The Cincinnati Bengals are deepening their local broadcast bench. Two familiar Cincinnati media voices are joining the fold this season.
What We Know: The Bengals and FOX19 NOW signed a multi-year partnership extension. FOX19 Sports Director Joe Danneman and iHeartMedia host Tony Pike join the broadcast lineup. Danneman becomes a Preseason TV Network sideline reporter and co-hosts the Pep Rally radio show. Pike adds a second radio analyst role and co-hosts the Bengals Line show, joining returning voices Hoard, Lapham, Watts and Muñoz. Pike, a former quarterback, co-hosts of the Tony and Mo Football Show and Cincy 360 on ESPN 1530.
What’s At Stake: The Bengals are increasing assets by expanding on their long standing media partners. By doing so, it’s an effort to increase visibility for all parties involved and gain more of a listening and viewing audience.
What Remains Unclear: The release doesn’t say whether any current broadcasters are shifting away to make room. Meanwhile, it’s unclear if Danneman and Pike’s roles extend past preseason and radio duties.
What It Means: The moves strengthen the Bengals’ ties to two major Cincinnati media outlets. Consequently, fans gain more familiar local faces across preseason and radio coverage. Additionally, the expansion signals continued investment in local content ahead of kickoff. Coverage begins tonight at 7 p.m. against the Lions for the NFL preseason.
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WEEI host Ted Johnson blasted Barstool Sports and podcasters on the station Wednesday afternoon. What drew the ire was reportedly an article from January of 2025 written by former WEEI host and current Barstool blogger Jerry Thornton.
What We Know: Thornton wrote an article about Johnson in January 2025 following an opinion he shared on WEEI regarding Bill Belichick. Nearly two years later, Johnson recalled the article and said that Thornton never called him for comment beforehand or afterward. Which led to Johnson sharing his perspective on the journalism approach of the digital media giant. On WEEI Wednesday, Johnson widened the attack to Barstool broadly, calling its coverage biased toward teams and players. He then posted on X, offering to buy Thornton lunch to “clear the air.”
WEEI host Ted Johnson on Barstool Sports always siding with teams, players: “People that work for Barstool, they can’t do real journalism. You know what? They defend the teams and they crap on everybody that’s critical. The real journalists that actually have objective opinions. They side with the team, and anybody that says anything negative about the team, then you’re the enemy.”
WEEI host Ted Johnson on Barstool Sports writer (and former WEEI host) Jerry Thornton: “All you former WEEI employees that are on Twitter or Instagram, because that’s where you can get your opinions out there that you think are so important. Your thoughts and opinions on sports in Boston, it’s so important to everybody that we get those. You go out there on Twitter, Instagram, or one of your podcasts in that sea of podcasts out there. You’re doing that because you can’t do this job that I’m doing right now.”
WEEI host Ted Johnson says podcasters can’t do his job: “All you podcasters, they can’t do this job. You want this job so bad that I’m doing right now. I got this mic in front of me, not you. All right. You think I might get my comeuppance one day. You know what? I might. Here’s the here’s the difference between you and me, though. I don’t need this job like you do.”
What Remains Unclear: The specifics of Thornton’s article which caused this outburst by Johnson is unknown. Whether Thornton accepts the lunch invite is unclear. So is whether he’ll respond publicly at all.
What It Means: Johnson’s critique reflects a running tension between traditional Boston sports radio and Barstool-style digital media. By calling out Thornton directly, Johnson defended his WEEI seat as legitimate journalism. Barstool’s model continues to draw fire from the establishment it once fed off. Whether or not this turns into something larger is yet to be determined.
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What We Know: The Magic’s prior local rights sat with Main Street Sports Group. The FanDuel Sports Network operator that emerged from Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy. Main Street missed 2026 rights payments and wound down operations this spring. Moreover, that pushed 13 NBA teams to find new broadcast homes. Orlando’s fix: WRDQ TV 27 will air all regular season games not claimed by national exclusives. WFTV Channel 9 will carry select games too. Several other former Main Street teams have similarly turned to over-the-air partners this offseason.
What They Said:Orlando Magic President of Business Operations Charlie Freeman: “We are excited to partner with the Cox Media Group to serve as our over-the-air partner for live games, replays, pregame and postgame coverage, and original programming. WRDQ TV 27 and WFTV Channel 9 will provide Magic fans great access, strong consistency and a direct connection to the team all season long.”
WFTV/WRDQ VP/GM Darren Moore: “We are excited for this partnership which will make Magic basketball even more accessible to fans throughout Central Florida. Combining the brands of Central Florida’s news leader and the Orlando Magic together will foster a commitment to delivering high-quality local sports programming and creating new avenues for fans to connect with the team.”
What Remains Unclear: The Magic haven’t released a full station lineup or broadcast schedule yet. In addition, a timeline for that announcement wasn’t given. Meanwhile, the team’s promised direct-to-consumer streaming partner is still unnamed.
What It Means: Free, over-the-air access replaces a cable model, widening the Magic’s potential audience across Central Florida. Pairing with the market’s top news brand also raises the broadcasts’ visibility. Moreover, continuity helps too: Dante Marchitelli returns as full-time play-by-play voice, joined by analyst Jeff Turner and reporter Kendra Douglas.
Watching Magic Basketball has never been easier!
Every non-nationally televised regular season game is FREE on WRDQ TV 27 with select games also airing on WFTV Channel 9.
Cox Media Group (WRDQ TV 27, WFTV Channel 9) will serve as our new over-the-air broadcast partner for the… pic.twitter.com/80MUo3DZOA
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Saga Communications reported another challenging quarter as revenue fell while station expenses increased. The company’s operating income also declined sharply from the same period last year.
What We Know: Saga Communications reported its 2nd quarter 2026 financial results Thursday, showing continued pressure on its core radio business. Net revenue declined 6.5% year-over-year to $26.4 million, while station operating expenses climbed 5.4% to $23.4 million. As a result, operating income fell to $623,000 from $1.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Saga operates broadcast properties across 28 markets, with 82 FM and 28 AM stations.
What the Numbers Show:
Metric
2nd Quarter 2026
% Change
Net Revenue
$26.4 million
▼ 6.5%
Station Operating Expenses
$23.4 million
▲ 5.4%
Operating Income
$623K
▼ 55.8%
What Remains Unclear: The company’s results show a widening gap between revenue and expenses, but the figures alone don’t explain which markets or revenue categories drove the decline. Saga has previously pointed to softness in local and national advertising, while digital revenue has provided some offsetting growth.
What It Means: Saga Communications faces another difficult quarter as lower revenue and rising station expenses squeeze profitability. Still, the company continues investing in digital services and other revenue initiatives, which could provide longer-term growth.
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ESPN has locked in its newest Friday show. Bussin’ & Pate on Campus debuts September 4 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
What We Know: ESPN confirmedBussin’ & Pate on Campus Thursday, weeks reports surfaced the the two podcasts would be merging for a show on ESPN. The debut airs September 4 from Baton Rouge for Clemson-LSU on ESPN2. Week two follows September 11 in Ann Arbor for Oklahoma-Michigan on ESPN. Pate and Bussin’ With The Boys hosts Compton and Lewan both appeared across ESPN’s daytime lineup last season.
What They Said:Josh Pate on discussions with ESPN about more ways to collaborate this college football season (via Barrett Media – March, 2026): “Everyone sat down around the camp fire and realized we all love this. We all want more of it. Let’s work it out, and we’re in the process of doing that right now. Those are the people that I want to be in business with for a long time. You cross your fingers that they feel the same about you. But we talked about a lot of exciting concepts and ideas that are still up in the air right now. I strongly believe we’ll get something worked out for the upcoming season.”
What Remains Unclear: Whether Friday broadcasts will regularly share College GameDay’s location is still unresolved. A full schedule is unkown.
What It Means: This new venture for ESPN is different than the ones previously seen by the network. Instead of inserting independent talent into network studio programs, this is a network building a show surrounding independent talent. A far cry from a licensing deal that the network has used in the past. However, the play couldn’t be better. The talents identified are top talents for college football fans. For Pate, it’s another expansion beyond On3 and Yahoo Sports. For Bussin’, it’s further proof their post-Barstool rise keeps compounding, following a recent NASCAR show launch too.
🚨NEW SHOW🚨
Bussin’ & Pate on Campus, beginning Fridays at 2 PM ET starting September 4th. pic.twitter.com/6AN6aMVFLL
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David Gaines and Simon Rose have exited KFRU as part of nationwide layoffs at Cumulus Media. Gaines had hosted the station’s morning show after taking over following David Lile’s retirement, while Rose had been with the station for nearly 40 years.
What We Know: Gaines originally joined KFRU before moving into morning drive following the retirement of longtime host David Lile. The Columbia, Missouri, station has now replaced Gaines with Show Me Today, a syndicated program focused exclusively on news and topics from across Missouri. Meanwhile, his departure comes as Cumulus Media eliminates positions at stations across the country as part of broader cost-cutting efforts. Rose hosted the 9-11 AM window on the Columbia news/talk station. He also worked an airshift on a music station in the cluster, 102.3 BXR.
What They Said: “As of this week, I’m no longer with Columbia’s heritage radio station KFRU. Corporate downsizing, the elimination of Cumulus Media positions nationwide, hit our market this week. That’s the nature of this business … I’ve loved my job, and I already miss it. But I know another door will open. Thanks to those who have already reached out.” -David Gaines
What Remains Unclear: It remains unclear whether KFRU plans to make a permanent change to its morning programming or if Show Me Today will remain in the time slot long-term. It is also unclear what the station is airing in the midday timeslot in Rose’s stead.
What It Means: Gaines and Rose’s exit marks another change for a heritage Missouri radio station that has leaned on local programming in its morning hours. However, the addition of Show Me Today gives KFRU a statewide-focused alternative while the company works through its latest round of reductions.
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Problems that occur in business aren’t overnight fixes. It takes time, planning and investment to address an issue and correct it. But sometimes problems can linger, and the messaging surrounding them can become repetitive and lose its impact. Earlier this week, iHeartMediareleased its second-quarter results. The message remains: digital up, broadcast radio down. It’s a common theme for the company over the past several years.
Another commonality on the call was company CEO Bob Pittman stating the obvious. ‘iHeartMedia doesn’t have a radio audience challenge; it has a radio monetization challenge.’ He’s not wrong, and you could point out all sorts of reasons why. However, the message from Pittman isn’t new. In fact, it’s become far too repetitive and has completely lost its impact. So, why hasn’t Pittman been held accountable for it as Chairman and CEO?
I come from a sports background. Your head coach or manager is your team’s CEO. They are hired to a position of power to achieve the goals set by the organization.
iHeartMedia is an organization whose core business is built on broadcast radio. With more than 860 owned radio stations in 160 markets around the country, you can’t escape the company’s footprint in the medium. With that many outlets comes more opportunity, but also heightened responsibility.
Rinse, Wash, Repeat
Every market is different, and the opportunities are bountiful. Station by station. Market by market. iHeartMedia has scale unlike its direct broadcast radio competitors. The responsibility comes in ensuring you’re monetizing those opportunities to the highest degree possible in each individual market.
According to Pittman’s own words this week, that isn’t happening.
“Unlike other traditional media, we have more users of broadcast radio today than we did twenty years ago. Indeed, our broadcast radio now has two times the audience of the largest TV network and four times the audience reach of the largest digital-only ad-supported audio service. As I’ve said before, we don’t have a broadcast radio audience challenge. We have a broadcast radio monetization challenge, which seems counterintuitive given radio’s strength with the consumer.”
To me, this sounded oddly familiar. After some digging around, I found that my instincts were right.
In 2014, Pittman was fresh off his first year as chairman and CEO and stated something similar.
“I came out of retirement to lead this company because I think this company and this industry under monetizes what it has,” said Pittman in 2014 with Bloomberg. “Almost every business over monetizes what it has. That’s sort of the secret of new media and new businesses. You get this surge and this rush toward the shiny new thing. Then you have to rush to catch up… We’ve got the opposite problem. It’s all about let’s improve the monetization.”
Just a year later, in 2015, Pittman talked with CNBC and said something similar.
“The good news about our business is that we don’t need a new product to generate more revenue. We just need to monetize better what we have,” said Pittman.
In 2019, Pittman said that iHeartMedia under-monetizes radio based on the reach, engagement and time spent listening it owns. He said the company could do a lot more to address this and even went as far as to say it was “100%” their focus.
“We’ve got more listeners than we did 10 years ago. The audience side of broadcast radio just fine,” Pittman said. “This is a monetization issue that broadcast radio is facing.”
Earlier this week, the same messaging came from the top of the country’s largest broadcaster.
“As I’ve said before, we don’t have a broadcast radio audience challenge. We have a broadcast radio monetization challenge,” said Pittman.
Is Anyone Listening?
Make no mistake about it, Pittman deserves credit for what he has accomplished at iHeartMedia. His upcoming place in the Radio Hall of Fame should reflect those accomplishments. But a resume filled with achievements does not provide immunity from accountability.
For more than a decade, Pittman has repeatedly identified the same problem: iHeartMedia has a massive broadcast radio audience but has failed to monetize it to its full potential. In 2014, it was an issue that requires fixing. In 2015, the company supposedly didn’t need a new product, just better monetization. Even in 2019, it was “100%” the focus. Last year, it was still a monetization issue. This year, the message hasn’t changed.
At some point, recognizing a problem is no longer enough. If the CEO of the country’s largest radio broadcaster has spent more than a decade telling investors that the company knows exactly what is wrong, then the natural question becomes: What has been done to actually fix it?
Pittman’s message has officially rung hollow. You cannot continue identifying the same fundamental problem year after year while asking shareholders, employees and the industry to believe that progress is being made. Eventually, the explanation becomes an excuse.
After 12 years of hearing the same diagnosis, the local employees of iHeartMedia deserve more than another acknowledgment of the problem. They deserve results. And if the problem has been recognized for this long without being resolved, perhaps the person who keeps recognizing it should finally be held accountable for why it hasn’t been fixed.
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Fifty-five years. Same call letters. Same format. And same unwavering commitment to rock and roll.
WPLR New Haven doesn’t just have longevity — it has genuine staying power. Most radio stations can only dream about this kind of endurance. According to Allan Lamberti, the station’s program director and rock format coordinator for Connoisseur, “We are one of I think five or six across the country that can claim that sort of a legacy.” The reason is simple: it never lost sight of who it is. In a radio landscape where legacy stations have died, flipped formats, or slowly faded, WPLR is thriving because “Being the voice of New Haven, being live and local, and the legendary personalities — it is just how it all comes together.”
The Talent Behind the Legacy
Walk through the WPLR day part, and you understand what that means in practice. Chaz and AJ in the morning have been on the station for 22 years, building themselves into recognizable commodities in Greater New Haven. “They cannot go anywhere in Greater New Haven without somebody saying, ‘Hey, is that AJ?'” Lamberti notes. A few years ago, the pair won a Marconi Award for market personality — a testament to staying power in a fast-moving format. Chaz is the front person; AJ is the wacky side guy. Ultimately, they’ve formed a partnership that has taken the morning show “by storm.”
Then there’s Mike Lapitino in afternoons, about to cross 40 years in the exact same day part. Forty years. “If you have been driving home in Connecticut for the last 40 years, every day at 5 p.m. you hear his voice, except for when he takes a vacation,” Lamberti says with genuine reverence. Lapitino has been named to the Connecticut Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame and will be inducted in October. He’s not just a personality — he’s an institution. Midday host Phil keeps momentum rolling with music and hourly features, including live lunch and the class reunion (three songs from a different year). At night, Jon Kamal hosts and runs a local music show on Sunday nights, deeply embedded in the New Haven music scene. “We’re very lucky to have the lineup that we do during the week,” Lamberti says.
The through-line is unmistakable: everyone is homegrown. Everyone is from Connecticut. Everyone is ingrained within the community. There’s no revolving door of outside talent chasing bigger markets. These personalities grew up listening to WPLR. Now they’re the reason new generations do the same.
Evolution Without Abandonment
But longevity isn’t just about talent — it’s about never losing the thread of what makes the station unique. WPLR hasn’t stayed static. Instead, it’s evolved intelligently. “We have moved truly from the natural evolution of what AOR was in the 70s and into the 80s into a mainstream rocker,” Lamberti explains, moving from AOR in the ’70s and ’80s toward mainstream rock. “We touch into the 2000s. And we know that music has evolved, but we haven’t forgotten where we came from.” The station’s philosophy is deceptively simple: embrace the depth of the music and the catalog and do cool things on the air.
That philosophy shows up in the details. For 13 years, WPLR has done the 1776 for the week of the Fourth of July, playing 1,776 songs in a row without a repeat. “Nobody else in our market and nobody else nearby is doing anything like that,” Lamberti says. This Labor Day, they’re running an A-to-Z week for back to school that will take eight days to complete. They’ll also do random double-shot weekends — one might be all live cuts from the library, the definitive live versions; the next might be an ’80s weekend or a ’90s weekend. Random. Surprising. Dynamic. “Every time they tune in, they are surprised,” Lamberti says. “That really is the objective.”
Strategy Meets Adventure
This is where strategy meets risk-taking. Most radio programming operates on sameness, locking in a format and executing it day after day, week after week. WPLR does the opposite. Within guardrails (it’s still a rock station, still serving its core community), the station creates a listening experience that’s anything but predictable. When asked whether WPLR attributes its longevity to this sense of adventure, Lamberti doesn’t hesitate: “Yes, I I think our listeners allow us to take chances now and then as long as it fits the attitude and the legacy and the brand of the station.” That permission — that trust from the audience — is what separates WPLR from stations that have failed. The audience knows what WPLR is. They trust the brand. And they’re willing to be surprised because the surprises fit, reinforcing rather than contradicting the core identity.
Exporting the Philosophy
Now, as rock format coordinator for Connoisseur, Lamberti is trying to export that philosophy. He oversees 18 rock stations, and his mission is clear: get them to stop doing the same thing week after week and start creating special features that matter to their markets. That 1776 concept? Six other Connoisseur stations did it this year, and “their listeners were overwhelmed and couldn’t believe that what they were hearing,” he says. One program director even admitted: “If he had heard this on his competitor, he would have been pissed.” “That’s something that I’ve really been able to work with a lot of great guys and help develop their brands and try new things that maybe they hadn’t had an opportunity to do,”
Lamberti says. “We certainly encourage them coming up with fun ideas. Let’s make radio fun.” Fun is the word that keeps bubbling up in this conversation. It sounds simple. It sounds like a cliché. Lamberti knows this. “I know it’s cliche, but you know, find something you love and you never have to work a day in your life. But it’s not untrue,” he says. “The listeners make it fun. The colleagues here, everybody on the station makes it fun. The community makes it fun.”
The Standard of Longevity
WPLR has cracked something that most legacy radio stations haven’t. It’s not just preservation — it’s preservation paired with evolution. It’s not just nostalgia — it’s nostalgia rooted in a living, breathing present. And it’s not just survival — it’s growth within a niche that matters.
After 55 years as the same call letters, the same format, the same market-leading rock station, WPLR hasn’t become an artifact. It’s become a standard. And in a format where success is measured in decades, that’s the only longevity that counts.
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Today marks a new beginning for Audacy’s sports talk brand based in Houston, Texas. For 32 years, SportsRadio 610 has been known as Houston’s sports talk leader. But today, the brand and signal are forever changed as Audacy officially launches 95.7 The Fan with the kickoff of the Houston Texans’ 25th season set to begin. A moment that was in the works for years under the leadership of Brand Manager Parker Hillis.
“The timing ended up being perfect because of our amazing partnership with the Houston Texans,” said Parker Hillis, brand manager of 95.7 The Fan. “For us to start our new era at the start of an incredible era for them, it’s poetic for us. It made all the sense in the world to share in that moment with them. It’s football Christmas for us and the perfect storm in putting this all together.”
95.7 The Fan is the latest example of Audacy ensuring the company’s top sports talk outlets are being served to an FM audience. The station serves as Audacy’s 23rd sports talk brand on the FM dial, with several joining the ranks beginning this year in Chicago, Buffalo and Los Angeles.
For Hillis, who’s been serving as brand manager of 95.7 The Fan since May 2022, the shift to FM has been a long time in the making.
“It’s ultimately been a really long process. I’ve been lobbying for the move since day one when I began,” said Hillis. “We’ve been putting the pieces in place for eighteen months to two years. It was a slow process because it wasn’t a question if we were ready. It was a question of where do we go regarding the brand and signal.”
A Long Road To FM
While discussions had taken place over several years, the shift to FM did not become a realistic possibility until recently. Hillis said recent changes in Audacy management helped change that. The company’s increased focus on building sports talk brands on FM also played a key role. Those shifts moved the conversation from a possibility to a potential reality.
Finally, the moment came when approval was granted. For Hillis, it was a special moment to get across the finish line.
“The hardest part for me was keeping it quiet and under wraps for a handful of months,” noted Hillis. “I knew how exciting it was going to be for my team. Six months ago, I noticed the tides beginning to turn. To get the confirmation it was happening about three months ago was exciting.”
The opportunity for a legacy brand to shift to FM is unique. With that goal in mind following his arrival in Houston four years ago, Hillis approached building the brand in preparation for when the opportunity would arrive. While the Houston market does have sports talk on the FM dial, Hillis says the market desired more.
“For Houston, this is a gamechanger. I felt for a long time this market has been desperately in need for a true full market FM sports brand. We have such a rabid fanbase, that the market has been underserved,” said Hillis. “We’ve been operating as a station that was ready to go on the FM dial. We were just waiting for the opportunity by being FM ready. Had there been one, we probably would already be there.”
While the branding is evolving around the new FM signal, the station will retain its legacy 610 AM position. That preserves more than three decades of familiarity among Houston sports fans. Hillis and Audacy followed a similar path by keeping the AM signal alongside the shift to FM.
Hillis noted that over the past several months, research with focus groups showed that while the shift to FM was desired, a section of the audience still preferred what they’ve always known.
“The AM represents a handful of things with us. First and foremost, a level of consistency. It didn’t make sense to get rid of a legacy brand that’s been around for 32 years,” said Hillis. “We’ve received some feedback where maybe ten percent still prefer listening to their sports talk on the AM dial. There’s something nostalgic about that, and that’s really cool.”
A Fresh Look
He also noted that having the brand on both AM and FM creates opportunities to eventually split the brands. In addition, that approach could provide additional room for growth. Hillis said there are currently no plans for another rights deal on either dial. However, retaining the AM signal provides Audacy with additional options.
Unlike other Audacy sports talk brands shifting to FM, 95.7 The Fan is not just shifting to the FM band but also rebranding as The Fan. Moreover, the brand is synonymous with Audacy, stemming from WFAN in New York City. To date, 95.7 The Fan will be the 13th Audacy sports talk brand using The Fan branding.
“Over time we just got generically lumped in with the casual listener as ‘Sports 610.’ There hasn’t been a ton of separation. To us, there’s a power to having a unique and strong brand name like ‘The Fan’ or ‘The Ticket’ or ‘The Game.’ We had to determine what’s the value of SportsRadio 610 versus the value of a strong, well-regarded, more widespread sports brand name like ‘The Fan,’” explained Hillis.
Of anything regarding the shift to FM, Hillis noted that in the final stages of planning, the conversation about shifting to ‘The Fan’ was the item that took the most time and effort.
“The Fan speaks to the foundation and philosophies of what our radio brand is. We are a voice for fans and a place they can come to connect. This station is a collection of Houston sports fans walking these halls,” said Hillis. “I’m sure there will be questions regarding why go with a brand name that exists around the country. For me, that brand speaks to who we are and it’s a bonus that we get to share that moniker with so many strong stations around the country.”
With the rebrand comes a new look and a new logo as well. Hillis admits he’s not the most savvy graphic artist and admitted to using AI for early mockups of what he envisioned. In the end, Hillis said the logo was the element of this process he was most proud of. He noted every element of the logo has some tie to the Houston area, building on the connection the station has with the sports fans that encompass it.
“The light blue represents the city of Houston. The tile pattern is also an homage to the city as well,” said Hillis. “For a Houstonian that sees our logo, our hope and expectation is they see that light blue and tiles and know instantly this is Houston’s sports station. It’s a tip of the cap to the city.”
Hillis says he doesn’t feel any added pressure with the switch to FM but instead approaches it as a unique opportunity. 95.7 The Fan is taking over an FM signal that was the cluster’s best-performing FM music brand in 95.7 The Spot.
Typically, when a sports talk station shifts to an FM signal, it replaces an underperforming music brand. Hillis credited The Spot’s successful run in attracting audiences and hopes to continue building upon that foundation.
“The Spot has been incredible. It’s been a powerhouse. Yes, it’s certainly a risk, but a risk that ultimately corporate and the building felt was taking for us. We believe in the power of the Houston sports audience,” said Hillis. “This is a statement that I believe that there is power in the sports talk brand unlike any other time in the past. That’s the opportunity in front of us… We’re stepping into big shoes, but it’s not pressure.”
For Hillis, the launch of 95.7 The Fan represents more than a frequency change or a new logo. It is the culmination of a vision that began when he arrived in Houston and an opportunity to take a brand with more than three decades of history into its next chapter.
SportsRadio 610 will continue to live on the AM dial, preserving the identity and connection that generations of Houston sports fans have come to know. But on FM, 95.7 The Fan has the chance to introduce that connection to an even larger audience.
“I’m the most aggressive and optimistic person you’ll find about our product and our team. I fully expect us to win and be not just competing against the other sports stations in market, but the top stations across the demographic,” said Hillis. “I truly believe we have what it takes to be a number one station in men and adults… There’s a lot of buzz and we couldn’t be doing this at a better time.”
The timing only adds to the significance. As the Houston Texans begin their 25th season, 95.7 The Fan is beginning its first. For Hillis, that makes the launch feel less like an ending and more like the start of something much bigger.
After 32 years as SportsRadio 610, Houston’s sports station now has a new frequency, a new identity and a new opportunity. The signal has changed. The mission hasn’t. The next era of Houston sports talk begins today.
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AM/FM radio has a spot-load problem, and podcasting just made it a lot more obvious. According to new data from Magellan AI, podcast advertising loads climbed to 8.75% of all in-show content during the second quarter of 2026.
In plain terms, less than nine minutes of every 100 minutes of podcast audio is now an ad. That’s a strikingly low number, and it puts a spotlight on just how different the audio landscape has become.
Consider what 8.75% actually looks like in practice. It’s 5.25 minutes of ads in a full hour. If a news/talk radio station tried running only 5.25 minutes of spots per hour, sales leadership would face some very uncomfortable questions from ownership. Meanwhile, podcasters can point to numbers like this and say, essentially, “we told you so.” Fewer ads have always been part of the pitch, and now there’s hard data behind it.
This isn’t a fluke or a temporary dip. It’s a strategic choice, and it’s one podcasting is likely to keep making. Podcast networks understand that a lighter ad load is a differentiator, maybe the differentiator, when it comes to winning listeners away from traditional broadcast. As long as that stays true, radio is fighting an uphill battle it probably can’t win on this particular front.
Why the Gap Won’t Close
Podcasting didn’t get here by accident. Low ad loads are baked into the medium’s identity, and audiences have come to expect them. Once listeners get used to a leaner ad experience, they rarely want to go back. That’s the trap radio finds itself in: it can’t simply match podcasting’s ad load without gutting revenue, but it also can’t ignore how far behind it now looks by comparison.
Broadcast radio operates on a different economic model. Local and national ad inventory funds everything from talent salaries to news operations, and stations don’t have the luxury of trimming spot loads down to podcast levels. So the ad-load gap isn’t closing anytime soon, and it’s probably not closing at all. Radio isn’t going to run 5.25 minutes of spots per hour regardless of format, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone plan for what’s next.
That reality forces a different question. If radio can’t out-compete podcasting on ad load, what can it actually control? The answer comes down to content, and it always has.
Content Has to Do the Heavy Lifting
If AM/FM radio wants to hold its ground, the programming has to earn every one of those extra ad minutes. Listeners will tolerate a heavier spot load, but only when there’s a real payoff waiting on the other side of the break. That payoff needs to show up consistently, not just during sweeps or during a hot topical week.
Engaging hosts matter here, and so does information listeners can’t easily get elsewhere. Interactivity matters too, whether that’s call-ins, text lines, or hosts who actually respond to their audience in real time. None of this is new advice, but it matters more now than it did five years ago, because the competition has changed. Podcasting isn’t a niche alternative anymore; it’s a mainstream habit, and it’s chipping away at listening occasions that used to belong to broadcast.
Programmers who treat content quality as non-negotiable will have a fighting chance. Those who lean on habit and inertia won’t. Audiences today have more options than ever, and they’re increasingly willing to use them. Loyalty has to be earned continuously, and it’s earned through the work, not through market position or legacy signal strength.
None of this means radio is doomed. It means the margin for mediocre programming has shrunk, probably permanently. Stations that invest in genuinely compelling content can still win listeners’ attention, even with a heavier ad load working against them. But stations that coast will keep losing ground to a medium that’s proven it can deliver a lighter, more listener-friendly experience. The data backs it up, and the numbers aren’t likely to move in radio’s favor anytime soon.
