Nexstar Media Group is looking to use NewsNation as its source for nationally produced packages on its local TV stations.
Previously, Nexstar stations have used segments produced by ABC, CBS, and NBC throughout its local newscasts. Now, it is asking stations to use content from NewsNation.
Nexstar Media Group owns more than 200 stations in 116 U.S. markets. It simultaneously operates the NewsNation cable channel.
A report from Bloomberg shares that Nexstar has ended the agreements it previously had with NBC for nationally reported segments.
Nexstar Media Group CEO Perry Sook previously told company employees that he believes NewsNation will ultimately become the “exclusive wire service and national news partner” for all of its local news operations.
The news comes amid Nexstar’s bid to acquire TEGNA in a $3.5 billion deal. After being granted approval for the move last month by the FCC, a coalition of state attorneys general has sued to block the move.
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After more than 20 years at CNN, including two separate stints, Stephanie Elam has announced she’s exiting the network.
Elam has worked as a Los Angeles-based correspondent for the network. She spent time from 2003 to 2011 with the network before exiting. She returned in 2013 and has remained since.
In a post on social media, Elam shared her appreciation for the network and the time she spent at CNN.
“For more than 20 years I’ve been in the CNN orbit developing and delivering news stories on everything from the environment and entertainment to business and breaking news of all kinds,” she said.
“I’m so proud of my CNN career,” she continued. “Live or taped, writing packages or doing a show-and-tell, I’ve done it all, and having a front row seat to document history has been a gift.”
Elam has yet to announce what her next move will be.
“Stephanie brought clarity, credibility, and heart to every story she touched over her two decades at CNN. Her versatility and natural ability to connect with audiences made her a trusted voice and a valued colleague,” CNN said in a statement confirming the news. “We are grateful for her many contributions and wish her continued success in her next chapter.”
Elam becomes the latest to announce their exit from the company. Last month, early morning anchor Rahel Solomon also departed the network.
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After more than three decades behind the microphone, longtime ESPN play-by-play voice Mark Jones signed off for the final time Sunday. Jones called the regular-season finale between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, closing a 36-year run with the network.
The moment carried added weight as colleagues across ESPN and the NBA paused to recognize his career.
Ahead of tip-off, Jones appeared on Inside the NBA. The studio crew — Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal — greeted him with a standing ovation.
Jones reflected on his journey during the appearance. He said the network had been his only home in television and expressed gratitude for the relationships built along the way.
“I have a very full and a very heavy heart today as I say goodbye to the only place that I’ve really worked in network television,” said Jones. “They talk about it being not about the destination but the journey. And my journey’s been outstanding.”
Once coverage shifted courtside at TD Garden, broadcast partner Doris Burke offered her own tribute. She praised Jones for his longevity and professionalism while noting the significance of the moment for everyone involved in the production.
Jones responded emotionally, thanking Burke before pivoting back to the task at hand. He told viewers the crew would handle the broadcast with the same energy and preparation that defined his career.
“Thanks to all my colleagues at ESPN. This has been an incredible ride, just implausible,” said Jones. “Doris [Burke], I appreciate you for always holding me down when it counted the most through the years. I love you and appreciate you. That sentiment goes to everybody at ESPN.”
Jones described his decision as the right time to move forward and expressed confidence that his best work remains ahead. While he did not detail the reasons behind his exit, Jones told the Miami Herald the decision was his. He also confirmed he will continue serving as the television voice of the Sacramento Kings on NBC Sports California.
Jones indicated he plans to remain in that role long term, citing his appreciation for the organization and the reception he has received in Sacramento.
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Pearson Broadcasting has reached an agreement with the Baker Family Trust to acquire 93.7 FM, a move that will significantly expand the reach of ESPN Arkansas. The company confirmed the deal in an April 10 release.
As part of the agreement, ESPN Arkansas will shift its programming to the 93.7 FM signal. Meanwhile, KISR — branded as Kisser 93 — will relocate to 93.1 FM while maintaining service to listeners across the River Valley.
The move gives ESPN Arkansas access to a 100,000-watt signal, dramatically increasing its coverage area. The station will now reach Fort Smith, Hot Springs, Northwest Arkansas, Harrison, Mountain Home and parts of eastern Oklahoma.
ESPN Arkansas General Manager Tommy Craft said the upgrade positions the brand for long-term growth.
“This is a true game-changer for us,” Craft said. “We’re excited to grow our footprint and bring our programming to more listeners across the state. Expanding our coverage means more fans can connect with our local shows and be part of the conversation.”
Craft added that sports remain a central part of daily life in Arkansas. He emphasized the importance of creating a platform where fans can engage with coverage of in-state teams and storylines. The deal also reflects a strategic shift for KISR, which will move to a slightly different position on the dial while sharpening its local focus.
Fred Baker, president of KISR, said the decision aligns with the station’s long-standing commitment to local programming. He noted that a previous tower relocation expanded signal reach but created new challenges.
“We’ve always believed in being live and local,” Baker said. “When your signal stretches across a wide region, it becomes harder to serve each community in a meaningful way.”
By transitioning frequencies, Baker said KISR can better tailor its content to its core audience while ESPN Arkansas takes advantage of the broader regional signal.
The transaction remains subject to FCC approval. Company officials expect the deal to close in early summer 2026.
— ESPN Arkansas & HitThatLine.com (@HitThatLineAR) April 10, 2026
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The 2026 Barrett Media Audio Summit presented by Point to Point Marketing continues to get stronger. We are excited today to add five more accomplished speakers to this summer’s show. Their additions bring our speakers total to 53. Many more will be announced in the weeks and months ahead. The Summit takes place June 30-July 2 at the SVA Theatre in New York City. The News Summit is on 6/30, Sports on 7/1, and Music on 7/2.
A few folks I spoke to recently shared that budget challenges are forcing them to wait to confirm plans. My advice, reach out to IMAR Entertainment. They have barter opportunities available to help attendees reduce costs. To learn more, click here.
I also suggest reserving your hotel room with Hotel Hayden sooner rather than later. We struck a deal to make sure folks have affordable lodging, but once our block is full we can’t add more. Rates in NYC during the week of the show are not cheap, so don’t wait until the last minute and put yourself in a jam. Details on how to reserve your room can be found here just below the speakers list.
Summit Sale Starts NOW
In addition, we are introducing a SALE through Wednesday, April 22nd to help attendees save $25 on 1-day, 2-day and 3-day passes. One-day and/or Two-day passes can be used for either day(s). If that’s not enough, we are also introducing a special cluster rate for Executives and Tri-State area GMs/Market Managers to save even more. We have kept prices lower this year to encourage more professionals to attend. Tickets are available here.
Meet The Speakers
Jimmy Failla: Jimmy is a popular TV host, Radio Host, and New York Times Best Selling Author. The former New York City cab driver hosts Fox News Saturday Night w/ Jimmy Failla. He also appears regularly on all of Fox’s top shows including Hannity, Jesse Watters Primetime, and the Ingraham Angle. His Nationally Syndicated Radio Show, Fox Across America w/ Jimmy Failla airs daily on 165 radio stations. In addition, Jimmy is the author of the New York Times Best Seller, “Cancel Culture Dictionary.” His one hour standup special, “They’re Just Jokes,” is the highest rated comedy on the Fox Nation streaming platform.
Jim Kerr: Q104.3’s morning host has been entertaining listeners for over fifty years. A radio hall of famer and staple of the New York City radio scene, Jim has loved the industry since first cracking the mic at age 14 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He’s worked in Howell, Ann Arbor, and Detroit, Michigan, Orlando, Florida, and Chicago, Illinois, and became New York’s youngest morning show host at WPLJ, earning the job at 21 years old. He has worked mornings for six NYC stations, including WPLJ and Q104.3. He is the longest running morning radio personality in NYC history.
Skip Dillard: Skip serves as Audacy’s Format Vice President of Rhythmic Adult Contemporary and Throwback Formats and brand manager of 94.7 The Block in NYC. He joined the company in 2021 following 12 years as VP and Operations Manager of WBLS and WLIB. Dillard’s career has included hosting and programming stints in Detroit, Buffalo, New Orleans, San Francisco and Washington D.C. He also served as Top 40 and Urban Managing Editor for Billboard Magazine’s “Airplay Monitor” from 2003 to 2004. Born in Queens and raised in Greensboro NC, Skip is a graduate of Hampton University with a B.A. in mass-media.
Phil Boyce: Salem Media Group’s Senior Vice President of all Spoken Word Formats has led the company to consistent radio and digital programming success since February 2012. Prior to joining the group to oversee and teach programming for news/talk and business stations, Phil spent 14 years as program director at WABC in New York City, where he hired Sean Hannity, syndicating his show nationally via ABC in 2001. He later hired Mark Levin and took him into syndication too in 2006. Earlier in his career, he led WJR in Detroit, hiring Paul W. Smith and Mitch Albom. Many consider Phil one of the best programming minds in the history of news/talk radio.
Paul Mason: Paul has called Nashville home since April 2020, when he arrived to lead the programming department at 104.5 The Zone. Under his watch, The Zone has dominated the local sports scene, delivering strong local programming and live broadcasts of Tennessee Titans football. He became Spoken Word Programming Operations Manager in 2024, adding programming duties for SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. Prior to moving to music city, he served as PD of NewsTalk 850 WFTL and Fox Sports 640 in West Palm Beach. He also spent six years in Cincinnati as the Assistant Program Director of 700WLW.
Sponsorships
We want to thank and welcome Jim Cutler, and the Salem Radio Network as partners of this year’s Summit. Eighteen (18) groups are supporting this year’s show. We expect a few more to sign on this week. Sponsorship opportunities remain available but are filling up fast. For more information, contact Stephanie Eads at Stephanie@BarrettMedia.com.
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Fox News is already making noise about America 250. CNN and MS NOW? Not so much. That gap might tell us more about the state of cable news than any ratings book ever could.
To be fair, we’re still months away from the July 4, 2026 celebration. Nobody expects wall-to-wall coverage right now. But Fox News has begun rolling out programming plans, and the silence from its competitors is rather noticeable. It raises a question worth asking now rather than later: can MS NOW and CNN authentically celebrate America’s 250th birthday the way most of the country will want to?
Here’s where it gets complicated. We’ve entered an era where a significant portion of the media views nearly everything through the lens of the current administration. President Trump’s presence in the White House has made even patriotic milestones feel politically charged to some outlets. That’s a problem. Not because criticism of the president is wrong, but because America 250 deserves to exist outside that framework entirely.
Think about what this anniversary actually represents. 250 years. It’s the kind of moment that should stop people, regardless of their politics, and make them say, yeah, this is f—ing awesome. Fox News seems to understand that instinctively. Whether MS NOW and CNN can get there is the real question.
And frankly, I’m not sure they can. That’s not a knock on the talent at either network. It’s more a structural concern. Both outlets have spent years cultivating audiences who view the current political climate with deep suspicion. Pivoting to genuine, full-throated American celebration — without hedging, without asterisks, without reminding viewers every ten minutes that this all sucks because of who’s in the White House — would require a kind of editorial courage that hasn’t exactly been on display lately.
There’s also the geography problem. This is something the media industry doesn’t discuss nearly enough. The newsrooms driving decisions at CNN and MS NOW are largely populated by people who live and breathe the I-95 corridor — New York, D.C., and everything in between. That’s a very specific American experience. It’s not wrong. But it’s incomplete.
Meanwhile, the average viewer in the Midwest, the South, or the Mountain West is going to throw a party on July 4th, wave a flag, and feel genuinely proud. They won’t be looking for caveats. They won’t want to hear about how everything sucks. They’ll be looking for a network that meets them where they are. Right now, Fox News is the largest cable outlet that appears ready to do that.
That’s a missed opportunity for the others. America 250 is the kind of event that could actually help a struggling network rebuild some trust with viewers it’s lost. CNN has been working to reposition itself. MS NOW knows its identity, but it still working on leaning into widening its viewership outside of its primetime stars. Leaning hard into a once-in-a-lifetime national celebration would be a smart play, both journalistically and commercially.
But that requires setting aside the resistance to anything that might look like it benefits the current administration’s narrative. And that’s a harder ask than it sounds.
So where does that leave us? Fox News enters this stretch with a head start and an audience already primed for celebration. CNN and MS NOW have time to course-correct, but the clock is ticking.
America 250 is going to be a big damn deal. It deserves to be. It’s a milestone that should feel unifying. Whether every network rises to that moment remains to be seen. I wouldn’t bet heavily on all of them getting it right. And that’s a shame, because this one’s too big to get wrong.
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This past weekend, the nation sat back and enjoyed another weekend at Augusta. The Masters. One of golf’s four majors, and easily the one most rooted in tradition. The same course, rules, and customs that other sports lost long ago.
It’s a tournament that doesn’t change with trends. Fans have the same expectations each year, from those watching on television to the many lucky enough to attend in person. While networks continue to lean into nostalgia in their presentations, The Masters consistently delivers a tradition unlike any other.
That got me thinking about sports radio and how signature events once considered tradition have seemingly disappeared over time. While going down a rabbit hole, I began to wonder if sports radio has forgotten that signature events can become a tradition unlike any other.
The last time the Barrett Sports Media conference was held in Los Angeles, I attended a panel on sports radio promotions. Jason Barrett opened the discussion with a simple question: Name the best sports radio event in the country.
The answer was nearly unanimous. The Wing Bowl, created by Sportsradio 94 WIP’s Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti in 1993. The problem with that answer? The Wing Bowl was last held in 2018.
Since that conference, sports radio brands have faced more cuts, which has meant fewer opportunities for promotions. I can attest to this personally. When I began running WDAE, the station hosted two annual golf tournaments. Both raised funds for local charities and showcased the best of the station, our partners, and the local listening community.
Now, my former station holds no signature annual events. No traditions that help the brand stand out. When cuts happen, excuses tend to follow. Is the cost worth the return? Can a team realistically rally together when everyone is already pulling double or triple duty more than ever before?
This isn’t to say that’s the case everywhere, but the format as a whole has scaled back. Across the country, it’s encouraging to see stations still taking fans to sporting events through ticket trades with local partners. The occasional pub crawl remains a personal highlight. Some brands even continue to host annual golf tournaments.
However, what is sports radio’s next Wing Bowl-type event? Is there one? What will capture the attention of peers across the industry and inspire them to replicate that success in their own markets?
It’s a fair question. As sports radio battles for attention while podcasting continues to chip away at audience share, shouldn’t that be even more reason to create in-person connections through signature events?
That’s why sports radio should look to The Masters for inspiration. What makes it a tradition unlike any other?
The first element is the event itself. A golf tournament set in a stunning location. Yes, there’s history among the azaleas, but at its core, it’s still golf presented with a “wow” factor. For sports radio, what location could create that same feeling? When you give your audience access to something special, the setting matters. It’s often the difference between a one-time event and an annual tradition.
The second element is affordability. Yes, tickets to The Masters aren’t cheap. However, once inside, nothing feels overpriced. You can still get a ham and cheese sandwich and a beer for under $10. Food and drink prices remain reasonable and don’t break the bank. We’ve seen similar approaches in the NFL, minor league baseball, and college athletics. Keeping the in-event experience affordable helps fans overlook the initial ticket cost.
The third element is identity. The Masters knows its audience. It understands what its patrons value and delivers it year after year. For sports radio, that means looking at your local community. What do people enjoy doing on weekends? What events already draw attention and align with your audience? From there, the challenge becomes finding a unique twist that makes the concept your own based on your research.
The Masters has, does, and always will have a built-in audience. It has evolved from a golf tournament into a piece of golf culture by refusing to abandon what makes it unique. Its setting, pricing, and commitment to delivering an exclusive experience have shaped its legacy.
It doesn’t chase a new audience because it has always served its core audience exceptionally well.
That’s what sports radio must reclaim by building traditions of its own with the core audience that continues to support you.
Because the truth is, events like The Masters didn’t become iconic overnight. They became essential by committing to an identity, protecting it, and showing up for their audience the same way year after year.
Sports radio doesn’t need to chase viral moments or reinvent itself every six months. It needs to plant a flag. Create something listeners can circle on their calendar. Something they talk about months in advance and remember long after it ends.
The next Wing Bowl doesn’t have to involve eating wings. It doesn’t have to be outrageous. It just has to be yours. A can’t-miss weekend in a signature setting that creates a shared experience and turns listeners into a community.
Most importantly, it requires a commitment to do it again next year, and the year after that, until it becomes part of your brand’s fabric. That’s the lesson—not just from Augusta, but from every great event that has stood the test of time.
Stop asking what sports radio lost, and start building what it can own next.
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John Mellencamp once said, “Forget all about that macho s**t and learn how to play guitar. No matter what curveballs or changes life throws at us, there is one constant we can all agree on — we love the guitar.
National Guitar Month was founded in 1987. It was a collaboration between the Guitar & Accessories Marketing Association (GAMA) and the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). History tells us the first guitar was born in Spain in the 15th century. Since then, we have had a love affair with strings ever since.
I’m really lucky. For over thirty years, I’ve had the honor of interviewing my guitar heroes. We have spoken of tones, solos, influences, frets, and no frets. But sometimes a simple question really cuts through. Why do we love the guitar so much?
I asked the master Joe Satriani in a recent interview, and he summed it up pretty well.
“Well, I’m still fascinated by the fact that you touch it, it vibrates in your hand and you feel it in your fingertips,” said Satriani. “When you’re holding on to the guitar, whether it’s an acoustic or an electric, it vibrates against your body. This vibration is a connection to the music. That’s really personal.”
Satriani attempted to compare the experience to those of other instruments. All still important, but nothing like the feel a guitar gives you.
“When you think about it, a piano, it just kind of sits in one place. You don’t hug it, and don’t embrace it. You just put your fingers on it, but you don’t touch the strings,” Satriani explained. “Stringed instruments are unique because they only make a sound if you touch it. You really do stimulate this thing. And in turn, it stimulates you.”
He continued to explain what he feels separates the experience of playing guitar among the rest. Not only on a physical level, but also ticking the human senses across the spectrum.
“It helps you to express yourself in a way that other instruments maybe don’t in the same way. In the same physical way, it’s intellectual, visceral, spiritual, and emotional,” said Satriani. “It’s got all the components to stimulate us that way. So it can be very personal or it can help you be an extrovert if that’s what you want.”
Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder remembered getting started on the instrument at a very young age.
“When I started playing music, I was 10 years old. Living in destitute poverty on a dirt road in the deep south from Gainesville, Florida. We didn’t really have two dimes to rub together,” explained Felder. “There was no internet or iPhones and nothing to do. I felt madly in love with music, got a guitar and started teaching myself.”
Those early beginnings have resulted in music that transcends generations. Music that created memories standing the test of time.
“Before there were Grammys, before there were rock stars, except for maybe Elvis or something like that. But I didn’t go into music for any other reason other than just being madly obsessed and in love with playing music. That’s what’s driven me for the last 70 years. All the ups and downs, it doesn’t matter,” said Felder.
I also spoke with Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, who is one of the most incredible and influential players of the last 30 years. Bumblefoot’s out-of-this-world solo work has always mesmerized me. He’s played for several bands over his career including Guns N’ Roses, Sons Of Apollo, Art Of Anarchy, and Whom Gods Destroy. He is an innovator who is in a league of his own.
*Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.*
Terrie Carr – It’s 30 years since your debut album. But you’ve been playing over 50.
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal – I’ve been playing for over 50 years. I started in 1975 when I was five years old and the Kiss Alive album came out. I heard that album and thought that’s what I wanted to do. So, I started trying to figure out a way to make that happen, but I didn’t know guitar.
Just to be part of that team that makes sound, that makes people feel the way this stuff is making me feel. That was it. I started writing songs and was very into Carl Sagan type stuff. Planet, space, astronomy and cosmology and all that stuff.
I had a very inquisitive mind as a child. I was a smart kid, progressively getting dumber with age. So, I would write songs about planets and things that a six-year-old was interested in. The songs were better then than they are now. I wrote catchy songs. There were some good songs.
TC – A lot of people call that debut record, which was very organic and raw, a masterpiece. People wanted it back, and it went out of print for a while. Everyone was asking where is was. How do you get a deal on Shrapnel Records? Especially being this guy who is into planets, guitars, and not doing what people in the 90s were doing.
Because the mid-to-late 1990s was an odd time in music. You had grunge kind of peaking and alterna-pop was big, but on its way out. The nu metal movement was just beginning. Yet, there you are. Intergalactic planetary guitar-playing Bumblefoot.
RT – My path was always to just be in a rock band. That’s what I loved. All the classic rock that we all grew up on, we all loved. So that was the plan.
It really started in 1989. That was the first legit thing, when I got in a Guitar Magazine. I got a write up, and it was a column on unknown guitar players called Spotlight Column in Guitar Player Magazine in August 1989.
Jeff Healey was on the cover, and the person writing the article was Mike Varney, the owner of Shrapnel Records.
Bumblefoot’s journey has been nothing short of magnificent. He is a master player, band member, philanthropist, teacher, and entrepreneur.
To learn about his life through the strings, how he got his name, and hear one of his first performances at six years old, check out my full Carr Stereo Podcast interview. He even attempted to give me a guitar lesson.
Also, check out an incredible performance he gave me of Simon In Space from his 2025 release Bumblefoot Returns. A brilliant collection that features guest collaborations with Steve Vai, Brian May, and more.
Guitar sales saw a massive increase in the years following the COVID pandemic, with a 60% jump in 2020 and 2021. Even though things have leveled off in 2026, sales continue to remain healthy as content creators — both young and old — bring their passion and talents to the internet instead of just their bedrooms.
Grab a guitar this month, noodle away, and unleash your inner rock star.
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.
Over the nearly three years that I’ve written this column, I’ve tried to stay clear of politics. Even when commenting about an article or publication that has a slant, my goal has been to find an interesting broadcasting or research angle. What I think about an issue shouldn’t matter to you. That includes public broadcasting.
I’m not a regular user of public broadcasting — or for that matter, an irregular user — thus I’ve had no reason to comment here beyond challenging the question wording used in a study supporting NPR, or when I called “BS” on those who thought the services would die with the end of federal funding.
Both columns were based on research, not what I felt about the services. Since the end of the subsidy and the closure of CPB, public radio and TV remain on the air, although some people lost their jobs, some programs have ended, and there has been some consolidation. Those of you in the commercial media world know how that works.
A key reason that public broadcasting lost federal funding was the perception of bias. Many conservatives feel that the journalistic side, especially public radio, is biased leftward. True or not, occasionally the organizations can offer ammunition to their critics, even the music services.
A case in point is The Current, the AAA music service from Minnesota Public Radio. Last summer, when I took over as faculty advisor for WWHR-FM, Western Kentucky’s student radio station, I looked into The Current. Since WWHR is under the oversight of WKU Public Media, we have a relationship with that world, and my understanding was that The Current had some great programming that might fit for overnights when we wouldn’t have students available for airshifts. I didn’t know if The Current syndicated their programming or not, so I checked the website.
You can find out a great deal about organizations if you dig into their websites, and something in The Current’s website struck me as odd. If you click the “About” link and continue down the page, you’ll find the MPR Music Service EIDA Statement, which has not changed since I first read it last year. Here’s chapter and verse:
“Equity, Inclusion, Diversity & Access (EIDA) are critical to our mission to serve our audiences.
We acknowledge that the music industry in all its forms, including those at MPR, have long benefited from and contributed to systems of oppression and white supremacy.
To that end, we, the music services at Minnesota Public Radio, are united in our commitment to our audiences to transform ourselves into antiracist organizations that can lead change across Minnesota.
Equity, Inclusion, Diversity, and Access at The Current and Classical MPR starts in our workplace and extends to every region we touch, and we will use our resources and platforms in an impactful and responsible way.
We pledge to develop a better understanding of bias and injustice through training, listening, analysis, and structural change. We will build bridges to those who feel unheard … Additionally, we will distance ourselves from those who do not share our values of inclusivity and anti-racism.
The music services at MPR will work diligently to listen, learn, and incorporate activities that improve our delivery of inclusive, equitable, and diverse content, programming, and dialogue that better represents the diversity of our world.”
The same statement appears on the MPR Your Classical website. The MPR News website has no EIDA statement, but the simple tagline “Stay Curious. Stay Connected” — which seems “right” for a journalistic endeavor.
One can argue about whether MPR Music’s EIDA statement remains appropriate in 2026, but Minneapolis was the epicenter of the George Floyd protests of 2020, given that he was murdered there. Any number of organizations put out “anti-racist” or diversity statements around that time, many of which eventually disappeared.
What struck me was the line “…we will distance ourselves from those who do not share our views of inclusivity and anti-racism.” In other words, if you don’t agree with us — even if you like our music — please go away. You’ll have to get your Kacey Musgraves or Mozart somewhere else. Do the MPR music services ask potential contributors if they own or have read books by Ibram X. Kendi or Robin DiAngelo as a litmus test? Is it necessary to include that line? The services’ stance is crystal clear without it.
I tried to find another media equivalent. If you dig into the Fox News website, you’ll find: “Fox News Media offers its audiences in-depth news reporting, along with opinion and analysis encompassing the principles of free people, free markets, and diversity of thought, as an alternative to left-of-center offerings of the news marketplace.” It’s clear where Fox stands, but they don’t tell liberals or progressives to watch something else.
MS NOW doesn’t have anything that I could find saying “conservatives go away.” I checked Eternal Word Television, the major Catholic network, to see if they were telling non-Catholics to either convert or leave, but all I could find was a history of their operation. If you look at the Pacifica Foundation’s website, the mission statement about their radio operations is essentially “peace, love, and kumbaya.” Perhaps there is another broadcast entity out there that tells those who don’t agree to go somewhere else, but I’ll leave that more extensive research to others.
My guess is the statement was written in 2020 at the height of the protests. Perhaps it’s time for MPR’s leadership to do a thoughtful review. Some free advice: Don’t tell listeners to find somewhere else to spend their valuable media time.
Let’s meet again next week.
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.
It can be easy to forget the power of the music being played on Classic Rock and Hits stations. It’s a library of gold tracks they play repeatedly. It’s easy to start to become numb to just how powerful and culturally relevant this music really is.
But every now and then, the rest of the world sends a message reminding me just how universally popular this body of music is. It usually strikes me when I run into our music “in the wild.” Away from the stations and the Selector databases. So, this week I wanted to capture a few examples for you.
The first comes from Saturday Night Live. The same show that gave us the iconic Blue Öyster Cult sketch that needed more cowbell. This piece, called “Husbands,” probably won’t be as culturally relevant for as long. But it’s almost as good.
A bunch of husbands get thrown together, meeting for the first time when their wives — who are longtime friends — are hanging out in another room.
Eventually, they find something to bond over: Classic Rock.
There is one part where one of the characters says, “I can’t believe we all know this song.” But of course they all do. It’s a famous Classic Rock song. Now, I’ve spent some time thinking about what non-Classic Rock song would have fit this sketch, the closest thing I’ve thought of would be “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. But it wouldn’t have been as good.
The second example is a little more mysterious, revolving around Mr. Fantasy. At this point it will be easy to tell how old each person reading this article is, based on whether you immediately thought of the viral artist with 1.2 million followers on TikTok or jumped to the song by Traffic.
In this case we are talking about the viral artist widely thought to be the alter ego of actor KJ Apa, best known for playing Archie on the show Riverdale. The twenty-eight-year-old recently did an interview with Elite Daily — in character, of course — where he named his three biggest influences: Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Michael Jackson.
Not current artists, not anyone from the 2000s even. Three artists that all get significant airplay on Classic Rock and Hits stations. And if you’re wondering, the first song he learned to play on guitar was “Stairway to Heaven,” but his favorite is “Ramble On.” It’s just another reminder of the impact the music on these stations has on multiple generations.
If you aren’t familiar but are curious, here’s Mr. Fantasy’s latest single, “One Last Night”:
Third, a more traditional but equally impressive note. There are four movies about The Beatles scheduled to come out in April of 2028. Each movie will center on one member of the Fab Four. Collectively, they will be a complete biopic of the band’s incredible journey during the sixties.
According to an article in GQ, the movies are currently filming in the UK with production expected to continue all year. A few months ago I wrote a column about how John Lennon’s son Sean is concerned people might actually forget about The Beatles as time passes, so a major studio investing in four full motion pictures about the band just reinforces the power of their music and Classic Rock overall.
Finally, one more example. For too long now, I have been hooked on a game on my phone called Marvel Snap. It’s like Magic: The Gathering, where you collect cards that have various effects, build decks, and play against other people to see who can score the most points. It just so happens these cards appeal to my inner nerd because they feature characters from Marvel Comics.
In addition to the cards, the game also gives players silly sayings to put with their various decks. These are awarded randomly, and my jaw nearly dropped when I received this new one just a day ago.
This mobile game — really built for people younger than me and available around the world — just randomly served up a reference to a song by The Who that was released in 1971.
And there you have it. Just in case you’ve become numb to the power and cultural relevance of the music on Classic Rock and Hits stations.
And — if you happen to play Marvel Snap and want to join my alliance, just reach out. We need a few more people to earn the weekly premium variant award.
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