voters across the radio, podcast and advertising industries. Our voting committee includes podcasting and radio industry executives, advertising analysts, and radio market managers. It also includes sales managers, account executives, and independent media owners and operators. The voting sample represents sixty one media groups in total.
Important Details
As you review the results, please remember that our voters live in different cities and work for different companies. They have different marketing goals, challenges, preferences, and relationships. They also enjoy different business successes with clients and weigh certain factors higher than others such as total spend, category dominance, campaign consistency, and digital vs. traditional. We involve a large group of voters in this series from various companies in order to avoid geographical and corporate bias. That said, there is no perfect system. Without being in each person’s head, it’s impossible to know why they value certain people and details more than others.
In analyzing the responses, our voters appeared to place a higher value on executives who they have communication with over CMO’s of larger companies who decide the overall investment and strategy but have less direct involvement. Whether that’s right or wrong can be debated. What these results suggest, the people on this list are considered very important to those who they do business with.
Closing Comments
We analyze and present this series similar to our Top 20 in Radio series. That series has been in existence since 2016. Each brand, agency and/or individual earns points for votes based on where our voters rank them. A first-place vote equals 20 points. A 20th place vote receives 1 point. Voters were asked to answer up to six questions, sharing which agencies, brands and individuals were most valuable to their businesses. Barrett Media does not vote in this process. We simply collect the feedback, add up the results, and present the information.
Lists are subjective. We recognize that. However, recognizing businesses, brands and individuals who invest in the audio industry matters as much as celebrating those who create content and connect with listeners. We hope you’ll take a moment to reach out and congratulate everyone recognized this week. Thank them, too, for continuing to invest in and support the audio industry.
I want to thank Dylan Barrett for creating the artwork for this series. I also want to thank every voter who took time to share their feedback. Now without further delay, here are Barrett Media’s Top 20 Advertising Executives of 2026.
Additional Notes:
- Dan Granger finished thirty eight (38) points ahead of Brittany Clevenger to earn the top spot in this category.
- Spot #21 belonged to Andrea James at Steven Singer Jewelers.
- The closest race saw Christine Travaglini finish three (3) points ahead of Lauren Russo.
- Twelve (12) executives received at least one first-place vote from our voting committee.
To stay updated on each day’s results, bookmark our website, subscribe to our newsletters, and follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and/or Instagram.
