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Cumulus Media Continues Taking AM Stations Silent as 1260 WFTW Signs Off

BNM Staff
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Cumulus Media Continues Taking AM Stations Silent as 1260 WFTW Signs Off

Earlier this month, Cumulus Media began the process of taking some stations that were no longer financially viable silent. That continues as 1260 WFTW has been silenced in Fort Walton Beach.

The heritage station will sign off the air at Noon on Friday, ending a more than 70-year run in the Florida city.

Local host Dan Diamond informed listeners on Thursday that the station would be ceasing operations Friday. He added that the station was one of 23 that would be shuttered by Cumulus Media, though it is unclear if that is additional stations being shuttered after those already silenced, or if WFTW was included in that figure.

The show hosted by Diamond was the only local weekday programming heard on the station. It was otherwise filled with syndicated shows, mostly from Westwood One, while also airing Premiere Networks’ The Sean Hannity Show in afternoon drive.

1260 WFTW signed on the air on November 20th, 1953 on Florida’s Emerald Coast. The AM signal of the station features a Class D signal with 2,500 watts of daytime power, which drops to 131 watts at night. Additionally, the station is heard on an FM translator at 107.5 FM. The license for that translator was granted in 2021.

Cumulus Media continues to operate 1370 WCOA in nearby Pensacola. Like 1260 WFTW, the station airs an almost identical lineup of Westwood One programs. The Pensacola news/talk station, however, does not feature any local programming during weekdays.

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Peter Schrager in Talks to Join ESPN: Report

BSM Staff
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Peter Schrager in Talks to Join ESPN: Report

Peter Schrager is reportedly in talks to join ESPN on its coverage of the NFL, although a deal has yet to be officially announced by the company. Schrager would reportedly be contributing across ESPN studio programming on shows such as Get Up, First Take and NFL Live, along with being part of tentpole events such as the NFL Draft and Super Bowl week. If the deal is done in time, it is said to be feasible that Schrager could also be a part of NFL Draft coverage on ABC and ESPN. News of the development was first reported by Michael McCarthy and Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports.

Schrager is an original member of Good Morning Football on NFL Network and has been a part of the show for the last nine years. Yet during last season, he hosted several episodes of the program remotely from New York City after the morning show moved across the country to emanate from NFL Network studios in Inglewood, Calif. Throughout the year, he made trips to the West Coast to host the show and also appear on FOX NFL Kickoff on Sunday mornings as an insider and reporter. Schrager was part of Super Bowl LIX coverage in New Orleans, La. where he interviewed personnel from both teams and took part in studio programming surrounding the championship game.

Additional reporting from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic states that Schrager is leaving NFL Network and FOX Sports. This all takes place as there have been several reports indicating discussions for ESPN to potentially acquire NFL Media, which includes assets such as NFL Network and NFL RedZone. The Walt Disney Company is currently in the midst of a 10-year media rights contract with the NFL reportedly worth $2.7 billion per year. Whereas several of the other national deals reportedly grant the league an ability to opt out after the 2029 season, the contract with Disney is said not to have this capability be possible until one year later.

Schrager joining ESPN would mark another hire for the company surrounding its NFL coverage after it hired former Artie Kempner, formerly of FOX Sports, to work as the new director of Monday Night Football. Before Schrager joined FOX Sports to write for its website and appear on camera, he auditioned for the ESPN “Dream Job” contest as a college student at Emory University. Although he did not win, he was a freelancer for the ESPN Page 3 website and wrote several articles for the digital publication. ESPN is scheduled to broadcast its first Super Bowl to conclude the 2026 NFL season from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

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Fox News Uses Ratings Surge Following Election of Donald Trump to Attract Top Advertisers

BNM Staff
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Fox News has been on a ratings high since Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. That has led to major advertisers coming to the network in recent months.

Blue-chip brands like UBS, Netflix, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and GE Vernova, have all placed buys with the network in recent months for the first time in more than two years. Additionally, the network has attracted 125 major companies as advertisers since the election of Donald Trump.

In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s election win, Fox News saw a ratings surge as competitors MSNBC and CNN saw large declines. At one point, Fox News’ share of the cable news audience climbed to 70%. In primetime, Fox News is averaging nearly 3.2 million viewers through the midway mark of 2025.

Additionally, the network has seen its Special Report with Bret Baier rival the audiences of network newscasts in the 6 PM ET hour.

“The landscape has changed dramatically,” FOX Corp. President of Advertising Sales Jeff Collins said. “In today’s fragmented landscape, this audience is hard to ignore.” 

The return of some marketers to Fox News comes after apprehension in regard to brand suitability in recent years. Many advertisers had either pulled their ads completely from the network, or placed strict limits on which programs on the network their messages could air.

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Matt Barnes Wants To See More of This Side of LeBron James

BSM Staff
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It has been several weeks since a courtside confrontation between Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith. Since that meeting, both personalities have continued to trade public barbs.

On Wednesday, James appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and addressed the situation. He expressed that Smith had missed the point regarding their original dispute on the court and added that Smith would probably be thrilled he was bringing him up again. In response, Smith fired back, calling James a liar and openly stating that he does not like him. However, Smith maintained that he would continue to cover both James and the sport professionally.

Meanwhile, Matt Barnes, who co-hosts the popular podcast All The Smoke with former NBA player Stephen Jackson, weighed in on the ongoing feud. Having played against LeBron James for several years, Barnes shared his perspective on the public back-and-forth, saying he actually appreciates that it is happening.

“22 years in the league, he’s (James) been getting scrutinized the whole time,” said Barnes via a post on his Instagram. “He finally came out and it was just unfiltered. An unfiltered, no-holds-barred conversation with Pat McAfee, which was dope.”

In the clip, Barnes expressed that he was pleased to see this unfiltered side of LeBron James, as it was a side of the NBA superstar he had never witnessed before. He credited James for choosing not to take the high road with Smith and instead allowing things to air out.

“Obviously, it was Stephen A. that caught it, but it was really at all of the media,” stated Barnes. “People have made careers off doggin’ ‘dude.’ Skip Bayless comes to mind.”

Barnes also referenced an interview he conducted with Kobe Bryant before his passing, in which they discussed the criticism Bryant endured throughout his Hall of Fame career. Reflecting on Bryant’s comments, Barnes emphasized that all the criticism stuck with him during his playing days, reinforcing the point that NBA players are human too.

“Stephen A., you know I f**k with you, you’re my dog. But I think you crossed a line,” stated Barnes. “You have a lot of responsibility because you know a lot of secrets in the league about a lot of different people. That comes with a big responsibility, and you’ve carried it well, but I think you were out of pocket.”

Barnes concluded his remarks by encouraging LeBron James to continue speaking his mind rather than always taking the high road. He believes that fans want to hear James’ unfiltered thoughts and gain deeper insight into his experience.

“Stephen A. is sweating a little bit. He has you sweating, bro,” joked Barnes. “He has you fumbling your words a little bit and out of character, and I like it.”

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Triton Digital Announces Integration Between Spreaker and Sounder

BNM Staff
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Triton Digital Announces Integration Between Spreaker and Sounder

Triton Digital has announced that Spreaker has integrated the AI-powered Sounder platform into its independent creator platform.

Spreaker is currently home to more than 260,000 podcasts. With the new agreement with Sounder, all English language content will be analyzed to study brand suitability and contextual targeting to better help advertisers pair their messages with podcasts.

“Our enhanced targeting capabilities allow buyers to target relevant conversations wherever they happen, expanding beyond categories and into genres to increase the amount of inventory available for targeting,” said Triton Digital Executive Vice President of Podcast and Content Sharon Taylor. “Through this integration, buyers can confidently invest via the Triton Digital Audio Marketplace in the expansive content inventory available on Spreaker. Enabling our partners to do contextual targeting at scale makes buying easier and contributes to an overall better listener experience for audiences.”

“Automated brand solutions like Sounder are no longer ‘nice to have,’ they’re a need to have as more podcast content becomes available. Making Sounder available on Spreaker will provide buyers with an increasing amount of brand-suitable inventory, ” added DAX US President Brian Conlan. “Sounder and DAX US have been partners since August 2022 and it has allowed our team to seamlessly provide advertisers with the insights they need to make better buying decisions about the content that best aligns with their brand.”

Triton Digital acquired Sounder in March 2024 and recently released new upgrade, including Promo Hub to automate podcast promotion, as well as an expanded Audio Insights Dashboard.

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Boomer Esiason: Keith McPherson is an ‘Authentic Yankee Fan’

BSM Staff
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Boomer Esiason: Keith McPherson is an ‘Authentic Yankee Fan’

Despite some dramatic moments in the ninth inning, the New York Yankees held on to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day in the Bronx, sending fans home happy as the new season commenced. When the team recorded the final out, WFAN host Keith McPherson dashed from Yankee Stadium and ended up hosting his radio program after the postgame show had concluded, arriving behind the microphone with a diminished voice. Chris LoPresti, who was filling in for anchor Jerry Recco on Friday’s edition of Boomer & Gio, highlighted how McPherson ended up hosting a show lasting more than four hours where he talked about both baseball teams and the outcomes of their contests.

LoPresti played audio of McPherson’s open, during which he implored people to tell everyone about the Yankees’ Opening Day victory. Furthermore, he articulated that he had been at the game and that people could probably tell because of his voice, but he felt that he had enough to do the show tonight. Upon hearing the audio, Gregg Giannotti expressed his shock at how McPherson took the airwaves, who is now covering the Yankees for a fourth season on the sports talk radio platform.

“Wow, and he was healthy, right?,” Giannotti said. “This was all because he was yelling? This was not because he was sick and lost his voice?”

Co-host Boomer Esiason explained that McPherson had an appearance at a local bar for a pregame party ahead of the matchup and recalled that they were doing the live reads of it. Esiason assumed that McPherson had to have become “hammered,” although Giannotti conveyed that he did not know if this was the case. Nonetheless, Esiason elucidated that he is happy and probably the biggest Yankees fan on the station, resulting in others to question how it compares to the passion demonstrated by Chris McMonigle.

“No, he’s definitely bigger than McMonigle,” Esiason said of McPherson. “Definitely a bigger fan. They’re both apologetic for the Yankees if they lose, they don’t get really after anybody.”

Before moving on to a new topic, LoPresti played more audio of McPherson asking listeners with a voice to call into the show. On top of that, McPherson divulged how he views Opening Day as a holiday and that he loves it even more when the Yankees attain victory. In addition, he woke up at 4:13 a.m. EST on Thursday and arrived at the ballpark well before first pitch as the team tries to begin its quest for a 28th World Series title.

“See, I told you,” Esiason said. “That’s an authentic Yankee fan right there.”

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Jason Goff: Dan Bernstein Just Had ‘A Bad Moment’

BSM Staff
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Jason Goff: Dan Bernstein Just Had ‘A Bad Moment’

It’s been a week since 670 The Score officially parted ways with host Dan Bernstein following an incident on social media. The situation unfolded when Bernstein engaged in a heated back-and-forth with a follower on X after posting a picture of a fish he caught. Ultimately, The Score host escalated the exchange by threatening the follower to a fight and potentially doxxing the individual.

In the aftermath of the incident, Bernstein was off the air for a full week. Then, last Friday, Mitch Rosen, the vice president and brand manager of 670 The Score, officially announced the separation on air.

Meanwhile, Jason Goff—host of The Full Go Podcast and studio host for Chicago Sports Network’s Chicago Bulls coverage—shared his perspective on the situation. Notably, Goff once worked alongside Bernstein as a producer when he co-hosted the Boers & Bernstein program on 670 The Score. On the latest edition of his podcast, Goff reflected on Bernstein’s dismissal.

“I’ll say this, man, nobody died,” said Goff. “Dan Bernstein is one of the smarter, more engaging, thought-provoking, erudite—just all-around, like, one of the best to ever do what we do. But also, Dan Bernstein has flown close to the sun several times in his career, as this job will have you do. As this thing that we are a part of sometimes will have you do. This time, he got burned.”

Looking back, Goff’s final producing position with 670 The Score before leaving in 2012 for Atlanta’s 92.9 The Game was as a producer on Boers & Bernstein for seven years. During that time, he credits his collaboration with former producer Matt Abbatacola as a key factor in elevating the program to new heights. Later, Goff returned to 670 The Score in 2015 to co-host alongside Bernstein. However, he was cut from the station’s lineup in March of 2018.

Although he has not yet spoken to Bernstein privately since his dismissal, Goff admitted he has been stunned by the reaction he’s seen online.

“I trust that Dan is OK. Like, I’ve seen all-out eulogies about this man’s career,” stated Goff. “Dan Bernstein is going to mess around and find himself on a podcast somewhere or do whatever the hell he wants to do with the rest of his career—if he even wants to jump back in the game. I don’t see it as this injustice, and this is a far cry from what the business should be. Man, stop it.”

Furthermore, Goff emphasized that Bernstein has been a giant in Chicago radio for a long time. He even recalled listening to a young Dan Bernstein in his early years at the station when he was hosting a weekend program.

“It sucks to see somebody go down for that,” said Goff, referencing the social media incident that led to Bernstein’s departure. “He had a bad moment, and those bad moments had added up to him losing his gig.”

In conclusion, Goff wrapped up the segment by wishing Bernstein well as the longtime Score voice moves on from the station.

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Nick Wright: Stephen A. Smith is ‘Boxed In’ with LeBron James Situation

BSM Staff
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Nick Wright: Stephen A. Smith is ‘Boxed In’ with LeBron James Situation

Several weeks after a courtside confrontation between Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, the storyline continued to progress with both professionals exchanging their thoughts on one another. James, appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, talked about how Smith missed the point pertaining to the original disputation and would probably be thrilled that he was bringing him up again. In his response, Smith called James a liar and stated that he does not like him but will continue to cover him and the sport professionally. FS1 personality Nick Wright reacted to everything going on during the latest edition of his What’s Wright? podcast on Thursday.

Wright explained his belief that Smith had made “a grievous error” and how he had collected a loss in this situation because of not previously divulging his disdain for the Lakers superstar. Smith has been consistent in saying that James is the second-best basketball player to ever play the game, something that he conveys others take as an insult. In claiming to do an honest analysis of the situation, Wright surmised what he thinks is the genuine rationale as to why Smith articulates former Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan as being his greatest of all time over James.

“‘What’s been the problem?,’” Wright said. “‘Was there something personal before?,’ and the answer’s ‘No.’ LeBron wouldn’t talk to him. That was the problem. LeBron wouldn’t talk to him or acknowledge him, and Michael Jordan texts with him. That’s it, that’s the whole thing. That’s the start of it.”

Wright explained that people always ask him if he believes what he is saying, to which he responds that it is always the case. At the same time, he admitted that there are moments when he will enhance aspects of his presentation, but he is always authentic in the opinions that he is disseminating. Wright seemed to insinuate that Smith is unable to take the loss in this situation and fighting a war of words while James is on the court playing the games. On top of that, James and his son, Bronny, are having success as the Lakers look to secure a playoff spot.

“You have now positioned yourself where anytime you give fair analysis about a good Laker game or Bronny or whatever, you’re going to get ripped for that too,” Wright said of Smith. “You are so boxed in, and the guy, honest to God, so much of this, as I’ve said before, so much of the toxicity of sports media across all sports nad all our debates is actually about Michael Jordan and that era and that era of people who came up in that era being like, ‘Man, my childhood was the best – I promise.’”

In the end, Wright articulated that this ultimately generates from Smith having a relationship with Jordan while James will not talk to him. Whereas Jordan is no longer playing basketball professionally, James is in his 22nd season and became the first player in league history to suit up alongside his son. As he continues to extend the all-time scoring record and fight for a fifth league championship, Wright does not think Smith has an opportunity to garner victory in this situation.

“It’s just a war you’re not going to win, and it’s a war you’re not going to win because I think, because of your popularity and success and talent, enough people have watched you for long enough that we know what the record says, and we know you have always claimed you have no problem with LeBron, he has a problem with you,” Wright said. “And then today, you say, ‘He will smile in your face, then stab you in the back. That’s why I don’t like him.’ Is that just in the last two weeks? ‘Literally circumvented the meritocracy in the NBA.’ That in the last two weeks?”

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Michelle Beadle: LeBron James, Stephen A. Smith Situation Feels Like WWE

BSM Staff
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Social media, pundits, and even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver are all talking about the ongoing public back-and-forth between Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. On Thursday, during her NBATV program Run It Back, host Michelle Beadle weighed in on the growing media feud between these two NBA giants.

Comparing the spat to something out of the world of World Wrestling Entertainment, Beadle struggled to find a side to support.

“This feels like a WWE situation at this point,” laughed Beadle while discussing the issue with co-host Chandler Parsons. “It’s Pat McAfee, who now is one of the faces of the WWE. Alright, he’s hosting this. LeBron James goes on there for over an hour on the very network where the dude he confronted in public also is the highest-paid guy on the network. All of it feels fake to me.”

Beadle, who worked at ESPN from 2009 to 2012 and again from 2014 to 2019, addressed the incident that gained momentum following James’ appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday. That interview then led to a response from Smith on his podcast, which was quickly followed by James posting a late-night video of Smith attempting to box while recovering from surgery. This post appeared to be a direct response to Smith’s earlier remark that he would have “immediately swung on him” if James had touched him during their recent courtside confrontation at a Lakers game.

The situation escalated further when Smith took to his First Take program on ESPN Thursday morning, delivering a nearly twenty-minute rant mocking the Lakers’ superstar.

“By the way, LeBron James calling Stephen A.’s situation right now basically he’s on a ‘Taylor Swift Tour’ right now,” Beadle applauded. “Chef’s kiss, he is.”

Beadle continued, pointing out that Smith has been “milking everything” from the viral video of James confronting him at a Lakers game. She noted that Smith has since appeared on nearly every media outlet possible to discuss the incident.

Although she made it clear that she doesn’t particularly care about James’ comments regarding Smith, she did take issue with his remarks about ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst.

“Wow. We have entered a really weird realm,” Beadle joked. “I think where LeBron lost a lot of people from yesterday’s interview—because the Stephen A. comments, who cares, right? But when you go after Brian Windhorst, who has been covering him since he was a kid, since he was a high schooler? I didn’t really get it. It felt unprovoked, unnecessary. A bit bullying, I guess, if you will. You see quickly how much Brian Windhorst is loved in this industry, because I’ve seen everyone from the guys on NBA Radio to Amin Elhassan—everyone’s picking up for ‘Windy.’ Because why, dude?”

Beadle wrapped up her thoughts by calling the situation laughable, though not in a fun, comedic way.

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What March Madness Can Teach News/Talk Radio Hosts About Topic Selection

Pete Mundo
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What March Madness Can Teach News/Talk Radio Hosts About Topic Selection

People love rooting for David vs. Goliath. Well, that’s what they claim, at least, but rarely does the data back that up. The latest example of this is March Madness, and it’s a lesson for news/talk radio hosts as well.

Despite big brands winning in historic fashion, the ratings not only weren’t impacted negatively without a Cinderella, but they went up. This week, the Sweet 16 is made up entirely of teams from power conferences, a first since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

But for those who insist they are not watching without the No. 15 seed crashing brackets all over the country, the opposite has happened. The first weekend of March Madness was the most viewed weekend of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament since 1993. The figures released Tuesday morning showed that by combining the full viewership between TNT Sports and CBS Sports, the average audience reached 9.4 million viewers throughout the second round of the tournament.

What’s the lesson for the news/talk radio industry?

The niche topics — AKA, the underdogs — are (generally speaking) dead. 

We are in a world where we can consume more news than ever before, but the massive amount of top content being produced daily covers a couple of big topics that your audience likely cares about and wants your opinion and analysis on.

Sports fans want to watch the stars. In March Madness, they want to see Duke win, even if it’s because they love to hate Duke. The same applies to the Yankees and Dodgers in Major League Baseball, who met in the World Series this past season. What happened? Average viewership for the five-game series was up 67% on last year’s World Series. The 2024 postseason averaged 7.49 million viewers on Fox and FS1, up 42% over last season.

In news/talk radio, there will be great interest in the big national news story around President Trump, and this administration. In your market, there might be one or two stories of great local interest per day, and that’s it.

There’s very little else that’s going to move the needle dramatically. 

The hardest part of the job today is not finding as many stories as possible, it’s creating unique, creative, thoughtful content around the top couple of stories that your audience cares about. Then, it’s finding strong guests, different angles, and unique callers/texters/social media followers, who can be additive to the show for the listener.

Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t entertain your audience with breaking news coming from your own sources or have that hot topic that your audience knows is of interest to you, and they’re “with you” along for the ride. Think about Rush Limbaugh, his fascination with technology, and his love for Apple (the company, not the fruit). It was endearing, and he picked his spots wisely.

Those are still great live radio moments, but they obviously can’t dominate the show.

In cable news, Fox News is showering its audience with two or three Trump-themed topics per day that drive their audience into his arms, while MSNBC is doing the opposite. The strategy is, more or less, the same, from very different ideological perspectives. New hosts give new opinions, and new shows bring on new guests, but the themes are steady.

This strategy isn’t necessarily new, but it’s even more evident now, because the consumer has more media choices than ever before. As a result, it’s up to you to keep them entertained on the topics that you know move the needle and that they care about. Don’t deny reality. Accept it, and work your hardest to be creative and win.

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