Ken Coleman, who serves as a regular co-host of The Ramsey Show is departing the organization.
Coleman originally joined the company in 2014. During his time with Ramsey Solutions and The Ramsey Network, Coleman has authored two books. He also hosts The Ken Coleman Show, as well as Front Row Seat.
In a video published on YouTube, Ken Coleman shared that Monday would be his final day with the organization.
“If you haven’t heard, I have some pretty big news,” Coleman said. “I am leaving Ramsey Solutions, but I’m leaving with a full and grateful heart to pursue an opportunity I did not see coming. As I’ve always encouraged people to do on The Ken Coleman Show, The Ramsey Show, and Front Row Seat, it’s important to follow your heart and do the work you believe you’re wired to do.
“With this opportunity, it’s time for me to move on. There’s a wide range of emotions. I look back at the work I’ve been able to do at Ramsey Solutions, the people I’ve sat with, coached, and met, and I carry those memories with me into this next chapter.”
Coleman noted that he has a series of interviews and podcasts already recorded that will still be published despite his exit.
In a post on social media, Dave Ramsey shared the news of Coleman’s departure.
“Sad news for Ramsey and for me personally,” Ramsey began. “Ken Coleman told me two weeks ago that he has accepted a position as Director of Communications with a large firm. Today is his last day at Ramsey. Ken and Stacy have been personal friends of Sharon and me for decades. We love them dearly and are very sad personally and professionally that Ken will no longer be a Ramsey Personality.
“He is a very talented guy with a penchant for personal growth so we are sure he will succeed mightily at his next stop,” Ramsey shared. “While I will no longer share a microphone with him, he and Stacy will remain our good personal friends.”
Sad news for Ramsey and for me personally. Ken Coleman told me two weeks ago that he has accepted a position as Director of Communications with a large firm and today is his last day at Ramsey. Ken and Stacy have been personal friends of Sharon and Me for decades. We love them… pic.twitter.com/FuNF7wV4lO
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WEEI in Boston is making a significant afternoon move. The Audacy sports station has announced a new show pairing Rich Shertenlieb with Ken Laird and Ted Johnson, weekdays from 2-6 p.m. ET.
The show, titled Rich and Ken with Ted Johnson, fills a key daypart. It slots between the Jones & Keefe midday show and Christian Arcand’s evening program.
Shertenlieb brings serious Boston credentials. He arrived in the market in 2006, co-hosting afternoon drive on WBCN. He helped launch 98.5 The Sports Hub in 2009 and spent 14 years anchoring mornings there. Most recently, he co-hosted WZLX mornings alongside Johnson.
Audacy SVP of Programming Mike Thomas praised the combination.
“Rich is one of the most dynamic and entertaining voices in Boston media,” Thomas said, “with a proven ability to connect with audiences across platforms.”
The hire carries personal meaning for Shertenlieb.
“I’m thrilled to be at WEEI and reunite with my buddy and one of my favorite colleagues, Ted Johnson, and work with Ken to see what we can build together,” said Shertenlieb. “The station’s connection to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund makes this deeply personal, given the role those organizations have played in saving my wife’s life. I’m grateful for this next chapter and can’t wait to get started.”
Johnson is no stranger to winning. The retired Patriots linebacker earned three Super Bowl rings and served as team captain five times. He joined WEEI in 2025 after stints at WZLX, The Sports Hub, and CBS Radio.
Laird has deep roots at the station. He first joined WEEI in 2002 and returned in 2015. He currently holds the Operations Manager title and will retain it.
His excitement is evident. “Rich and Ted bring so much personality,” Laird said. “I know we won’t be short on fun and opinions.”
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Cumulus Media has announced it has struck a contract extension with John Phillips to keep his midday show on 790 KABC in Los Angeles and 810 KSFO in San Francisco.
The John Phillips Show airs from 12-3 PM on the Cumulus Media news/talk stations.
“We are thrilled to be able to spend weekday afternoons with L.A., the Bay Area, and everyone else the Raiders skipped town on, for the next several years!” Phillips said about the move.
Additionally, Randy Wang will remain a part of the show. He also hosts the KABC News Blitz from 5-6 PM on weekdays.
“We are thrilled to extend The John Phillips Show and will continue to have John Phillips and Randy Wang speak about accountability in California to their loyal audience,” Regional Vice President/Market Manager for Cumulus San Francisco/Los Angeles Larry Blumhagen said.
“We are so happy to continue bringing our unique brand of covering California to SoCal, The Bay Area and beyond!” Wang added.
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It’s not often that a five o’clock news dump raises the eyebrow of the entire audio industry. This past Friday did exactly that. Late in the day, Bloomberg reported that audio giants iHeartMedia and SiriusXM had begun early talks about possibly joining forces. Not an acquisition or a purchase, but two companies that dominate the audio industry exploring a merger to help grow each other.
Variety followed Bloomberg’s report by noting that veteran music industry mogul Irving Azoff and Apollo Global Management were offering to assist with the merger. That layer adds an interesting wrinkle, which we’ll get into later.
However, anytime there is talk of a merger, those within the walls become a bit nervous about what’s to come. Both companies have their success stories, but they also have their warts. No merger begins without clear benefits for the companies involved. However, would this one provide more stability and a brighter future for the tens of thousands of employees who make up both organizations?
Let’s lay out some details first.
iHeartMedia is the largest radio station owner in the United States. The company owns and operates more than 860 stations across 160 markets. It reports about 250 million monthly listeners and is the top podcast publisher in the United States, according to Nielsen.
Last year, the company reported $3.865 billion in revenue, relatively flat year over year, despite podcast revenue increasing 24.5%.
SiriusXM is the largest satellite radio service in the United States and boasts the biggest podcast network in the country. For comparison, iHeartMedia ranks third, with Spotify coming in second.
The company has stated that podcast revenue grew 41% in 2025 after double-digit growth in 2024. However, SiriusXM reported earlier this year that paid subscribers fell by more than 300,000 in 2025, despite total monthly churn improving by 0.1%. Overall, total revenue declined 2% year over year.
Podcast Over Broadcast
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. This merger would be more about podcast audio dominance than anything else. Follow the money and where it’s going. Both companies are currently seeing strong growth in podcast revenue on the audio side, and both have their brands attached to some of the biggest names in the space.
They also understand that the future success of their business models lies in on-demand audio rather than traditional over-the-air broadcasting. That’s not a good sign for traditional radio talent serving audiences across those 860 stations nationwide for iHeart nor the numerous talent across the channels on SiriusXM Radio.
The second layer involves how podcast consumption is shifting.
At their core, iHeartMedia and SiriusXM are audio-first companies, with video components attached to several of their larger podcast brands, but not all. The latest Jacobs Media TechSurvey, released last week, shows that over the past four years, a growing share of weekly podcast consumers prefer video versions of their favorite shows. According to Edison Research, 77% of first-year listeners actively watch video podcasts, surpassing the 75% who listen to audio-only formats.
So who has owned the video podcast race in recent years? YouTube.
In December, Bloombergreported that consumers watched 700 million hours of YouTube podcasts on television in October 2025 alone. That figure is double what it was just one year earlier.
That’s why companies like Netflix, Meta, and Apple are investing in housing video content from podcast creators. This is also where Azoff’s involvement becomes particularly interesting.
Third Party ‘Advising’
Azoff’s background is in artist and talent management. His job is to advocate for the artists he represents and ensure they maximize their earnings. Like any good agent, he was critical of YouTube last year, calling the platform “a behemoth bully” when it comes to compensating rights holders.
“How does YouTube pay less than their competitors? They are a behemoth bully. They have 2.7 billion monthly active users and more than $60 billion in annual revenue. It’s the dominant video platform, with more hours streamed than Netflix. It’s the largest music service, with more users than Spotify. And in the ‘traditional’ TV space, it’s on track to surpass Comcast as the largest U.S. cable provider. This company now owns audience and content delivery in a way the world has never seen before,” said Azoff.
Now, while Azoff is reportedly advising both sides, wouldn’t he potentially benefit if those he represents worked in concert (pun intended) with both iHeartMedia and SiriusXM? That’s a fair question, because with any merger, you have to ask why—and how—it benefits every party involved.
That question becomes even more relevant when one of the advisors has a clear issue with the single biggest competitor to the audio-podcast space—the same space that iHeartMedia and SiriusXM would dominate together.
So let’s simplify this.
What This Could Mean
First, any merger of this size would require regulatory approval. Both sides may see a window of opportunity with the current administration taking an active role in media-related matters.
Second, radio is losing ground while digital continues to rise. The latest Jacobs Media TechSurvey reinforces that trend.
Third, the podcast consumer is now the lifeblood of audio-based content companies. It’s no longer traditional radio. Despite the reach that local radio still provides, iHeartMedia has actively used their radio platforms to educate audiences that podcasts are the destination.
“The huge advantage that iHeartPodcast has, and of course people know how big iHeart is on the radio side, but they often don’t realize the role that it plays in the growth of our podcast business,” said Will Pearson, President of iHeartPodcasts to Barrett Media in March of last year. “The reason we are, by far, the largest podcast network out there is because we’re able to lean into this massive megaphone that is the radio stations.”
That massive, free megaphone has enormous value. Now imagine opening it up to the largest podcast distribution machine in the country.
Finally, this is all about control.
Why compete when you can collaborate and dominate a category that is already losing ground to video?
iHeart adds access to its top-tier podcast talent across SiriusXM, creating another distribution hub. SiriusXM gains a larger megaphone for its podcast product through free, over-the-air radio. Both companies benefit from shared content strategy and programmatic advertising, which could help stabilize revenue for both.
And don’t forget—the discussions are being advised by an entertainment power player with a known issue with YouTube, who would likely benefit alongside the talent he represents.
Meanwhile, if the merger goes through, what would this combined entity mean for the rest of the podcast industry? Companies like Wondery, Audioboom, Audacy, and Spotify would all feel the impact. Could this merger effectively block out competition in the future of the audio podcast industry?
It may not be a monopoly, but would any other company pass go and collect the $200 ever again?
Benefits & Challenges
For employees of both companies, the deal raises familiar concerns about consolidation and redundancy. It suggests that tens of thousands of workers are not the focal point of these companies’ long-term strategies.
This is more about global scale than local sustainability.
For creators, it introduces a new gatekeeper with unprecedented leverage. For competitors, it signals that the era of fragmented podcast growth may be giving way to something far more consolidated—and far more difficult to penetrate.
But zoom out, and there’s an even bigger implication.
This isn’t just about competing with Spotify or Wondery. It’s about building enough scale to push back against the real giant in the room—YouTube—and its growing dominance over podcast discovery, consumption, and monetization in an evolving video-first world.
What looks like a merger is really a counterpunch.
A bet that scale is the only way audio survives the shift to video. A belief that collaboration is more valuable than competition. And ultimately, a wager that owning the pipes matters more than owning any single piece of content flowing through them.
If they’re right, this could redefine how audio is created, distributed, and monetized for the next decade.
If they’re wrong, it will serve as another reminder that bigger doesn’t always mean better—especially in a media landscape where the audience, not the distributor, holds the power.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
I’m a self-proclaimed rock chick, former rock programmer (of various rock formats), and frequent concertgoer. Especially a current-based rock concert crowd member, I love experiencing new talent.
It doesn’t matter if I’m programming a radio station or on the air. Whether I’m hosting my podcast, or cruising YouTube. I’m always looking for sounds. LOUD sounds.
It’s inspiring to see so many artists putting out full releases, singles, and a mountain of rock tours rolling.
Clubs, sheds, amphitheaters, arenas, festivals. It seems everyone is on the road or heading out on tour. ’Tis the season. The month of May is coming in hot and loud with some killer new releases (and so is June!).
May 2026 Releases
Sevendust – One – May 1
Black Keys – Peaches – May 1
Geoff Tate – Operation: Mindcrime 3 – May 3
Social Distortion – Born To Kill – May 8
Black Veil Brides – Vindicate – May 8
Peter Frampton – Carry The Light – May 15
Devin Townsend – The Moth – May 29
Violet Grohl – Be Sweet To Me – May 29
Shinedown – Ei8ht – May 29
Paul McCartney – The Boy Of Dungeon Lane – May 29
June 2026 Releases
Evanescence – Sanctuary – June 5
Jared James Nichols – Louder Than Fate – June 5
Des Rocs – To Hell and Back – June 12
Bolan – Gargoyle Of The Garden State – June 12
The Pretty Reckless – Dear God – Juen 26
With streaming numbers up across all demos, rock was cited as the fastest-growing genre in terms of streaming share in 2025.
Most current-based tours I attend are sold out in my area. Most recently, Des Rocs, Black Label Society, Mammoth, and Nothing More packed venues. If you participated in any of the Record Store Day celebrations last week, you saw long lines, diverse crowds, and interesting demographics all grabbing vinyl.
Most of the vinyl I saw people buying fell into some genre of rock.
So why do people still think rock is dead?
While the industry prioritizes other genres (as it has for decades), we are constantly fed the line that “cultural shifts are causing tastes to change.” It’s hard not to look at what’s actually happening around us instead of scrolling and flapping our gums.
Active, classic, metal, alternative. I feel lucky that there is something to experience in my area of NY/NJ every night of the week. There’s also so much great new music to look forward to as we head into summer. Many of the above-mentioned artists releasing music will be featured on my Carr Stereo Podcast. Artists are not only busy but engaged.
I was recently told by a radio company executive that current based rock is proven not to work in the New York Market. I’m going on the record saying I beg to differ.
I have programmed in the New York metro for close to 30 years. That’s another column for another time.
Be on the lookout, or better yet, on the “ear-out.” We have a few great musical months ahead.
Discover, download, crank up, and enjoy.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
Last week, Barrett Media published results from Jacobs Media’s TechSurvey 2026. The story spread quickly. The Drudge Report picked it up. So did Citizen Free Press and Michael Smerconish’s newsletter. Some in the radio industry weren’t thrilled about the attention.
I understand the reaction. I just don’t share it.
Let me be clear, Barrett Media exists to celebrate, educate, and challenge the media industry. We feature accomplished broadcasters who write fairly, honestly, and respectfully. Sometimes the coverage is favorable. Other times it isn’t. I put my name on everything I write. Agree, disagree, or ignore it — that’s your call.
Some felt our headline for the story wasn’t positive enough. More were troubled by the way other websites framed radio negatively. We went through this last year too. A quote from our feature on Dan Orlovsky of ESPN was used by other websites differently than what we published. We cannot control how other outlets use our work. And we won’t stop reporting facts because they might amplify the information differently. That’s journalism. Suppressing it would be public relations.
Now, About That Data
For the first time in TechSurvey’s history, broadcast listening fell to 54% of total time spent with a listener’s favorite station. Digital platforms now account for 44%. That’s a 10-point gap, which is down from 15 points just one year ago.
Before anyone dismisses this as noise, remember who these respondents are. They represent radio’s most loyal, most engaged P1 listeners. These are not casual fans. Even they are moving toward digital at a meaningful rate.
The longer view is harder to ignore. In 2013, the gap between broadcast and digital was 71 points. Today it sits at 10. That is not a blip. That is a decade-long trend.
There are bright spots in the data. Personalities held their seven-year lead over music as the top programming driver, with 60% of respondents citing hosts and shows as a main reason they listen. But those strengths only describe what radio does well for the audience it already has. The harder question is what the industry is doing to retain the audience it keeps losing.
The average TechSurvey respondent is now 58.4 years old. Listeners 65 and older account for roughly one-third of all respondents. Meanwhile, Gen Z is now slightly ahead on digital. Sports radio is the only format where digital has lapped broadcast — 56% to 42%. Additionally, AM/FM’s share of in-car listening has dropped to 50%, down from 62% in 2018. More dashboard options mean more competition for every minute.
Handling The Truth
Fred Jacobs has spent decades delivering truth to help this industry. He is not the enemy. Nor is his data. He said it plainly: “If you’ve been a ‘digital denier’… this compelling chart should motivate you to devise a different strategy — because you are now swimming upstream.” The industry that argues with that sentence instead of acting on it is the one that should worry people.
Radio as an industry won’t earn the trust of the next generation of listeners by telling them everything is fine when the people who track their most devoted fans discover different truths. It’s even worse once the facts are learned. Rather than absorbing the information and addressing the issue at hand, many take aim at the messenger. If the industry wants public perception to be better, leaders need to get serious about changing it. It’s a real problem that needs attention.
We attended the TechSurvey webinar and wrote the story because it matters. Professionals deserve accurate information. That’s how solutions get created.
The good news is that radio’s digital story is real. When Jacobs Media does the 2027 TechSurvey, I’d expect digital to match or pass over-the-air consumption. Outside publications glossed over that part. That’s likely because promoting radio’s demise attracts more eyeballs. This is the industry’s marketing opportunity.
Rather than worrying about how the facts are framed elsewhere, look closer at the data. Better yet, invest time and resources in reshaping public perception. When you do, we’ll be here to write that story too.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
Television news has a way of flattening reality. Anchors sit behind desks, hosts deliver rehearsed tosses, and reporters stand outside buildings with polished scripts. Viewers watch it all from a couch or a phone screen, processing tragedy the same way they’d process a weather forecast. Something about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting on Saturday evening made that dynamic impossible to ignore.
Those same reporters were there. They ducked under tables. They hid on ballroom floors. Wolf Blitzer stood just feet from the gunman. Jake Tapper was outside the main ballroom when shots rang out. Kaitlan Collins was in the building. Weijia Jiang, WHCA president and a CBS senior White House correspondent, returned to the stage visibly shaken to address the situation. These aren’t characters in a news broadcast. They’re people — with adrenaline, fear, and racing hearts like anyone else.
It’s easy to forget that. The format of television news creates distance. It packages trauma into segments with lower thirds and ticking clocks. So often, anchors and hosts cover mass shootings, violent crimes, and chaotic events with the same composed cadence they’d use to report a Senate vote. The people watching from home don’t always consider what it took to deliver that composure. And frankly, the people delivering it don’t always seem to, either.
Saturday night changed the equation — at least temporarily. Because the victims of the fear, the chaos, and the confusion were the media members themselves. The coverage that followed carried a sensitivity that honestly doesn’t show up often enough. There was acknowledgment of trauma. There was human reaction. And there was a moment where the newsroom paused and recognized that the people in the building were real.
That sensitivity deserves a permanent seat at the table, not just when journalists are involved. Every story about gun violence involves real people scrambling under tables. Every breaking news alert about a shooting represents someone’s terrifying, exhilarating — or simply devastating — reality. The media should report those stories with the same humanity it brought to Saturday night’s coverage. It should always cover fear like fear actually feels.
There’s also another lesson worth discussing — accuracy. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported on air that a Secret Service agent told her the shooter was confirmed dead. That turned out to be false. The suspect was taken into custody, very much alive. CNN had high-profile staff at the event. They got it wrong anyway. That’s not a minor footnote — it’s a significant credibility problem for a network already fighting skepticism about its reliability. If “the mainstream media” can’t get the basic facts right when its own people are on the scene, it’s hard to make the case for trust.
Now, there’s a concession worth making. Breaking news is genuinely hard. Chaos produces bad information. Sources miscommunicate. Still, the standard doesn’t lower just because the situation is intense. If anything, it should rise.
The one redemptive note from a media standpoint? Technology. Jake Tapper grabbed Brian Stelter’s phone and streamed live from inside the Washington Hilton as guests scrambled for cover. Brian Stelter had already been streaming from the ballroom floor when nobody knew what was happening. That kind of immediacy — raw, unpolished, and real — shows how radically the broadcast world has shifted. Being “on” no longer requires a studio, a satellite truck, or even a signal team. It requires a phone and the willingness to press record.
Saturday night was many things. Frightening. Historic. Chaotic. But it also served as a mirror for television news. The industry showed that it can cover tragedy with genuine human feeling. It also showed that accuracy still matters — maybe now more than ever. The challenge is carrying both of those lessons forward, long after the cameras leave the Washington Hilton.
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Every time I write a column about how to maximize ratings, any suggestions I make must be put through the filter of shrinking resources. Most radio stations have little or no budgets for programming. And even less staff than last year are available to conduct new initiatives.
What if I told you that this week, I have a suggestion that involves doing slightly less work to maximize an important marketing asset. We’re looking at your email database/ Even if your response is something like, “Wow, the email, I haven’t thought about that in forever,” I still think this week’s column will help you improve while cutting back your workload.
Plus, I think it’s even more germane for Classic Rock/Hits stations with older audiences. They might be slightly more receptive to email than stations with younger listeners. The inspiration for this post comes from an article by Anne Handley. She is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author and digital marketing and content expert. And she wrote a story titled “Email is Dead, Long Live Email.”
While I highly recommend reading Handley’s post because it’s beautifully written — with a strong analogy comparing AI to tornadoes — her main point is this: if it isn’t already, AI will soon be a filter for nearly everyone’s email inbox. And when it comes to brand marketing newsletters, only the most compelling pieces that consumers really care about reading will get past the AI guard at the door.
According to Handley, the most important email metric to track right now is deliverability. The focus is on making sure your e-blasts are getting into listeners’ email boxes and not being sent to spam. Very soon, she thinks, when AI assistants start filtering inboxes, having content consumers want to read, which she thinks of as “interest,” is going to be the new measure of success. That’s because if the AI doesn’t think your content is something the consumer will want to read, it will be filtered out. And you won’t reach your listeners.
With that in mind, I’m going to steal liberally from Capital One and ask the question: what’s in your e-blast? For too many stations, their email newsletter is filled with a multitude of random items. Contests, appearances, sponsorships, and ads. They have minimal value for the consumer.
Let’s be honest. We all know it’s not very compelling. Handley may be somewhat out in front of the curve when it comes to AI sorting through listeners’ inboxes. The fact is that if your emails aren’t compelling today, listeners already aren’t reading them. And you’re already failing to take advantage of one of your best remaining marketing opportunities.
Here’s where I’d suggest doing less work. Make a commitment to slimming down your email to one — or two at most — key messages. That gives the sales team one slot for a client ad.
You’ll have less to write for each email. So it’s less work. You’ll also have to pick the strongest, most valuable message to send in each note. That will make your e-blast more compelling. Work less. Get stronger marketing.
Handley has a lot of other great ideas about how to improve your emails — focused on adding personality — that I’d suggest taking the time to read. Just start by slimming down your e-blast to the most important thing listeners should know about your station. It’s a great first step. And you’ll have less typing to do.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
If you read the trades and the commentariat (me included), you know that one of the big issues is the next generation. Radio seems more concerned compared to other media, even local TV and newspapers, both of which are in serious trouble.
We know the reasons: young people use other sources of audio entertainment, they still think they can be stars on TV, and for some, the lure of “journalism” means they’ll break an important story by speaking “truth to power.” It must be that that’s a bigger deal than doing middays or selling in a mid-size radio market.
This semester is the first time I’ve taught a full course in over 30 years. Here at Western Kentucky University, I’ve been teaching Broadcast Communication 360, Research and Programming for Electronic Media. I hope you’ll agree that I know the research side pretty well after 40 years in the business, and for programming, I introduced the group to a lot of great people.
Because of my links in the business, the outside presenters were top-heavy to radio, but my view is that if you can program radio, you can work in any medium. There are former radio people in all parts of media, but we can all name people from other media who flamed out in radio.
Most of my group of 14 students is finishing up their undergraduate academic time this semester (I won’t use the term “academic career” because it makes it sound like a job; it isn’t). Most don’t know what they’ll be doing when their time is up.
They’ve learned a lot of production techniques, as WKU is big on that. What they didn’t know much about was the business — and by the business, I’m referring to the media business in general, not just radio. How does it work? Where does the money come from? What are the issues today? What will be the issues tomorrow? I require them to read trade press (their choice of which medium), and we spend time at the start of each class talking about the news.
They’ve heard from some good people. If you had a class that included visits — either by Zoom or in person — with the following folks, would you think it was worthwhile? How about Fred Jacobs, Steve Goldstein, Buzz Knight, George Ivie, Bruce Gilbert, Mike McVay, Jason Barrett, Kenny Smoov, Robby Bridges, Kelly Ford (Kelly is a WKU alum), and John Shomby? That’s an all-star lineup.
They’ve heard me talk about networking and how one job that doesn’t seem great can lead to the next one and the next one. My mom worked for Eastman Kodak in Rochester for over 30 years before retiring. Few of us do that anymore. But sometimes the biggest hurdle is getting started — getting that first job.
Except for George Ivie (an accounting degree from the University of Florida and years at Ernst and Young), I’ve asked each guest speaker three questions:
Why did you get into the business?
How did you get your first gig?
What do you look for in someone you’re considering hiring?
The resulting stories from the first two questions were fun and, in some cases, pure serendipity. Many never knew that they wanted a career in media. In other cases, they wanted to do whatever it took to “make it.” Just ask the namesake of this website about his start!
WKU is not an “elite” school, although I have referred to it as “The Harvard of South Central Kentucky.” One cool aspect is that WKU caters to first-generation college students — that is, many students are the first in their families to have attended college.
To me, where you went to school is less important than what’s in your head, how badly you want to succeed (better known as passion), and your willingness to learn. For those of us who went to college, it was helpful, but even as a Big Ten snob (two of my degrees are from Michigan State), I learned far more on the job than I did in the classroom. One other factor: these job candidates are all digital natives. They aren’t fazed by new technologies.
Here’s my request: if you have an entry-level position open, or if you want to build up a pool for openings that may appear later, consider my BCOM 360 crew. Any medium, any position, any location. Sure, most are from Kentucky, Tennessee, or other nearby states, but I haven’t heard any of them say, “I’m not willing to move somewhere for a gig.”
I know you’re busy, but do an interview, and afterwards, let me know how it went. Was the person impressive, mediocre, or a dud? If they’re good but you don’t have an opening, you may know someone that does — and you’ve also added to a student’s fledgling network.
Your feedback will help me talk to the faculty about what can be improved in terms of turning out high-quality graduates ready to take on the media world. While I’m involved with WKU and our student radio station, WWHR, Revolution 91.7, I want to help turn out quality grads, but that requires feedback. If you’ve learned something from reading my column over the past three years, consider this request as a favor in return.
Get in touch. My email is always posted at the end of this column, or you can use my WKU email: edward.cohen@wku.edu.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
In the report authored by Ashley Carman, Lucas Shaw, and Michelle F. Davis, talks between the satellite radio and terrestrial radio/digital audio giants have been had.
According to the report, $12 billion in sales is currently held between the two.
iHeartMedia owns more than 850 terrestrial radio stations. Meanwhile, SiriusXM currently has 33 million subscribers, according to its latest financial results.
Additionally, iHeartMedia often ranks as the most successful podcast publisher in the nation in both the Podtrac and Triton Digital rankings.
This would not be the first time talks about a potential merger between the two companies have been held. In 2018, Liberty Media — the parent company to SiriusXM — purchased nearly 40% of iHeart. At one time, it was the largest shareholder of the organization.
However, it sold more than $150 million shares in iHeartMedia in October 2021.
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