Netflix is reportedly taking the NFL to Australia. The streaming giant will air the Week 1 matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, Sept. 10, from Melbourne Cricket Ground, according to The Athletic.
What We Know: Kickoff happens at 8:35 p.m. ET on Thursday September 10 with NBC reportedly expected to handle production. The game bookends Netflix’s growing NFL relationship, which began with two Christmas Day games and continues through this coming December. With the NFL officially releasing its 2026 schedule either next week or the week after, networks are beginning to receive game assignments. That includes an additional four-game package ESPN surrendered as part of the league’s 10% acquisition of the network earlier this year.
What They Said: The NFL nor Netflix has commented on the reporting. However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hinted at the attraction of working with streaming platforms to air NFL contests in a recent Vanity Fair profile.
“88 percent of our games, roughly, are on broadcast television. The other 12 percent are on platforms that are incredibly widely distributed. People are already there. Netflix is not a small distribution. In fact, you can make an argument it’s bigger than some of the networks.”
What Remains Unclear: The opening game of the season may be set. But that game isn’t part of the four-game package that ESPN gave up. In regards to Netflix, no announcers are announced for the broadcast despite NBC’s ties to the game. Last year’s broadcast teams stretched across networks for work on Netflix. Ian Eagle, Noah Eagle, Drew Brees, and Nate Burleson were just some of the names that participated. If all holds similar to last season, both the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets will have local television options for viewing.
What It Means: Make no mistake about it. The NFL is in the business of giving primetime national games to streaming platforms. This past off season, the league placed the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers on Prime Video. They also aired their first game on YouTube for free to a global audience. Recent comments from Commissioner Goodell signal that expansion is not slowing down anytime soon. It will be interesting to watch and see if any of the network partners of the NFL re-negotiate their media rights agreements this off season because of pressure to losing inventory to streamers with bigger checks to cut.
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Nationally syndicated news/talk radio host Todd Starnes returned to his show on Thursday after missing time due to a medical issue.
What We Know: Starnes returned to his program after being gone for a full week. The Todd Starnes Show host revealed that he was having issues with a mechanical aortic valve in his heart. Last Wednesday, he was admitted to a Memphis hospital with a 90% blockage in his artery. His cardiologist labeled the blockage as “The Widowmaker.”
What They Said: “The cardiologist was like ‘Dude, I don’t know how much you’ve been given on the offering plate, but you better double it.’ Because I came close to not being with us last Friday. They got me all patched up. And we’ve had a few complications. I’m bruised up quite a bit. But I guess, the bottom line here is that I’m going to be ok. And I love that. I’m very thankful for that. I’m very blessed for that.” -Todd Starnes
What It Means: Starnes’ return comes after Andy Hooser and Chris Salcedo filled in for his national radio show. In addition to his radio program, Starnes also hosts a daily show on Newsmax 2. Todd Starnes has not been shy about sharing his medical issues in the past. The Mighty 990 KWAM owner underwent open heart surgery in 2005, which was part of the basis for the first book he authored.
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Foul Territory continues to grow as a fast rate. The baseball-focused digital network just added five new shows, including a high-profile launch featuring longtime ESPN broadcaster Karl Ravech.
What We Know: Ravech’s new show, Dirt From The Dugout, pairs him with baseball recruiting expert Justin Musil. Together, they focus on helping baseball families access top players, coaches, and executives. The show has already featured guests like Dusty Baker, Theo Epstein, and the Savannah Bananas’ Jesse Cole. This expansion marks one of Foul Territory’s most aggressive growth pushes, adding four additional team-specific shows — Birdland Territory, District Territory, Refuse To Lose Territory, and Twin Cities Territory — all available on YouTube and podcast platforms.
What They Said: Karl Ravech on joining the Foul Territory Network “Justin and I know you have questions. Even after being with you for over three decades-I know there are so many more stories to dig up. DFTD allows you to ask those who have played, managed and coached. Together we will learn from their journeys, their successes and their stumbles. We look forward to working with Foul Territory to help get you where you want to be in the greatest game of all. Let’s go!”
What Remains Unclear: With ESPN continuing to expand its podcast lineup around top talent, this partnership with Foul Territory could limit his ability to contribute to ESPN platforms. Meanwhile, Foul Territory now features 27 programs, and its growth comes as baseball content gains renewed digital interest. Furthermore, it raises the question of whether the company is building toward a Locked On-style model with creators covering every franchise. More importantly, the difference would be bigger names from the game serving as talent.
What It Means: Foul Territory continues to position itself as a serious destination for baseball content. More importantly, landing Ravech — a three-decade ESPN voice — signals real momentum. At the same time, team-specific shows like Birdland and District Territory suggest a hyperlocal strategy that could resonate deeply with passionate fanbases. Taken together, the network is no longer just growing — it’s building infrastructure.
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Townsquare Media has launched 102.9 The Fan in Northern Colorado. The station now simulcasts Denver’s 104.3 The Fan (KKFN), delivering big-market sports talk to a new audience.
What We Know: Northern Colorado’s 102.9FM signal — formerly KARS — is the new home of the simulcast. The station carries Denver’s 104.3 The Fan sports lineup weekdays, from morning drive through afternoon. Notably, 102.9 The Fan remains the broadcast home for Colorado State University Rams Athletics, keeping every game call intact.
What They Said: Zandi Wilcox, Market President, Townsquare Northern Colorado “This is an exciting milestone for Northern Colorado sports fans. By simulcasting KKFN The Fan on 102.9 KARS, we’re bringing the energy, credibility, and passion of Denver’s premier sports station—featuring top talent including former Denver Broncos players—directly to our community. For fans who love our Colorado teams and great sports talk, this is your new home.”
What Remains Unclear: It’s unknown whether the simulcast will remain permanent or evolve into separate programming. Additionally, no local Northern Colorado content has been announced yet for the 102.9 signal, or any other syndication details outside the main weekday dayparts.
What It Means: The expanded reach will benefit the Bonneville Denver sports radio station. By finding new avenues to expand and offer up programming to more markets surrounding the state and help build a network for lasting success. The original format on the 102.9FM format did very little to draw cume, but the hope is an FM destination for Denver sports will do the trick.
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Az Cohen has a new label. The veteran music executive has partnered with global artist development company Believe to launch AZTEC.
What We Know: AZTEC is a New York City-based record label built around long-term artist development. Cohen serves as President, while Believe provides global infrastructure and local market expertise. The partnership was announced jointly by Cohen and Romain Vivien, Believe’s Global Head of Music. First artist signings will be revealed in the coming months.
What They Said: “Our joint venture with AZTEC reflects Believe’s continued commitment to building artist-first partnerships and supporting entrepreneurs who deeply understand the creative and cultural landscape,” said Vivien.
Cohen added: “In an industry that’s become increasingly about quick wins and short-term virality, we are artists, engineers, planners and warriors with a singular focus: building empires with our artists and partners. AZTEC is about patience, commitment and shaping careers that stand the test of time.”
What Remains Unclear: No artists have been signed publicly yet. Additionally, financial terms of the Believe joint venture were not disclosed. It’s also unclear how many staff members Cohen is bringing to the new venture.
What It Means: Cohen’s track record speaks loudly here. He helped scale 300 Entertainment through its landmark sale to Atlantic Records, built Sparta Distribution, and managed Post Malone during his rise to global stardom. Furthermore, AZTEC signals a deliberate countermovement against short-term, viral-driven music strategies. This partnership could consequently reshape how independent labels approach global artist development.
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The nightly newscast ratings for the week of April 27th show ABC News’ World News Tonight on top of NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News.
What We Know:ABC News‘ newscast grew its lead over NBC Nightly News in the total viewer category for a ninth straight week. The NBC News program, meanwhile, saw its 13th straight week of growth in the total viewership sector. For the week, CBS Evening News remained under the 4 million viewer tally.
What the Numbers Show: For the week of April 27th, ABC News continued its lead.
Program
Total Viewers
Adults 25-54
ABC World News Tonight
8,300,000
1,004,000
NBC Nightly News
6,231,000
928,000
CBS Evening News
3,862,000
541,000
Compared to the prior week, World News Tonight was the only newscast to see a decline.
Program
April 27 Total Viewers
April 20 Total Viewers
Difference
% Change
ABC World News Tonight
8,300,000
8,537,000
↓ 237,000
↓ 2.8%
NBC Nightly News
6,231,000
6,168,000
↑ 63,000
↑ 1.0%
CBS Evening News
3,862,000
3,771,000
↑ 91,000
↑ 2.4%
However, World News Tonight saw the largest growth compared to the same week in 2025.
Program
Week of 4/27/2026 Total
Week of 4/28/2025 Total
Difference
% Change
ABC World News Tonight
8,300,000
7,013,000
↑ 1,287,000
↑ 18.4%
NBC Nightly News
6,231,000
5,880,000
↑ 351,000
↑ 6.0%
CBS Evening News
3,862,000
3,637,000
↑ 225,000
↑ 6.2%
What It Means: ABC News has consistently maintained a firm grip on overall viewership. Moreover, the fact that it has posted viewership growth for eight straight weeks can’t be dismissed as anything less than impressive. While the measurement method has changed, the broader point still remains: despite already leading the competition, ABC News continues to grow its ratings in a key area.
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Since launching in 2023, very few networks have grown their portfolio as much as CW Sports. Headed by network President Brad Schwartz, the network has built its live sports programming from the ground up. Now reaching over 800 hours of live sports, CW Sports has lined up partnerships with a variety of leagues, ranging from NASCAR to the WWE.
The one item the network needed to figure out for its new sports property partners was a vessel to reach a streaming audience.
“We’ve never put sports on our app because sports are too valuable. We just can’t give that away for free,” said Schwartz. “We considered launching our own direct-to-consumer. Should we put a paywall up on our website? It was very quickly dismissed, because the world doesn’t need another direct-to-consumer product.”
Instead, the network announced last week that it had found its solution for a growing streaming audience. The CW Network announced a multi-year partnership with ESPN, where CW Sports live events will stream on the recently launched ESPN direct-to-consumer app.
“We thought the best path for us was to find a partner and bundle our content with somebody else,” explained Schwartz. “There are a lot of partners that we could have gone with and did talk to. Ultimately, the partner that we found to be the best path forward was working with the ‘worldwide leader.’”
Networks Working Together
The relationship between CW Sports and ESPN was born through a shared partnership with the ACC. According to Schwartz, the partnership is expected to begin in July or August, before the start of the college football season and the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts playoffs.
Under the arrangement, every CW Sports live event will be distributed on the ESPN direct-to-consumer app for subscribers to the ESPN Unlimited plan. Each event will air live from CW Sports and will also be available for on-demand viewing on ESPN following its conclusion.
Schwartz noted that the original conversations with ESPN began around their shared college football partnership.
“We sublicense an ACC package from them, and love working with them [ESPN]. When you have a partner and work together really closely on something, it leads to other conversations,” said Schwartz. “It started with asking if we should stream ACC games. Then it was, should we stream everything? The conversation just grew. This is a first-of-its-kind deal for them, and the same for us. It’s very innovative for all and took some time to figure out.”
For CW Sports, the ESPN streaming distribution serves as another outlet. Every event that airs live on ESPN’s direct-to-consumer platform will also be broadcast for free on The CW Network. Schwartz noted that the CW team will benefit from the added reach, as every event that streams on ESPN will still be sold by The CW Network.
“It’s going to be a CW-branded destination within the ESPN app, just like they have an NFL destination within the ESPN app. We control all of our content. It’s not unlike if it was just a CW app,” explained Schwartz. “It gives us that streaming solution that we, fans, and frankly the leagues have been asking us for.”
Adding to the Portfolio
Michael Perman, who joined CW Sports as Vice President in January 2025, said the addition of a streaming option is already driving more conversations for the network.
“We were the ones that had to do a majority of the outreach to present our strategy. Now, as time has gone on, that has fully changed. It’s done a 180. We’re now getting a lot of inbounds as the ‘new player in the industry,’” explained Perman.
As The CW Network has continued to build its sports portfolio, Perman noted that many discussions included questions about streaming strategy.
“This partnership with ESPN removes that part of the negotiation as a negative,” said Perman. “Being in business with ESPN and their platform helps us, in the sense that we don’t have to worry about that anymore. It’s also attracting people who don’t currently have those four letters associated with them. They are reaching out about the opportunity.”
With the change in CW Sports’ dynamic, Perman said he and many of his peers are keeping an eye on developments surrounding NFL media rights this summer.
While Schwartz admits he doesn’t see CW Sports investing in NFL media rights anytime soon, Perman is interested in how other leagues may be affected by new NFL agreements.
“Obviously, some of the companies that may be spending may have to pull back on additional spending. So, there might be some additional rights that may become available that we may be interested in,” explained Perman. “We look at everything. We’re in every single conversation and meet with a lot of different people. We have over 800 hours and continue to evaluate everything. It just depends on what rights come up based on the fallout from the NFL.”
Power of Broadcast
Now that CW Sports has established a solution for reaching a streaming audience, it doesn’t diminish the value of broadcast. Schwartz emphasized the continued credibility and success of broadcast when it comes to live sports, something he believes positions The CW Network strongly for future growth alongside its new ESPN partnership.
“The great thing about leagues looking for a home is that everyone still wants that broadcast reach. We’ve all seen examples of leagues that put themselves behind small paywalls, and it’s really hurt them. Maybe they got a big check, but it really hurt their viewership,” explained Schwartz. “If you’re a sports league and you want the most people to watch, you’re going to want broadcast to be some part of it, and we’ll be there to have those conversations.”
What CW Sports has ultimately done here isn’t just solve a distribution problem—it has defined its identity in a crowded, fractured media landscape.
By refusing to chase a standalone streaming play and instead aligning with ESPN, the network has positioned itself as both accessible and scalable: free-to-air for reach and premium-adjacent for growth.
CW Sports is making a clear bet—that the future isn’t about choosing between broadcast and streaming, but about ensuring a presence in both without sacrificing the value of either.
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Major League Baseball (MLB) is winning the ratings game so far in 2026. Through the first weekend in May, MLB’s national viewership is up 44% — the league’s best early-season mark since 2017.
What We Know: MLB is averaging 2.28 million viewers per game across ESPN, FOX Sports, NBC Sports, and Netflix. Furthermore, FOX is up 40% for its Saturday coverage alone. Both Netflix and NBC set Opening Day viewership records in their first season as MLB rights holders. Notably, Nielsen’s expanded Big Data + Panel measurement system — introduced for live programming in September of 2025 — is also factoring into the audience totals.
What The Numbers Show: (Viewership figures for key MLB national broadcasts MLB opening weekend)
Network
Average Viewership
Note
Netflix Opening Night Broadcast (Yankees vs Giants)
2.97 million viewers
Largest Opening Night audience since 2020 (Yankees vs Nationals: 4.01 million viewers)
NBC Opening Day Broadcast (Pirates vs Mets)
2.3 million viewers
—
NBC Opening Day Broadcast (Diamondbacks vs Dodgers)
3.2 million viewers
NBC earned the largest MLB Opening Day audience on record for a multi-game presentation on a single network
FOX Sports Opening Weekend (Royals vs Braves) + FOX Sports Opening Weekend (Yankees vs Giants)
2.59 million viewers
Combined viewership up 45% from comparable weekend last year; best MLB season-opening telecast since 2021
What Remains Unclear: It’s still early, and sustaining these gains across a full 162-game season remains an open question. Additionally, separating organic audience growth from the Nielsen measurement upgrade is difficult. Whether all these networks can maintain its momentum beyond the first month of the regular season will be a key storyline to track.
What It Means: With nearly every professional and collegiate sports seeing gains in viewership, it’s truly difficult to tell what’s real and what’s inflated because of measurement upgrades. Leagues are continuing to see gains which is a short-term win for all. However, would be interesting to see how viewership is a year from now to see if it was the measurement or the interest in the sport. This provides a nice runway for MLB to market themselves to new advertisers and continue growing reach both in scale and digital ahead of a potential lockout coming this winter.
Viewership for national exclusive MLB games through the first weekend of May is 2.28 million, a +44% increase over last year and the best start in 9 years. pic.twitter.com/xifxydf774
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Fuzión is planting a flag in North Texas. Encouragement Media Group (EMG) is expanding its Spanish Christian format into Dallas-Fort Worth, with FCC approval still pending.
What We Know: EMG is purchasing KZMJ (94.5) from Urban One to launch Fuzión in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. The 100,000-watt signal covers the entire metro and much of North Texas. Additionally, the company estimates a potential reach of 2.5 million Hispanic listeners. The deal was brokered by Greg Guy of Tideline Partners.
What They Said: CEO Troy Kriechbaum pointed to both strategy and faith as driving forces behind the move. “DFW is one of the most strategic markets in the country, serving as a major hub of Spanish media and spiritual influence, with the power to shape culture across the nation.”
VP of Spanish Ministries Brenda Águila reinforced the mission “Through heartfelt Christian music in Spanish coupled with inspiration from the Bible, Fuzión is a warm, welcoming home for Hispanics who need encouragement.”
What Remains Unclear: FCC approval is still pending, so an official launch date hasn’t been announced. It’s also unclear how EMG will staff and program the station. Moreover, competitive dynamics within Dallas-Fort Worth’s crowded Spanish-language radio landscape remain to be seen.
What It Means: With KZMJ added, Fuzión grows to 18 signals across the Southwest, with Dallas-Fort Worth serving as its flagship market. The network will also be available at mifuzion.com, the Fuzión Radio app, and across Facebook and Instagram. Consequently, this move reflects a broader push by faith-based formats to reach underserved Hispanic audiences in major U.S. markets.
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Saga Communications has released its first-quarter financial results. Overall, the company saw a revenue decline for the period.
What We Know: Saga’s first-quarter numbers show a slightly smaller revenue decline than other previous groups that have announced results for the period. For example, Cumulus Media reported a 12.2% revenue decline during January, February, and March. The company noted a more than 100% increase in its digital-only blended revenue between the three-month window, compared to 2025.
What the Numbers Show:
Revenue Type
2026
2025
Change
Net Revenue
$22.9 million
$24.2 million
↓ 5.6%
Station Operating Expense
$22.0 million
$22.1 million
↓ 0.2%
Operating Loss
$3.3 million
$2.3 million
↓ 43.5%
Station Operating Income
$0.9 million
$2.4 million
↓ 62.0%
Capital Expenditures (Quarter)
$0.8 million
$0.7 million
↑ 14.3%
Net Loss
$2.4 million
$1.6 million
↓ 50.0%
What They Said: “To be clear, Saga is a customer-first company. Not a digital-first company … Our leaders continue to put in the work, and they are becoming experts. We believe they have learned and know more about consumer behavior and digital advertising than they ever even realized. The other day, one of our leaders said to me, ‘It’s more important to get it right than it is to be right.’ And we are beginning to get it right.” -CEO Chris Forgy
What It Means: The first quarter is traditionally a much slower period for revenue growth. With the 2026 midterm elections still on the horizon, there’s still time in the year for companies like Saga to see revenue growth for 2026. CFO Matt Bush shared that the expectations for political revenue for the year are to grow from the $1.4 million it has already secured.
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