Kira Kathleen has joined Zimmer Communications in Columbia, MO, as the APD/afternoon host on Top 40 Y107 and evenings on Country Clear 99.
She was downsized in recent Cumulus Media layoffs from her spot at AC Warm 98.5 in Cincinnati.
Trevor Morgan, Zimmer Corporate Operations Director, said, “Kira has a passion and drive that we’re excited to add to our team. She’s eager to learn and serve, and we can’t wait to see her growth.”
Kathleen added, “I’m thrilled to join the Zimmer Communications team. The culture and values at Zimmer are second to none, and I’m excited to further learn and grow in the industry.”
Other career stops include two years as a morning show co-host at Cat Country 96 Allentown, 98.5 KLUC, and Mix 94.1 Las Vegas.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Hubbard Radio has announced the creation and launch of the Gamut Podcast Network. The new network will be a dedicated podcast division aimed at being the third foundational pillar of Hubbard’s enterprise.
“The launch of Gamut is more than a rebrand; it’s a pivotal evolution for our company,” said Hubbard Radio CEO Ginny Hubbard. “By establishing Gamut as a core component of our business, we are embracing the future of media and ensuring Hubbard’s relevance for the next century.”
The network will be led by Gamut Podcast Network Vice President and General Manager John Goforth. Goforth joined the company in August last year. He’ll team with Hubbard Radio Vice President of Podcast Operations Jeremy Sinon to centralize collection of initiatives for the unified network as part of the ongoing operations of the division.
“Gamut is designed to reflect both where the industry is and where it’s going,” said Goforth. “Yes, we’re building a national powerhouse—but we’re just as focused on lifting up unique voices and staying true to the communities we serve. It’s about reach and relevance. That balance is what makes Hubbard special, and it will make Gamut special too.”
“It’s exciting to see us take the next step in our podcast evolution,” Sinon added. “Over the years, we’ve had several successful podcast launches come from our markets — from SKOR North and Garage Logic to the American Nightmare Series, UAP: Unidentified Alien Podcast, and beyond. We now get to take that momentum and use it to propel us to a full-fledged national network.”
Gamut’s initial focus will be on high-growth content categories, which include technology, music history, sports, and true crime, among other genres. One of the first partnerships is a multi-year contract with Professor of Rock. That deal will bring the popular internet music historian’s content to podcast platforms for the first time.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
The opening slate of regular-season Major League Baseball games on ESPN this past Thursday attained multiyear viewership highs on the broadcast network. Beginning with an interleague matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees, coverage of the game averaged 1.93 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. Featuring Monday Night Football play-by-play announcer Joe Buck on the call alongside analysts Bill Schroeder and Joe Girardi, the game peaked with 2.23 million viewers, encapsulating the largest Opening Day audience since 2020. Buck, who was the voice of the World Series for 24 years, called his first baseball game on national television since departing FOX Sports to join ESPN after the 2021 MLB season.
As reported by Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, the game surpassed audiences for all but five Sunday Night Baseball games last season, four of which included the Yankees. On top of that, the 3 p.m. EST start time of the matchup avoided direct overlap with games taking place in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. The game took place as ESPN and MLB recently agreed to a mutual opt-out in their existing seven-year media rights contract, presumably making this the final season of the MLB on ESPN property.
The second game of the doubleheader featured the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers facing the Detroit Tigers. As the Dodgers attained a one-run victory, the broadcast averaged 1.74 million viewers, representing a 10% year-over-year rise from the comparable game. The matchup peaked with 2.2 million viewers and featured the broadcast team consisting of play-by-play announcer Karl Ravech, analysts Eduardo Pérez and David Cone and reporter Buster Olney. The broadcasters made their way to San Diego later in the week to call the Sunday Night Baseball season debut between the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves.
ESPN is in the midst of its 36th season of MLB coverage and is broadcasting 25 games through its Sunday Night Baseball property during the season. The company is also presenting five additional exclusive games, including the aforementioned Opening Day doubleheader, along with the MLB Wild Card Series and T-Mobile Home Run Derby. ESPN secured its most-watched season of Sunday Night Baseball since 2019 last year with an average of 1.5 million viewers per game.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
NBA reporter Zach Lowe has found a new home following his recent dismissal from ESPN. Lowe will be joining Bill Simmons’ The Ringer podcast network, as announced last night on Simmons’ podcast. It remains unclear whether Lowe will also be writing for The Ringer website, but given his background, it seems likely.
Lowe now returns to working with Simmons after more than a decade apart. The two first collaborated when Grantland hired Lowe from Sports Illustrated back in 2011.
“Zach is one of the best people I’ve ever worked with,” Simmons said via his Bill Simmons Podcast. “I was really hoping at some point in life we would get to work together again. So it’s happening.”
Lowe’s podcast on The Ringer Podcast Network, in collaboration with Spotify, is set to debut next week and be called The Zach Lowe Show with episodes dropping every Monday and Thursday. In the meantime, Lowe is scheduled to appear on Simmons’ podcast this week to promote his new show.
Lowe was among a few ESPN employees affected by last summer’s layoffs in 2024. Widely regarded as one of the most respected analysts covering basketball, he will bring his deep-dive analysis and sharp writing to The Ringer network with this new venture.
Meanwhile, Simmons, now 55, recently signed a contract extension with Spotify for a reported minimum of two years. Under this new deal, he will continue hosting The Bill Simmons Podcast while also maintaining his role as Spotify’s head of talk strategy. Simmons originally joined Spotify in 2020 when the streaming giant acquired The Ringer for approximately $250 million. At the time, CEO Daniel Ek was focused on expanding Spotify’s portfolio beyond music in an effort to build a stronger foothold in the podcasting industry.
By acquiring The Ringer, Spotify secured a well-established brand with a dedicated audience—one that Simmons had carefully cultivated over many years, dating back to his ESPN tenure and the launch of The Ringer in 2016.
You asked, we answered. The Zach Lowe Show, part of the Ringer Podcast Network.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
If you read Barrett Media regularly, you likely know that we produce a lot of original content. Over twenty people contribute here, and we’ve grown consistently since 2015 by offering consulting services, hosting conferences, and selling advertising on our website and newsletters. Since our arrival, I’ve tried to inform, celebrate, critique, challenge, and entertain media professionals. My expectation of our team is that they are accurate, actively promoting their content, responding in timely fashion to key stories, and focused on topics that matter so it results in our readers consuming the material.
When I launched this brand, I was told by many that it was a bad bet. The market for sports consulting was dwindling, interest in reading was declining, and generating business from the industry was a tall order. Those were valid warnings from friends. However, I trusted my gut, and listened to the James Earl Jones voice in my head, which said ‘if you build it, they will come‘. Nine and a half years later, we’re still here.
I’ve questioned the decision many times, especially during the pandemic. It’s not easy creating content for a niche audience, and attracting industry business, let alone getting people to read, share or retweet stories. Making it harder, I want to excel in every area that we cover. Sometimes though you have to walk before you can run. That said, I don’t do well with complacency, and if I sense we can get better, I take action.
As proud as I am of our growth, I’m always reviewing what is and isn’t working. I monitor our traffic, and study what the audience values most and least. I’ll also put surveys out to ask for input so we can make sure we’re meeting and exceeding our audience’s expectations. The quest to grow is never ending.
We started covering music radio in July 2024, and in less than a year, we’ve established a presence. Our features on people, the Top 20 series, our ratings section, and some breaking news stories have performed well. Columns though have been inconsistent. Music format professionals are still getting to know us, and we have a few things to tighten up. I’m determined though to make sure we become a daily destination for music radio pros.
On the news and sports media end, we do well. I’ll put our coverage of sports radio and news/talk radio up against any outlet on the internet. We kick ass in these two areas. But if I’m being honest, news and sports television are areas where we can be better. My editors hear it often, ‘how do we deliver an experience in those areas that rivals what we do for radio’? Interest in writing weekly columns from experienced TV professionals is less than what we receive from radio pros, but regardless, it’s my job to figure it out.
Social media meanwhile has lost its luster for publishers. Written content on X and Facebook gets reduced, making the need for others to share your content necessary. Video and conversation perform best, but if your core business is written content, what do you do? Throwing 25-50 posts on a platform that doesn’t want people to see it isn’t the answer. Neither is converting our operation to a video production, and prioritizing platforms where our audience isn’t at.
There are trade sites who haven’t posted on Facebook in 6 years, and national brands who post a few times per week on X including some who have left the platform completely. Though that feels wrong to me, I can’t say that it is. If they’re doing well in business, maybe social media isn’t vital for them. We are working on some video/audio content ideas, but I’m not sure yet if I want to dip my toe in or dive into the deep end. More needs to be studied before I make a decision.
Just because I see areas that we can improve in, doesn’t mean we can do it all. You need the right people, budget, support, promotion, and patience. The proper strategy, and knowing who you’re targeting, and why, is also critical. Growing brands requires constant adjustments, and to make sure we continue making progress, I’m tweaking our strategy, and adding some firepower to our music radio and news television coverage.
Starting with music radio, I’m excited to welcome Keith Cunningham, Master of Mayhem at 95.5 KLOS as our Rock/Alternative Columnist. Jacobs Media consultant and former Emmis VP of Programming and Radio & Records Editor Mike Stern joins as our Classic Rock/Hits columnist. Former VP of Urban formats at Cumulus Media, and Director of Urban Programming for ABC Radio Networks Ken Johnson becomes our Urban/Hip-Hop Columnist. Lastly, former SiriusXM Director of Programming, and On-Air talent at Y100, Max 95.7, 102.9 WMGK, and currently with WAVV/WINK, and Free Country Chicago and Star 96.7, Jim Ryan hops on as our Hot AC Columnist, with an additional weekly feature, ‘Hits On Horizon‘.
Additionally, Jeff Lynn will shift his column’s focus to Country radio. Jeff will also continue featuring industry professionals and writing daily news. Kevin Robinson will prioritize Adult Contemporary, a lane he knows well, and Bob Lawrence will continue offering excellent perspectives on management and leadership. Charese Fruge will remain active telling stories about Rock/Alternative format professionals. I’m excited about the passion, knowledge, and industry experience these experts possess. I hope readers take advantage of reading their contributions.
Turning to news television, I’m excited to welcome Lauren Ashburn as a weekly news television columnist. Lauren has contributed to Fox News and The Daily Beast. She has also written for the Washington Post, Huffington Post, EWTN and the Wall Street Journal. Her 35-year career has included interviewing Presidents, reporting on-site in Iraq, and performing on camera and behind the scenes. We’re thrilled to add her to our team.
In addition, I’m pleased to welcome back an old friend. Jim Avila returns to Barrett Media as a weekly news television columnist. Jim wrote for us in 2023 before heading to San Diego to join KGTV as a Senior Team 10 Investigator. His storied career included working for ABC News as Senior White House Correspondent. He was also a correspondent for NBC news, and has reported on some of the biggest stories in the world including the O.J. Simpson murder, case, and the trials of Michael Jackson and Jerry Sandusky.
The additions to our team are bittersweet as they follow news of a few departures. I want to thank Krystina Alarcon Carroll for doing an outstanding job for us the past few years. Krystina is headed to Raw Story to serve as an editor. We wish her nothing but the best. I also want to thank Ron Harrell and Robby Bridges for their contributions. Both guys remain active in music radio, and are great people with a lot of knowledge and passion for the industry. Make sure to continue following them.
Lastly, Dave Greene is going to be leaving us at the end of April. We’ve had a great relationship, and have worked together for a while. With Dave’s workload increasing with Sports Hub STL, it’s time for him to focus on growing his company, and for us to find a writer with sports television experience. If you know the ins and outs of sports television and have an interest in writing about it, email me at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
Look for a bunch of new content to start hitting the website this week. As always, if you like what we’re doing or think something is missing, shoot me a note. I welcome the feedback and opportunity to serve our readers and partners.
2025 BSM Summit Ticket Winners
Our College Contest to win tickets to the 2025 BSM Summit in Chicago came to an end on Friday. I want to thank the professors who shared the news with their classes, and all of the students who submitted entries. Initially I planned to giveaway 5 tickets, but the response to the contest was strong. Knowing how valuable learning and networking is for younger folks, I’ve decided to give away a few extras. I look forward to seeing the winners below in person at the MCA on May 8-9, 2025.
Caleb Evans – Northwestern University
Rino Monteforte – Notre Dame University
Audrey Flanagan – Notre Dame University
Lauren Seib – Notre Dame University
Jad Alhijazin – Chicago State University
Charlotte Reis – Chicago State University
Allison Bolden – Chicago State University
Clarence Cooper – Chicago State University
Simultaneously, we ran a contest for advertising and media industry professionals. The following people have also earned free tickets to the 2025 BSM Summit presented by Point to Point Marketing.
Pete Borchek – The Cellular Connection
Scott McCarthy – Workhouse Media
Garrett Chapman – 92.9 The Game
Gail Sideman – G Publicity
Bob Vilsoet – Accuvoice
Kyle Smith – IFS
Heath Cline – 680 The Fan
Dean Lamb – Formerly of CDW
Bob Snyder – Hometown Podcasts
Rick Gubitz – Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance
Pat McAfee, LeBron James, and Stephen A. Smith
First, kudos to Pat McAfee and his team. Landing an hour long conversation with LeBron James doesn’t happen, and when the time is provided, you’ve got to maximize it. Without question, Pat hit a homerun. He was conversational, comfortable, prepared, and gave the audience a chance to see a side of LeBron James they don’t ever see. McAfee’s ability to guide conversations and get his guests talking openly is unmatched.
As I watched the entire discussion, I wondered ‘who’s more of the modern day Howard Stern, Joe Rogan or Pat McAfee?’. To his credit, LeBron knew how the show worked, what the audience valued, and spoke in a way that we’re not accustomed to hearing players of his stature speak. It was refreshing, compelling, and eye opening. The Lakers superstar also isn’t dumb, he knew going on ESPN with McAfee was the best way to create national attention, and get to Smith.
After James appeared on McAfee, Stephen A. Smith responded on his digital show, and the next day on First Take. If you searched Google Trends for the most searched items in America over the 48-hour period that followed, LeBron and Smith were in the top 10 in the sports category in many cities.
I know some media people don’t like these feuds. Some have even questioned if it’s real. Yet most can’t look away or stop talking about it. To think that First Take should focus on discussing NBA games, the NCAA Tournament, and MLB Opening Day over their top star being involved in a controversy with the most popular athlete on the planet shows a lack of understanding of how content works. To not lean into this would be a massive mistake for every single host, producer, and executive involved.
You don’t have to like it, but as I’ve said many times, people like to hear people talk with and about other people. That’s sports media in a nutshell. If you don’t think it’s important, powerful, and critical to success, just wait until the numbers come out for McAfee’s hour, and Smith’s next day on First Take.
Quick Hits:
I will announce the 2025 recipient of the Jeff Smulyan Awardtomorrow morning on the website. Our executive honor is presented annually at the BSM Summit. The ceremony takes place this year on Friday May 9, 2025 from 12pm-12:50pm.
Derek Futterman‘s story on Tom Tolbert was excellent. Tom’s personality, sense of humor, and candor were a huge hit with KNBR listeners, and those qualities came through in this piece. When asked about the PD situation at KNBR a few months earlier, Tom said, “I think it was unfair of Cumulus to even ask him (Adam) to be the program director. He’s just getting his feet wet hosting a show, and it’s in a major market in prime time drive, and now you’re going to ask him to be the PD too? It’s hard for him to turn it down because it’s some extra cash, and he can do it. I thought it was unfair of them. Ultimately, he didn’t end up continuing on with it, and I think that’s probably for the best for both.”
Have you heard of Last Take? It’s a comedy spoof on First Take, featuring comedians, Rashad Bashir, Idriss, and John Rickenbacker Jr.. The trio play the roles of Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe, and Kendrick Perkins, and their Instagram is a must follow. Given the tension of the past week surrounding Stephen A. and LeBron, these guys lighten the mood. Very funny.
Credit to Bobby Burack at Outkick. His interview with Michael Wilbon was fantastic. I especially enjoyed Mike’s reply when asked about accountability. He said, “Our business is a piece of shit a lot of days. There is nobody enforcing standards or having tough conversations. This is what happens when you no longer have functioning newsrooms, because everyone is working from hotel rooms, from their bedrooms, and maybe even from their beds. There are a bunch of 20-year-olds pitching stories, spending all day on social media and reinforcing each other’s bullshit. It’s 100% pandering, and I hate it.” Powerful stuff.
Bloomberg reported a few weeks ago that Spotify‘s market cap is now $110 billion. That number is higher than Warner Music and Universal Music combined. As Spotify continues driving growth through content bundles, subscriptions, advertising, and strategically timed price hikes, I hope the radio/podcasting industry, and record labels remember they’re a serious threat, not just an app looking to promote your content.
At the 2025 Morgan Stanley Tech, Media & Telecom Conference, Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann said the company plans to invest $18 billion dollars in content this year. That represents an 11% increase from 2024’s $16.2 billion. With Major League Baseball rights becoming available, and the UFC seeking a deal in excess of $1 billion per year, it seems like a safe bet that Netflix will be a key player.
I watched Chris Haynes‘ video on Saturday morning. It is worth your time to watch, but be advised, it may make you angry. Thankfully, Chris and his daughter weren’t hurt, and the situation turned out ok. However, the laws in this country need to change. There is no reason a home owner should be at a disadvantage over a ‘squatter‘ who chooses to enter your place of residence, and live there until forced out by a court of law. How Chris handled the matter is exactly how I think most home owners would, myself included.
Garrett Searight had a creative story this week on how News/Talk radio pros would’ve handled the situation if they were added to a group chat and exposed to sensitive information from white house officials. To keep it interesting, Garrett flipped the script, and asked how folks would’ve responded if the chain was from Team Biden rather than Team Trump. There were some excellent responses, but nobody said they’d save the big reveal for their show. If access to that information was available, I can’t believe nobody would use it, when it’s a given that they’d become the focus of the world’s conversation, likely boosting ratings, revenue, affiliate expansion, and additional media opportunities. Maybe there is more good in the world after all!
It’s been 13 years since the All-American Rejects released an album. That’s finally changing. The band is releasing its first single, ‘Sandbox’ on April 24th. The new track is from the band’s forthcoming record. I’m looking forward to hearing it. Their last album, ‘Kids in the Street’ was excellent.
Here are three new songs to be aware of. Nothing More‘s ‘Freefall‘ featuring Chris Daughtry is excellent. So too is Lakeview‘s cover of Hinder’s ‘Lips of an Angel‘. Tom MacDonald‘s ‘Can’t Cancel All of Us‘ is another song that will likely get played in the political sphere.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Over the last several decades, more women have made their voices heard and brought their viewpoints and perspectives to the conversation surrounding the game of football. From those behind the microphone to behind the scenes, numerous women continue to leave an indelible impact on the sports media industry. With the culmination of Women’s History Month, Barrett Media spoke to several women working in the media business to discuss their perspectives on the current state of the profession and future ambitions to foster growth.
Throughout her career in journalism, Andrea Kremer has defied the odds and established new paradigms with persistence and determination to succeed. As one of the original cast members of We Need to Talk at CBS Sports, she has established a platform to provide her perspectives on topics in sports. In fact, the show gathered for a 10-year reunion last fall that brought current and former panelists together, some of whom include Tracy Wolfson, Allie LaForce and Renee Montgomery. The moment was indicative of augmented parity in the business and progress women have made, further demeriting elements of doubt or disdain.
“There’s always going to be a segment of the audience that does not want sports news from women,” Kremer said. “There’s always going to be that, and I respect that. That’s where there’s options, but the genie doesn’t go back into the bottle. We’re here to say, we’re not going anywhere. That’s just the way it is.”
Questioning whether or not women belong in sports is an insulting inquiry to Kremer, who has had to display a tireless work ethic and impervious demeanor to rise up and receive plaudits from industry contemporaries, let alone acceptance by others. Earlier in her career, one of Kremer’s job was to be the backup host for Up Close, a venerated longform interview show on ESPN. When the original host of the program left the job, she tried to apply for the opportunity and surmised that she had done enough to earn the spot.
“I had breakfast in Bristol with an executive who’s one of my mentors, and I didn’t have to really sell myself to him, but we were more discussing the opportunity than I was interviewing for it,” Kremer recalled, “and he looked me in the eye, and he just said, ‘They’re not going to put a woman as the host of this show,’ and I remember to this day the visceral feeling that I had that it didn’t matter how good I was, they just weren’t prepared to put a woman in that role.”
A lot has happened over the past decade since We Need To Talk launched.
But what has been the biggest change?
Our hosts give their thoughts on the most impactful change in sports over the last 10 years. pic.twitter.com/iGp1o1L7gC
Kremer started working with Hannah Storm in 2018 on a commentary feed for presentations of Thursday Night Football, marking the first all-woman booth to call any men’s team sport, let alone NFL games. The arrangement continued through five seasons amid a proliferation of women serving as play-by-play announcers, such as Beth Mowins, Lisa Byington and Kate Scott. Through all of her career experiences and observations though, Kremer has witnessed the existence of a double standard that places more pressure on women to perform at a high level.
“I’ve always joked about this,” Kremer said. “If Chris Berman made a mistake, ‘Oh, it’s Boomer!,’ but if Linda Cohn made a mistake, ‘Oh my God, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.’ You have to understand that that exists, and the only way that you can combat it is just understand you’re going to make mistakes, just don’t make the same mistake twice and realize that you’re just going to be evaluated in a different way.”
Kay Adams Moving the Goalpost With ‘Up & Adams’
Ahead of one of these alternate broadcasts of prime time football, Kremer remembers Storm being unable to take the air because of a last-minute illness. Kay Adams, who was hosting the pregame show from the studio, ran over to the set and seamlessly integrated herself into the game broadcast. Kremer remembers seeing Adams shine in this sense, and she has continued to do so in leading her own morning show with FanDuel TV over the last three NFL seasons. In fact, many attendees on Media Row ahead of Super Bowl LIX this past February watched as Adams hosted the flagship program with a prodigious guest lineup blending information and entertainment.
Through all the fanfare, Adams remained focused on the present moment with aspirations of bigger things to come in the years ahead. With the San Francisco Super Bowl next year, she is collaborating with industry professionals to help her show continue connecting with NFL players, veterans and other personalities.
“I will say that I feel like my network of women in this industry has grown exponentially over the past couple of seasons,” Adams said. “I can tell you on my personal team, my right-hand woman is a woman, my booker is a woman, my entire marketing team is made up of strong women, so it’s just really a beautiful thing.”
Jane Slater and Jen Hale Working the Beat
Jane Slater, a reporter for NFL Network who was covering the Philadelphia Eagles prior to kickoff, was part of the contingent watching the Up & Adams show during the week. Slater used to work with Adams at NFL Network, and she has continued to provide consumers with updated information and perspectives surrounding the game. Throughout the season, Slater closely follows the Dallas Cowboys and has fostered credibility as a trusted source of information while building a professional network of sources. Even though the Cowboys were not participants in the championship game, she was still on site attending press conferences, conversing with players and keeping viewers in the know amid an inclusive setting.
“I think credit to this generation of coaches, generation of players,” Slater said. “They don’t make me feel like one, and I feel like as a woman, if you come prepared and you do the job and you carry yourself a certain way, you get that same respect in return from the players, so for me, it’s never been an issue.”
Jen Hale recently completed a season in which she worked on her 200th NFL game broadcast, becoming the seventh woman in the sideline role to attain the feat. Throughout her media endeavors, she has witnessed augmented levels of equity, but she acknowledges the need to have a thick skin. Early in her career, Hale acknowledged how she was oftentimes the only female she would ever see and that there were very few women working in positions around the league and sports media at large.
“It’s fantastic that women are being able to take advantage of these opportunities and being able to shine in their roles and in these jobs that I think before, a decade ago, two decades ago, that wasn’t considered a role for a female,” Hale said. “The important thing is when females get in those positions to make sure they do a great job, and they are. We’re seeing so many huge successes by women.”
Hale commends pioneers such as Kremer who have shattered proverbial glass ceilings to challenge traditional archetypes and encourage a wider array of voices taking part in the conversation. Even though there are more women working in the sport than in previous years, there remain ostensible stereotypes to combat and destroy.
“As a female, you’re going to be criticized much more harshly for mistakes, so you’ve got to be uber-prepared, you’ve got to be uber-ready,” Hale explained. “You’ve got to prove yourself in a different way. Every time you step on that field of play, pun intended, you’ve got to come with your game face on. There isn’t the margin for error for a female that there is for a man.”
Mina Kimes Setting a Benchmark
Throughout the NFL season, Omaha Productions taped and edited episodes of The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny podcast and welcomed a consortium of special guests at Media Row in New Orleans. Richelle Markazene, the head of audio for the company, acknowledged that it has been able to refine its content strategy to better maximize opportunities in the setting. Kimes also took part in ESPN’s Big Game coverage, making appearances on NFL Live and First Take to offer her perspectives on both teams and the league.
“You have folks doing TV, podcasting, radio, all kinds of things, and to see so many women who are not just reporters and hosts, but also giving their opinions about the game, it’s incredible” Kimes said. “Every year, it feels like a benchmark because you do really notice a difference.”
Lucy Rohden, a producer and talent appearing across Meadowlark Media programming, recently covered her second Super Bowl for the company. Rohden traveled around the country last season providing social media content in real time and feature videos delineating her experiences at different college football games.
“It’s really fun because sometimes it can feel a little isolating, and to be around a bunch of other women is always like kind of, ‘Hey, we’re in this together,’” Rohden said. “I feel like women can sometimes get pigeonholed into the same sort of role in sports of sideline reporter or host, so to see women who are doing completely different things – behind the scenes… serious content, short form, longform – it’s cool to see the growth.”
Women Continue to Make An Impact on NFL Coverage
The rise of women in sports media occurs as there is increased coverage of women’s sports. A recent study by The Collective at Wasserman, however, indicated that despite women’s sports comprising about half of total athletic competition, they only receive 15% of coverage.
There are still inequalities that exist in the business, as evidenced by a report from the University of Central Florida that estimates 14.4% of professional sports reporters out of 100 nationwide outlets were women. Although there was a percentage increase across most of the roles, lead author Dr. Richard Lapchick expressed that the business had a bad track record for having women in prominent positions.
There is evident interest in professional football among women, with brand intelligence data from Morning Consult revealing that 64% of Gen Z and millennial women had a favorable view of the NFL. Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers from Las Vegas, Nev. averaged 123.7 million viewers, which, at the time, was an all-time record. Subsequent data from Nielsen Media Research revealed that women composed 47.5% of the total audience for the game, the highest mark in its history.
The FOX Sports broadcast of Super Bowl LIX included contributions from Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson, both of whom host the Calm Down podcast together through iHeartMedia. Moreover, ESPN presented several of its studio shows from a set at Fulton Street Square a few blocks away with Laura Rutledge, Monica McNutt and Molly Qerim on the airwaves. Various professionals were also creating digital content and working behind the scenes as well, such as Dianna Russini, Leigh Mayock, Liv Moods and Annie Agar.
“Now that there’s more women in the business, I hope they still support each other,” Kremer said. “I really do, and I know that I try to do my part in any way that I can.”
Women are changing the narrative of how football is covered, supporting one another and ensuring they are part of the conversation. A common thread for several of the women covering the game came in the assortment of different roles they were executing with aplomb and a gratitude for trailblazers who disrupted paradigmatic imbalances and biases. With shrewd focus, persistence and determination to continue making their voices heard, women covering the NFL are breaking down walls and broadening viewpoints with unyielding and inexorable resolve.
“Women should be here, women should be everywhere,” said Yahoo Sports host Caroline Fenton. “Women should be anywhere where important decisions are being made and anywhere where men are.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Give it up already. “It” is the fight to “save” AM radio.
I thought we’d determined that AM radio would continue its decline and we were all resigned to that fate, but one of the few ratings-successful AMs — 77 WABC in New York — has embarked on a campaign to demand that AM be in all cars and that consumers insist on AM when they buy a car. The dream, it appears, is still alive.
It’s over, though, and it’s been over for years despite AM radio still being available in most cars. Since, oh, let’s say the mid-‘80s, people under the age of 60 didn’t even bother to program the car radio buttons for AM.
Talk and sports radio kept the older audience on AM, but sports gravitated to FM and that talk audience has aged to the point that agencies won’t bother and you’ll have to sell ads to local businesses who don’t care about ratings or demos and just either like the station or like the number of customers those AM radio stations attract. Nothing about that has changed lately.
Moreover, AM’s emergency capabilities might be just a tad overstated. It is true that high-powered AMs can reach further than FMs can, but that doesn’t solve the interference issue, nor does it mean that FMs can’t do the job. In fact, around here, none of the AMs adequately cover the market, and in order for a storm or power outage to take out all the FMs, it would have to topple a lot of over-1,000-foot towers. It could happen, and one tower came down when Hurricane Andrew made a direct hit, but it’s a stretch. (Cell service is vulnerable, though, and you can’t expect it to work if you’re in the direct path of a major storm or tornado.)
Meanwhile, 77 WABC is buying ads in New York print newspapers – another industry with its own problems – to push the matter, and it — and, frankly, all of the activity surrounding AM radio over the past decade — seems to be more a matter of business owners asking for government intervention and consumer uprising to save their business. Is it the role of the government to protect a business that the public has determined isn’t important to them? Is it consumers’ role to demand something they rarely if ever use?
And isn’t it interesting that conservative talk radio stations, mostly on AM radio, which preach the gospel of the free market don’t want a free market if it affects them? You lost the public years ago. Maybe it wasn’t all your fault – interference makes AM unusable at times, and my car radio just emits buzzing across the AM dial even on the few stations that I can get at all – but it’s time to go where the people are, and that’s streaming and, still, FM.
What? You don’t have enough FM signals, and moving talk to FM would lose you a revenue stream? Them’s the breaks, kid. You gotta choose. If the programming on AM radio is worth saving, it’s up to the station owners to save it, not government mandates.
Anyway, I’d like this to be the last AM radio column I write. Sometimes, technology forces you to move on. If your content’s that good, there are other ways to serve it up. And nobody guaranteed you that your business plan would be successful, did they?
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Media and entertainment industry leaders will converge on Las Vegas for the much-anticipated 2025 NAB Show, which kicks off Saturday.
In anticipation of the event, I caught up with NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt, and we started by discussing the show’s mission.
“We want to be on the cutting edge and as a destination for more leaders in television, radio, streaming, and digital media can come together and explore and really be a forum to discuss the evolution in content creation, distribution, and monetization, all of which has been heavily disrupted, and where that is going, and then to break it down into verticals to examine trends within that.
“For us, that’s a real focus right now on the impact of AI. It’s a real expansion of our mission to ensure that we are providing that same forum for the creator economy, and it’s really trying to ensure that we are discussing and putting some programming together around the highest, most visible topics. In this case, sports is at the very, very top of that list for the NAB show this year.”
The show is huge, and I tasked LeGeyt with providing me with a 30,000-foot flyover of the event.
“We’re expecting to have 1,100 exhibitors on-site, and these companies provide all the tools media companies need to create content, distribute that content, and analyze what’s happening in the marketplace. We are expecting over 60,000 attendees. We are on pace for that level of registration.”
“Interestingly, at least as of today, more than half of our current registrants are first-time NAB show registrants. So we look at that as a significant benchmark in terms of how we are expanding the appeal of this show because the history of this show is very entrenched in your incumbent media and being a destination that the traditional players in our space see as a must-have year over year.”
“We understand that incumbent media is to some degree contracting right now and that for us to be relevant in the media landscape as the destination for content creators, regardless of how you are distributing that content, we need to get outside of our traditional four corners and expand the attendee base.”
“I think these numbers demonstrate to me that we are doing that effectively, and our focus on the creator economy is starting to pay off, and ensuring that if you are in content creation, distribution, and whether you’re doing that at the Walt Disney Company, or whether you’re a social media influencer on TikTok, this is the place for you to come, see the latest tools, and engage in the most meaningful conversations of what’s happening in the space.”
With so many first-time attendees, what advice does LeGeyt have to offer?
“I think in a perfect world, we would spread this show over 10 days, so you’d have the opportunity to experience everything. But that is not the world that we live in.
“What we have tried to do is to provide some level of organization based on your interests. If you are engaged in sports media, whether that is on the content, on the creation and production side of it, whether it’s on the business side of it, or you’re trying to understand the direction that college sports is going.”
“We’ve put together a sports summit to ensure that over the course of three days, you can see a range of programming that’s going to hit at the direction of just what’s going on right now as it relates to sports, the vulcanization, frankly, of sports rights, how NIL fits into all of this, how trends in women’s sports are shaping the future of the rights landscape. We’ve organized it in a way that allows you to do all of it.”
The same goes for content creation.
“If you are doing content creation with a focus on streaming, we’ve put together a set of programming, and all of this is sort of co-located to the best that we can in areas where your key exhibitors are going to be adjacent on the floor.”
“If you are our core membership at the NAB, which is local television and radio stations, we have programming everywhere conference that is focused on trends and local television. We do a small and medium market radio forum designed to give local radio stations the tools they need in this disrupted media landscape to compete for advertising dollars and audience.”
“We have tried to simplify this to give you a menu that allows you to see a lot that’s very focused on that vertical. The complication is so many of these things overlap. I can’t guarantee you that you won’t have to make very, very tough decisions on one session versus another.”
An on-site app will assist attendees in organizing their schedules.
“Our show site and the app that will be live when you’re on-site at the NAB show can help you curate the type of hands-on experience you want. And by the way, that’s only really talking about programming. Then you’ve got what’s happening on the show floor.”
“We’ve tried to create hands-on experiences, especially in AI. We have an AI innovation pavilion that allows you to be very hands-on with the tools shaping how AI influences content creation and audience experience. And then we also have a creator lab that’s designed for, again, that more individual creator economy hyper-focused on the tools that an individual creator needs to expand their reach with new audiences.”
I asked LeGeyt if there was a moment or two during his time with the NAB Show that really stood out in his memory.
“This is a hundred-year-old show, so I’ve got a fairly limited vantage point relative to the century that it has been in the relevant center of the media landscape. But for me, it’s 2022 coming out of COVID, and while we didn’t have the type of numbers we will see in Las Vegas this year, I think there was a magic to 2022. Coming back with the level of excitement from our exhibitor community to our attendees of just being back together.”
“Being the first forum in the media space to bring these different corners back together to talk about this impact of technology on all this disruption in media that COVID had accelerated. Typically, we all do a lot of business travel. There are a lot of different conferences out there, especially when you’re talking about a hundred-year-old trade show. At times, you can take it for granted that this is what I do in April every year, and I think in 2022, no one took it for granted. You could feel the excitement.”
Like most trade shows, peer networking is also a significant component.
“Especially with the level of disruption, networking has never been more important. Every media company and every piece of technology that fuels them is exploring how to better engage with their audiences. What’s the next frontier?”
“I think the value of the NAB show is to be in new rooms, and we’re providing those forums to ensure, again, whether you are the Walt Disney Company or an individual content creator, this is going to be the place that you come to explore that next business relationship that’s going to help you as you’re charting the path forward.”
In closing, LeGeyt expressed his enthusiasm for this year’s show.
“I would just say how excited we are, particularly about the focus of this year’s show. We’ve heard loud and clear, not just from our past attendees but the types of attendees we are trying to attract. Expanding the floor presence of relevant exhibitors and programming to capture the creator economy and to dig deep on those areas that are top-of-mind for media executives.”
“Our focus on those areas, sports, and this business of media disruption, in particular, is very timely, and I’m proud of the content and programming around that at this year’s show.”
The NAB Show is April 5-9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
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Should the government continue to provide funding for NPR? If financial support is removed, should the FCC remove non-commercial classifications? Why is NPR provided with government issued financial assistance and non-commercial classifications when mainstream radio stations are held to different standards?
These are some of the questions inside the minds of many up top in radio circles this week. It’s a result of last week’s drama on Capitol Hill, which saw NPR CEO Katherine Maher face the newly-formed Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee.
Maher’s testimony has generated a lot of attention, most of it less than positive. While she defended NPR’s role in serving American families, she also came under heavy fire for a lack of balanced coverage and staffing, ignoring the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, and her past social media use, something she’s tried to distance herself from. At stake is NPR’s future federal funding.
To provide clarity on the situation, I reached out to former long time President/CEO of CBS Radio, Dan Mason. Dan’s tenure in broadcasting spans five decades. Just last week, he received the Edward L. McLaughlin Lifetime Achievement Award from the Broadcasters Foundation of America. He was previously presented with the NAB National Award for Outstanding Leadership, and in 2022, earned induction into The Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. Here is what Dan had to say about it.
Dan Mason Weighs In
JB: NPR claims to provide a balanced presentation, but that’s debunked by many. Do you think the outlet will use this situation to make improvements, and present more content from both sides?
DM: Not likely. In the fifty years I’ve been around NPR stations, it has never happened. NPR has always broadcast a liberal thinking take of the nation. That’s not going to change, in my opinion.
JB: The biggest question is whether or not the government should continue to fund NPR. Do you think they should?
DM: No, I don’t think so. If you look at conservative leaning radio with Premiere/iHeart in the days of Rush and now Hannity and Cumulus/Westwood with Levin and Bongino until recently, the government never gave those companies a dime for any type of bailout when they faced extremely tough financial times. Then there is EMF (Educational Media Foundation), a religious network of hundreds of stations. To the best of my knowledge, EMF never received any government funding to support their religious values. EMF has always been supported by listeners and they do quite well.
JB: Can NPR survive then if it doesn’t receive government support?
DM: Yes. it receives corporate support and grants as well as their fundraisers.
JB: Is there still a place for NPR in radio broadcasting?
DM: Yes. NPR represents a democratic point of view just like Premiere and Westwood do on the conservative side.
JB: How could NPR replace the funding it receives from the government?
DM: NPR radio stations are classified by the FCC as non-commercial stations. This was part of The Communications Act of 1934. It is time now to remove that classification. Local NPR stations then would be free to compete with commercial stations in their home markets.
JB: That’d certainly make things more competitive and interesting. Would there be enough advertising support in local markets for NPR to sustain themselves?
DM: Absolutely! Many (if not most) of NPR stations are highly rated by Nielsen. For example, here in Washington, DC, WAMU-FM is the number one station in the market over WTOP. NPR stations are highly rated in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Austin and many others. It is eye-opening to see how highly rated they are and how well they could compete against commercial stations without government funding.
Non-commercial classifications should be removed by the FCC if government funding goes away. That would open up new revenue sources for those stations. I believe the re-classification to commercial would also increase the asset value of each station.
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We couldn’t mention the score on the air until the game was completed. That was a rule at a radio station I worked at in the late 80s. If someone heard us talking about the Cowboys game in the third quarter, they might switch stations to listen to the game on another radio station.
It makes more sense in the PPM era than it did when we were ramping up Madonna songs during the Arbitron and Birch ratings era, but I supported the logic. Why give someone permission to change the station? However, we live in a time where sports is not only a bigger business, it’s culturally more accepted.
“A more globalized and interconnected society is changing the way fans interact with sports media.” That’s a line from a promo piece in Adweek presented by SiriusXM Media creatively recapping “The Sports Audio Report” from SiriusXM, GroupM, and Edison Research. You can read it here.
Last week’s MLB Opening Day reminded me why sports references and acknowledgment on music radio stations are not the tainted topics they used to be.
It’s time for one of Harrell’s Acrostics! The password is SPORTS:
S-Stability: I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the unstable world we live in, but it’s not unlike the unstable world of the 2000s, 1990s, and 1980s. Music radio has always provided a subconscious consistency factor in a chaotic world. Sports is a predictable remedy. We’re calmed by our team(s) doing something that has a beginning and an end, even when the team goes 0-16. Yes, I lived in Detroit during that season, and we’ll never forget.
P-Promotional: It seems obvious, but I’m surprised how many opportunities for promotional content are left on the floor. Prior to digital, if you didn’t do it on the air, it didn’t happen. Now, we have promotional ways to connect through Reels, YouTube, TikTok, or a text campaign to your database that leads someone to the old-fashioned website. Sports promotions aren’t just for Flagship stations.
O-Outreach: If you want to nurture your IG or TikTok followers, create a high school spirit contest when football season starts. It’s an old promotion with expanded reach on social media channels. Reach out to school boards and booster clubs to get their support so they can tell the kids where to find the radio station. Sarcasm.
R-Renewal: This one is my banner. We experienced it last week during Opening Day. Spring causes us to feel positive change, but the American pastime plays a big role, too. For a moment, every person thinks their team is going to the World Series. If their team wins the first game, then start planning the Victory Parade. Our brand’s quick association or mention of a new season promotes renewal in other areas of the listener’s life. You get subconscious credit for that moment.
T-Timbre: I’m stretching like Armstrong with this one, but I’m playing the acrostic game. Timbre is the color or texture of sound. Sports moments give us the opportunity to create Ear Candy on music stations within the format’s rules and regulations. Game Day or Playoff audio to accent your Promos, Imaging or Jock breaks can go a long way in making your station feel in the moment without violating the usage goals.
S-Society: The next time you attend a high school, college, or professional sports game, look around and notice the diversity. Then, consider for a moment that we all have the same thing in common: destroy the other team. Mentioning your team’s success or failure while you’re talking up that Blake Shelton song has the same bonding effect.
Welcome to another season of opportunity to improve your sound through the emotional impact of the sports world. Oh, and when your team is in last place, the franchise will gladly give you more promotional tickets for giveaways. Who wins? Your listeners. Have you checked the ticket and stadium prices lately?
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
