Rebecca Lowe is set to take on a prominent role in FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking a rare and noteworthy on-air crossover between two major networks.The NBC Sports’ lead Premier League presenter will join FOX as part of its hosting team for next summer’s global tournament. The Athletic was first to report the addition.
The announcement was made by FOX Sports President of Production & Operations/Executive Producer Brad Zager.
“FOX Sports is thrilled to welcome Rebecca to our team for FIFA World Cup 2026™,” said Zager. “Rebecca is a world-class presenter and one of the most respected and revered voices in the global soccer landscape. We look forward to having her help lead the conversation among our roster of esteemed broadcasters and are grateful to NBC Sports for granting Rebecca the opportunity to cover the tournament with FOX.”
For 12 years, Lowe has been one of NBC’s most trusted soccer voices. She has built a strong connection because of that with U.S. viewers. Beyond leading the network’s Premier League coverage, she regularly appears on Olympic broadcasts and the Kentucky Derby telecast.
“To have the chance to host the FIFA World Cup™ – the greatest event on Earth – in my adopted home country and help to continue to spread the word of the beautiful game across the U.S. is truly a dream,” said Lowe. “I’m so thankful to both NBC and FOX and am already counting down the days until the tournament kicks off next summer.”
Her experience, credibility, and ease with both casual and hardcore soccer fans made her an attractive option as FOX Sports finalized its World Cup roster.
The 2026 tournament expands to 48 teams and spans host cities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. With Kate Scott leaving FOX Sports for a full-time Champions League role at CBS Sports, the network needed a host with proven soccer credentials and broad recognition among fans. Lowe checks every box.
Rob Stone, who has long served as FOX’s primary soccer studio host and leads the network’s Big Noon Kickoff college football program, will continue in his World Cup role.
However, Fox has not yet announced its full broadcast lineup, leaving room for additional moves as the tournament approaches.
Lowe’s shift required formal approval from NBC. Cross-network borrowing has become increasingly sensitive as media companies compete for live sports viewership. NBC, however, reportedly granted FOX Sports the clearance needed for Lowe to participate in its World Cup plans.
Even with her expanded responsibilities next summer, Lowe’s ongoing work with NBC will remain fully intact. She will continue in her regular roles as the face of the Premier League in the United States. Lowe will also continue as part of NBC’s Olympic and Derby coverage.
For FOX Sports, the addition of Lowe signals a commitment to elevating its World Cup presentation. She presents a host who brings both authority and familiarity.
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Former First Take co-host Max Kellerman says he left ESPN’s flagship debate show with confidence in his work and clarity about the challenges that come with sitting across from Stephen A. Smith every morning. Appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Kellerman spoke candidly about the dynamics behind the scenes, the on-air expectations, and why he never felt a true relationship formed during his five-year run on the show.
Kellerman said the attention he received following his departure didn’t bother him. In fact, he admitted he was flattered by the reaction. “You’re talking about me… I was very flattered because if you go off the air, you’re not sure that the sports world would care,” he said. “People seemed to care.”
That confidence extended into his view of himself as a debate partner. Kellerman, who often leaned into analytical arguments, said he understood exactly why working with him could feel demanding. “If you’re doing a debate show and you’re a competitive person… why would you want me as a partner?” he joked. “You want to go 15 rounds every day with Muhammad Kellerman? That’s just bad.”
But the competitive spirit never translated into a close bond with Smith. Kellerman described Smith as the one long-term partner with whom a personal relationship never fully developed.
“I didn’t feel like a relationship was really forming,” he said.
Even so, Kellerman insisted that whatever tension existed off-camera should never bleed into the broadcast. “A cardinal sin is betraying that on the air,” he said. “You should always be thinking about making the show entertaining… and I do think it reached a point on that show where it was like, ‘Come on, dude. The first priority is to make good TV.’”
Kellerman also pulled back the curtain on First Take’s structure and the pressure placed on its co-hosts. He argued the format pushed debate partners into manufacturing contrarian opinions at an unrealistic pace.
“What is a hot take? A counterintuitive conclusion,” he explained. But with a dozen topics a day, he said having 12 counterintuitive takes wasn’t just difficult — it was “insane.”
According to Kellerman, Smith’s role on the show remains misunderstood. He argued Smith isn’t the one delivering the shocking conclusions. Instead, he plays the reactor. “Stephen A has no hot takes,” Kellerman said. “His job is to be the big reactor… to hear the crazy conclusion his partner has come to and be the everyman with a loud voice, like, ‘You are crazy,’ and do it theatrically.”
Kellerman left First Take in 2021 after five years on the program. He served as the first-ever host of Around the Horn and worked in a number of other roles with TV and radio. Kellerman was laid off by the Worldwide Leader in 2023.
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Former WBEN 930 news anchor and reporter Mark Leitner has died at the age of 80 after a battle with an illness, the Audacy Buffalo news/talk station has revealed.
Leitner departed the station in 2002 after spending nearly 20 years anchoring newscasts, as well as hosting the Newsday at Noon broadcast. He later worked at WBFO Radio in Buffalo before retiring and moving to Florida.
“It is truly the end of an era,” said former WBEN News colleague and current Audacy Buffalo Market Manager Tim Wenger. “Mark’s commanding voice and use of the English language to tell stories accurately and succinctly was unrivaled.”
“It’s a sad day for the WBEN family,” WBEN anchor Susan Rose added. “Mark was a colleague, mentor and friend. He was the foundation of the newsroom. A calm, steady presence on the air with exceptional interviewing skills. He knew every police dispatcher in Western New York. I would not be doing what I do today, if I hadn’t worked with Mark for so many years.”
Leitner is survived by his wife of 50 years, Suzanne, and their children Catherine and Emily.
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Paul Anderson, Principal & CEO of Workhouse Media, is ushering in a major leadership shift for one of the Pacific Northwest’s fastest-growing service companies. Scott McCarthy, currently President of Workhouse Sports, has been named Chief Executive Officer of SealX, LLC, effective December 15. Anderson serves as Executive Chairman of the SealX Board, which unanimously approved the move.
McCarthy will relocate from Los Angeles to Washington State while remaining a special adviser for sports with Workhouse Media. He joined the company officially in February 2024.
Scott’s resume brings an unusually broad blend of finance and media experience to the operation. After seven years in investment banking and venture capital, McCarthy spent 25+ years across audio, television, print, gaming, and digital — most notably a 12-year run at ESPN, where he last served as Vice President, ESPN Audio. His academic pedigree includes an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Colorado College. He also studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Chicago.
Anderson said McCarthy’s arrival is the product of a long-building vision. “What started with an Uber ride ten years ago and developed into a business partnership with Jaz Singh, Gurpreet Singh, and Sonia Kaur is now SealX,” he said. “Today, SealX employs nearly 200 people, continues to experience rapid, double-digit growth with strong EBITDA, and has developed a smart strategic vision for explosive growth. The board of directors recently determined that it was time to hire a CEO to help us achieve our vision, and we are confident that Scott will do an outstanding job of executing our strategic plan and leading our next phase of growth and beyond.”
McCarthy called the opportunity both humbling and energizing. “I could not be more excited or honored to join SealX as its CEO,” he said. “I am very grateful to Paul, Jaz, Gurpreet and Sonia for this amazing opportunity. What they have already built at SealX is the very definition of the American dream. I look forward to helping the SealX team expand aggressively over the coming years.”
SealX operates as a high-tech, high-touch commercial cleaning enterprise serving government, healthcare, retail, corporate, fulfillment, senior living, and education clients. Workhouse Media continues to represent premium audio-first and visual storytellers across major media hubs nationwide.
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Every Program Director wants the big jump. The ratings spike. The book that finally gets them that bonus or, at minimum, a “nice job” email before corporate moves on to the next radio station crisis.
But here’s the truth most programmers learn the hard way. You don’t grow by hoping. You grow by behaving differently.
After two decades of hiring PDs and working with hundreds of programmers across every format, I’ve learned one thing that never fails. Ratings respond to behavior.
Here are four behaviors you can start today. These are not theories or consultant fluff. They’re actual actions that will move your ratings forward.
Most stations don’t have a product problem. They have an awareness problem.
Your talent might be funny. Your promotions might be great. The station’s weekend features might be strong. But if listeners never hear about them, they don’t exist.
Better marketing is the fastest, lowest cost way to grow cume. And before you say “Phil, we don’t have a marketing budget,” great stations market through creativity, not invoices.
Start by promoting what listeners already love, not what you wish they loved.
Use video to highlight real moments from the audio you create.
Put talent faces everywhere people look. Humans connect with humans, not logos and not slogans. Show your face, but please retire that blurry jock photo from 2014.
If you’re waiting for corporate to hand you a marketing budget, you’ll get it right after they update the lobby signs for the seven people a week who still walk into a radio station lobby.
Great stations don’t need more promotions. They need more promotion of the right promotions.
2. Incrementally Improve the Listening Experience
PDs often chase the giant swing when the real growth is hiding in the tiny adjustments. The stations that win aren’t always the most creative. They’re the most consistent.
Small improvements compound fast. Think of them like radio interest payments. The real ones are burying half the industry, so make these the kind that pay you back instead of paying the bank.
Clean up those tiny dead-air gaps in your intros and imaging. They add up.
Replace one weak category with one strong one. Update imaging that has outlived its timelines, that’s the audio version of an email signature stuck on “stay safe” in 2025.
Audit every benchmark and cut the ones listeners tolerate but don’t actually enjoy. Tolerance is not the same as relevance.
Incremental doesn’t mean insignificant. Small improvements create big momentum.
3. Introduce a Breakthrough in Performance
Every station has its Highlander rule. There can only be one thing you’re known for.
But here’s the trap. Too many stations are solid everywhere and remarkable nowhere.
A breakthrough isn’t about adding more things. It’s about creating one moment, one voice, one show, or one idea that makes listeners say, “Did you hear what they’re doing over there?”
Maybe it’s a talent who stops performing and starts connecting.
Maybe it’s a contest that cuts through the clutter because it feels handcrafted, not recycled from the “Win $1,000” template. If your contest came free with a conference lanyard, it’s not a breakthrough.
Maybe it’s a signature sound or production style that instantly distinguishes your station.
Breakthroughs don’t happen accidentally. They happen when PDs understand that average is expensive and remarkable is worth the work.
4. Create a New Category
The biggest growth in audience doesn’t come from beating your competitors. It comes from making them irrelevant.
Category creation is the rarest but most powerful behavior a PD can attempt. It’s when you stop trying to win the lane and start painting the whole road.
Create a category and the measurement shifts in your favor. Create a category and your competition starts sounding predictable. Develop a category and your brand becomes the listener’s first choice, not their backup.
Maybe it’s a station that redefines a format instead of inheriting it.
Maybe it’s a show that blends content in a way the market has never offered.
Maybe it’s a music position that feels risky at first and obvious later. The best ideas usually age that way.
Every legendary station you admire created its own lane first. Then they owned it and everyone else tried to copy it.
Copying never beats creating.
The Closing Phil-Osophy
All four behaviors share one truth. They require action, not approval.
You don’t need a bigger budget to market smarter. You don’t need permission to introduce a breakthrough. Nor do you need corporate consensus to create a category.
What you do need is curiosity. You need courage. And you need the willingness to try something before your competition does.
If you take these behaviors seriously, your next book will come in strong. You can claim it was all strategy. I’ve been doing that bit my whole career.
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The college football regular season officially comes to an end this weekend. Championship weekend is built for the conferences to crown their best, while the country debates who should participate in the playoffs. The allure of championship weekend has dwindled over the years as the number of bowl games rises and the playoff itself takes center stage.
This weekend, FOX Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff will air its season finale live from the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis as Ohio State takes on Indiana. The top two teams in the nation will square off for conference supremacy and playoff seeding.
What’s missing from FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff is the biggest signing of the offseason. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced following Ohio State’s beating of Michigan last week in Ann Arbor that he won’t be present for the broadcast. The crescendo of the college football season missing its most attention-drawing element is puzzling. Was this the plan all along?
When FOX Sports announced the partnership with Barstool Sports back in July, the deal was hailed as a “one-of-a-kind” brand that connects with a new generation of sports fans. Barstool Sports has undoubtedly built that following with a combination of sports commentary and a multiplatform approach.
It’s no secret that younger audiences prefer personalities over analysis. Fun over substance. At the time, I called Portnoy’s signing by FOX Sports the most important network television signing of the entire calendar year.
I would like to announce that I will not be at the Big 10 championship with @BNKonFOX Good luck to all the teams involved.
Now it’s December, and the Big Ten Championship is Saturday. Portnoy won’t be showing up. Was this planned all along? Was this Portnoy’s call, or did the conference step in and force FOX Sports’ hand?
Going into the partnership, Portnoy turned the announcement into a two-minute PSA for the Michigan Wolverines. He bashed Ohio State and nearly every other school in the conference because they aren’t wearing the maize and blue.
This season, Portnoy was reportedly barred from the stadium at Ohio State for the biggest game on FOX’s calendar. He also hinted that the Big Ten Conference leveraged its influence with FOX to keep him off-site. Portnoy had public back-and-forths with Big Noon Kickoff talent, including Mark Ingram and Matt Leinart.
I questioned last month whether Portnoy had worn out his welcome with FOX Sports’ Saturday pregame show. Partnerships require time to grow. From every indication, FOX Sports and Portnoy didn’t allow enough time to prepare for his role or to build rapport with the current staff.
Oil and water never mix. So, you have to wonder whether FOX Sports was satisfied with the outcome in its first year.
It sucks we lost today obviously but still a crazy year with @BNKonFOX Gained a ton of haters. Gained a few fans. Exactly where I like to be. Also never dreamed I’d be riding shotgun with 2 Heisman winners #GoBluepic.twitter.com/qBahKdECsw
The positives were evident. Viewership increased throughout the season, and the social traction between FOX Sports and Barstool Sports accounts brought in additional impressions and engagement. Big Noon Kickoff became a weekly talking point in more sports media spaces than ever before. Portnoy’s presence always draws attention, and attention was certainly gained.
However, with new measurement metrics from Nielsen and trends in football viewership, can you call Portnoy a traditional ratings draw? Was a quarter-hour segment noticeably stronger because of him?
The better question is: without Portnoy, would Big Noon Kickoff see those same spikes in viewership?
Moreover, closing the season without Portnoy says more about FOX Sports than it does about him. The network’s partnerships with the conferences are far more important to its current and future health than anything involving Barstool Sports.
The last thing FOX needs is Portnoy going off about the conference during its championship game. Conversely, the last thing Portnoy needs is a presence on FOX Sports during championship weekend.
In the end, this decision works for both parties. FOX Sports wanted a spark, and they got it. Some fires they put out, others they couldn’t. It’s not that Portnoy didn’t belong on the program; the recap should be more focused on the wins for both parties.
Did Barstool Sports get more presence on traditional network television? Yes, but how much does that help their bottom line and brand reach?
Did FOX Sports get a bump in interest, viewership, and digital growth from the partnership? Surely. But at what cost to the network’s relationship with the Big Ten?
The fact that Portnoy won’t be part of the network’s coverage of the championship game highlights the fine line FOX continues to walk.
The partnership isn’t ending as the college football season winds down. FOX Sports and Barstool Sports will also contribute to college basketball coverage, including the College Basketball Crown, a postseason tournament launched by FOX this past April.
Neither FOX nor Barstool has revealed the details of this partnership. If the football season is any indication, though, who’s making the call on how much and where? Is it FOX Sports, Portnoy, or the conferences themselves?
At the end of the day, the FOX-Barstool experiment this season showed both the upside and the limits of pairing a digital disruptor with a traditional sports network. Attention was gained, conversations were sparked, and younger viewers took notice. But the absence of Dave Portnoy from the Big Ten Championship weekend serves as a reminder: in the high-stakes world of college sports, network strategy—and conference relationships—still outweigh individual personalities.
The partnership remains intact, but the first season made clear that balancing innovation with tradition is a delicate act. How FOX and Barstool navigate that line next season will determine whether this is a fleeting spark or the start of something far bigger.
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Robert Griffin III became a household name to sports fans across the country during the fall of 2011. His 4,239 yards and 37 touchdowns led to Griffin earning the Heisman Trophy. That spring welcomed Griffin to the NFL as the second overall selection in the NFL Draft. He spent eight seasons in the league before transitioning to a sports media career that began at ESPN in 2021 and now continues with FOX Sports.
Every step of Griffin’s journey led to the next, a journey rooted in the game of football.
“This is where God is calling me to be,” says Griffin. “I was blessed to be able to do what I did with ESPN, and now with FOX Sports. To be out for a year, it gave me perspective being at home with my wife and kids. Sometimes you don’t know if this is what I’m supposed to be doing… It’s been a lot of fun.”
Following Griffin’s NFL career ending in 2021, he immediately sought a place in sports media. He auditioned for both FOX Sports and ESPN, with Bristol becoming his entry point into the media landscape.
He served three years as an analyst with ESPN but was let go by the network in 2024 with two years remaining on his deal. Unsure of what his future would hold, he benefited from the positive impression his earlier FOX audition had left with network executives.
“When Brock Huard decided to step down and no longer be on the two team at FOX, the call came almost immediately,” said Griffin. “They let me know how much they wanted me in that spot. This was an opportunity to finally make it happen with the network that recognized my talent from the jump.”
Finding Opportunity at FOX Sports
FOX Sports announced the addition of Griffin to its roster, pairing the Baylor Bears legend with Jason Benetti. Having called games for ESPN previously, the return to the booth was seamless in some respects but not all. Entering the FOX family, Griffin was instructed to be himself. An analyst that celebrates the sport of football while entertaining audiences seeking an escape.
“Me and Jason [Benetti] have incredible chemistry. We are not a crew that is having two different discussions in the booth. Jason has made me better,” explained Griffin. “We give each other the space to finish the story… For me, I always try to take something away from the play-by-play guys I worked with. They’re all different, but Jason has allowed me to truly be myself.”
Griffin says the chemistry he and Benetti have developed in a short time at FOX Sports has been natural. Before the season, the network suggested the pair work some practice games to develop their cadence on air, but both declined.
“FOX wanted me and Jason to do some practice games wanting to see where our chemistry is at. This is the moment I knew we were going to be phenomenal in the booth,” said Griffin. “Both me and Jason looked at each other and said we don’t need a practice game… It’s been like we’re riding a bike from game one this year.”
This season, Griffin’s return to the booth has been a success. FOX plans to expand his work by having him call some NFL games later this season. The 2011 Heisman winner praises FOX Sports’ family feel and is open to finding new ways to play a bigger role with the network moving forward.
“I don’t ask much from Eric Shanks and the crew, but when they call I’ll be ready to roll,” said Griffin. “Jason Benetti does college basketball. That’s certainly something I’d be open to jumping in and helping the network out with. I’m also a massive futbol (soccer) fan, and the World Cup is coming up next year. It’s been fun to see the opportunities that are out there with FOX Sports.”
Crafting a Niche as a Creator
Before joining FOX Sports, Griffin sought ways to remain active in sports media after leaving ESPN. He landed on a unique podcasting concept that blended his sports knowledge with his personality at home.
Griffin launched Outta Pocket with RG3 in late 2023 as a project to connect with digital content consumers. It eventually evolved into a podcast co-hosted by his wife, Grete Griffin.
“You’re constantly evolving with the industry. Working with my wife, it’s fun. I have the knowledge of working with the machine with my time at FOX and being inside the media. My wife is bringing you the perspective of the athlete who’s not all the way in the media and understanding different types of situations,” explained Griffin.
Grete Griffin, an Estonian-born heptathlete, joined the program in August of last year. The show often ventures outside the world of sports, featuring discussions about family, faith, and adversity tied back to athletics. The husband-and-wife dynamic is strategic, aiming to cater to different demographics with a unique blend of content and perspective.
“The networks are starting to understand that some shows that you can produce in-house can garner the same viewership as a podcast could,” explained Griffin. “My goal would be to create and maintain a show that cannot just go on television but can live on TV. That’s the goal because they’re [FOX Sports] our partner. We’re not focused on this to go anywhere else; we want to stay within that family. They’re doing things for us to ensure that happens.”
Griffin said the network has provided access to guests in what he considers a guest-driven creator economy.
“This is the new frontier. [Pat] McAfee and what he’s been able to accomplish at ESPN. That’s what most people are trying to accomplish. From our perspective, we don’t want to be like them. We want to give the viewer something more,” said Griffin.
Growing From Experience
For all the positives with Griffin’s return to FOX Sports, 2025 has been a controversial year as well.
An encounter where Griffin tweeted “Sports shows on tv should be about sports, not politics” caught the eye of ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith. That led to a public back and forth between the two former ESPN teammates.
Another encounter involved ESPN commentator Ryan Clark. The former Steeler responded to Griffin stating an opinion about Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, which led Clark to use the race of Griffin’s current and former wife as reasoning why he felt Griffin didn’t understand what “Black women deal with.”
In the end, both incidents originated from Griffin posting his opinions on social media, something he has pulled back from since both situations went viral.
“Any kind of experience, you need to learn from it. Because of the way social media is, there’s very little room for nuance. When you take on topics that require nuance, and we’re in a place right now where everyone has a voice that there is no nuance,” explained Griffin.
While Griffin didn’t specify if any specific instance changed his approach to social media, his behavior has changed.
“What I realized was my family’s health and wellness is much more important than views, likes or anything in between,” said Griffin. “Once it got to people attacking my family, wife, and my kids and the skin color of my wife, what it made me do is say ‘how can I be better even if they’re not going to be’? For me, that was learning and adapting. I think people have noticed I’ve adjusted my approach in certain areas to not touch certain things. It’s not worth it for me.”
Elevate To Celebrate
Griffin has always prided himself on being the best teammate he can be while elevating the game of others. This season at FOX Sports has been no different, a second chance to show the audience at home who he is. Covering games, having fun, and guiding viewers away from the stresses of life remain his focus.
All of it is rooted in the game of football.
“Our crew, top to bottom, make it worth it to me where I don’t have to have a personal goal for 2026 to get what I want out of this,” noted Griffin. “I want them to get what they deserve out of it… That has always been my focus. To help the team around me be the absolute best they can be. That’s my goal for the new year; just continue to show the world who I am and be an all-time hall of fame teammate.”
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I have a confession to make. When nobody’s watching, I doomscroll through videos on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok, immersing myself in bite-sized chunks of my favorite series and movies whittled down to a single scene.
This guilty pleasure has turned me into a virtual, but joyous, addict. And guess what? I’m discovering I’m not alone.
From Forrest Gump, to When Harry Met Sally, to the current romcom series Nobody Wants This (with a rabbi who falls in love with a shiksa), the algorithms found my sweet spot, and I’m hooked.
TV watching is being transformed from streaming entire movies to watching individual segments, giving us a movie jolt without sitting still for 90 minutes. Sometimes it’s just one classic scene. Think of the “My name is Michael Corleone” scene from The Godfather.
Other times, you’ll be served different clips from the same movie, as is the case with Forrest Gump. Forrest runs like the wind, Forrest goes off to war, Forrest and Jenny walk hand in hand with their little boy. Each scene is powerful, and harkens back to when I saw the movie in the theater. Sometimes I can recite the phrases, as is the case with 1942’s Casablanca, when Humphrey Bogart tells Ingrid Bergman, “Here’s looking at you kid.” Nostalgia from watching the movie repeatedly with my parents as a teenager washes over me like a warm wave.
This micro-storytelling trend keeps viewers coming back and can boost a creator’s account by thousands of followers. Some of these clips are liked hundreds of thousands of times, and commenters find a sense of community.
Washington Post writer Heather Kelly wrote that “instead of seeking specific parts of shows or movies out, people are shown things without looking for it.”
This made me realize that I’m a slave to random people’s ideas of what they think I need to see. Even though I don’t know these people, I’m grateful for the time and energy they spend giving me the opportunity to go to my room, shut the door, and go down the endless rabbit hole in peace.
Cristel Russell, a professor of marketing at Pepperdine University, told Kelly, “That’s the weird thing about algorithms. You wonder, is this a universal experience or has the internet figured out that I’m very weird in a specific way?”
But the less-than-ideal production values make it somewhat of a challenge to watch.
The pirated clips made by complete unknowns like Mark Bisraya or Ayan Ahmed, who I randomly found in my feed last night, aren’t well-produced. So the scofflaws don’t get caught, they use a variety of techniques like inverting the picture, using white flashes in the middle of sentences, speeding up the voices, or creating a split screen with the exact same scene. There are also annoying emojis that pop up, not to mention simultaneous lower-third ads that you have to close in order to see the movie details.
But I’m so engrossed in the content that it doesn’t stop me from watching. I can watch ten in a row, scrolling past ads for must-have makeup or leather pants, and feel satisfied.
The worst part about watching – other than spoilers – is not knowing what movie is playing. In the description, they use hashtags like #romcom #movies or #oldmovies. To escape prosecution, they don’t put the name of the movie anywhere on the screen, or give a description. So, say you love the scene and think you want to stream the movie; good luck if you can’t remember the names of the actors. I’ll Google something like “man meets woman in bar criticizes her she yells at him.” Surprisingly, I can find it after a few iterations of the same search. If I hear the character’s name, it pops up on the first try.
Studio execs are none too happy about it, and are strategically battling to take down and replace sloppily edited, pirated content. But, in some cases, companies have realized those short clips actually boost viewership, and Gen Z often discovers movies and series through algorithmic videos first.
Netflix, Amazon MGM Studio, Hulu, Prime Video, Starz, Warner Bros, Disney+, and others create their own mini-segments with the names of the TV shows and movies, descriptions, and a link to stream the whole movie. Sometimes I find these official scene clips too sterile, and often they aren’t poignant. There’s something charming about the slapdash way the fakes are put together.
My son, who worked in the entertainment industry for a few years, says it stops companies from making money off the highly produced, original content put together by tons of talented people. He’s right. And he said I’m rotting my brain, deteriorating my attention span, and wiring my brain for instant gratification. Also correct. Of course, he watches these minute-versions all the time, too.
My editor, Garrett Searight, told me a story about how he told someone how impressed he was with an interview he did with a band. The interviewer said, “Did you watch it on YouTube or listen to the podcast?” And he said, “I watched the entire thing, sporadically, in roughly three-minute clips on TikTok as they showed up on my feed.”
Exactly my point. We are all part of this newfangled way of watching TV, whether it’s good for us or not, and we might as well come out of the closet and admit it.
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WLS-AM 890 Program Director Stephanie Tichenor didn’t mince words when discussing The Windy City.
“Chicago is a very unique market in that Chicago loves hearing about Chicago,” she admitted.
So, naturally, the station has taken a Chicago-centric approach, doing everything it can to put the Second City in the spotlight.
Now, the revelation that a local station in a major market is turning its attention to the surrounding area isn’t groundbreaking news. That should be the goal of every outlet. But WLS-AM 890 was a bit of a different animal. A once proud station that had fallen on hard times. It needed to be rebuilt.
So Tichenor rebuilt it in Chicago’s image.
“Local is always the key,” she said. “The focus is always on local or localizing syndicated content. I think the way we really connect is by going out in the community and doing a lot of local events and meeting our listeners. The audio that you hear on air is really authentic. We go out in the streets, and we meet our listeners and talk with them so we can superserve them with local content. Any way we can make it more Chicago is the way to go with WLS.”
Morning show host Ray Stevens is a near-constant fixture in both city and suburban events. Scroll through the station’s social media feeds, and you’ll see Stevens — often accompanied by Stephanie Tichenor — either in a parade, helping out a local charity, or doing a meet and greet with listeners.
It’s paid off. In the November ratings from Nielsen, the morning show daypart had nearly doubled its average share in the Men 35-64 demographic compared to the same window in 2024, and nearly doubled its weekly cume, too. The show, helmed by Stevens, bested rival WGN Radio in the window, as well.
Tichenor said that commitment to being out of the studio and in the community has made a world of difference.
“Working with Ray in getting out in the community … It’s important that we get out there and meet our listeners and not just say hi,” she said. “We talk to them. We sit and break bread with them. And we listen. They help me do my job and be a better programmer. ‘What do you like to hear? What don’t you like to hear? Does this sound great to you?’
“These are the kind of questions that I talk to all of our listeners about, because they’re the ones listening just as much as I do,” she continued, “and they’re a different set of ears. I think that’s what you don’t really get enough of in radio. It’s a lot of people who talk, but not a lot of people who actually listen.”
One might think that regularly fielding questions from listeners wouldn’t necessarily be good for the soul. But the WLS-AM 890 leader said she can’t get enough.
“I love it,” she admitted with a laugh. “You don’t personalize stuff in our business. Here’s the thing: no one’s nasty. Those are the kind of emails I get. But when someone’s actually talking to your face and you’re smiling at them, most people — I would say 99% of people — are actually really kind. They think of the nicest way to say something. A lot of times, it’s really positive feedback, too. ‘We really like this person. When is this person coming to Chicago to do more events?’ Hearing the positive stuff definitely helps fuel us, I think especially Ray, to keep doing good stuff in our community.”
Stevens is the only local host on the otherwise nationally syndicated daily lineup at WLS. So, incorporating hosts from Washington, D.C. and New York into the Cumulus Media Chicago news/talk station’s lineup is an important part of making the station sound more local. And Tichenor said she has a specific plan and strategy to get that accomplished.
“One of our newer hosts, Guy Benson — who’s not new to Chicago, he went to Northwestern — when he started, I just gave him a call and was like ‘Can I have your cell number? I’m not going to be a creeper and share it, but I just want to talk to you and plan events.’ He came to Chicago a few months ago. We were actually texting on Thanksgiving, and he’s like ‘I can’t wait to do more stuff in 2026,’ and I’m like ‘Yes, me too, we need to get you here for an event.’
“It’s a matter of meeting our syndicated hosts and chatting with them and saying, ‘Ok, send me some extra liners. If you have callers from Chicago, put them on the air.’ I think after we speak, they get it. Anytime Chicago is mentioned on air, we turn that around into a promo. My producers know to listen for that kind of content. And Chicago is a huge city, so we’re in the news a lot. Anytime we’re featured on any of our syndicated shows, it’s using that audio and saying, ‘Ok, should we turn this into a video YouTube short? What’s the best way to repurpose this content to make us really shine? And then for me to really communicate with our hosts and say, ‘Ok, come to Chicago. Come hang out with us.””
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News/talk radio has long prided itself on immediacy. The ability to pivot on a dime, to break news as it happens, has been a core advantage for decades.
Yet as we move into 2026, the industry risks clinging to tradition at the expense of growth if it doesn’t take digital seriously. The truth is simple: the audience isn’t waiting. They’re already elsewhere.
All sorts of data points confirm this. Among adults 18-49, streaming news TV is now consumed as much as cable, satellite, and broadcast combined. That’s right — combined. You might think radio is different. That maybe listeners still flock to your AM/FM signal because of the unique experience of live talk, local news, or personality-driven commentary. I’m here to tell you: the differences between mediums are far smaller than you might think. The behaviors are almost identical. Your audience wants access on their terms, when they want it, wherever they are.
This isn’t a call to dismiss AM/FM radio. Don’t mistake me. Radio still matters. It reaches audiences in cars, workplaces, and homes in a way digital alone cannot replicate. But to believe that alone will carry your station forward is naive.
Right now, there’s a massive imbalance in how the format approaches digital. Yes, some stations excel. They post podcasts, clips, videos, social media content, and streaming options that extend their brand. They’re winning new listeners and reinforcing loyalty with existing ones. But they are dwarfed by the hundreds of stations that treat their broadcast signal as the sole avenue for content discovery. If your news/talk radio station isn’t visible online, you’re invisible to a large portion of potential listeners.
Immediacy, which has been radio’s strength, is less of a differentiator than it used to be. Many people are perfectly fine consuming news on-demand. They don’t need to hear it live. They want relevance, context, and convenience. If you’re not delivering your content in formats that match those expectations—clips, podcasts, newsletters, or short-form video — you’re leaving audience members behind. Worse, you’re giving competitors a head start.
Digital isn’t some niche channel for experimentation. It is a behemoth. Audiences are shifting fast, and they have no patience for stations that don’t meet them where they are. Social media, YouTube, podcast apps, and streaming audio are no longer secondary considerations. They are essential touchpoints. Your content must be discoverable, shareable, and accessible beyond the AM/FM signal. Otherwise, you’re ignoring the very audiences you hope to cultivate for the next decade.
The challenge is cultural as much as it is technical. News/talk radio has historically been personality-driven and reliant on live programming. Pivoting toward a digital-first mindset requires vision, investment, and discipline. Stations must reimagine how they distribute content. Clips that work on social platforms, podcasts that expand the conversation beyond live shows, newsletters that engage listeners in long-form — these aren’t optional. They’re the future.
The time to act is now. Digital adoption cannot wait until it’s convenient or until ratings begin to show long-term decline. By 2026, any station that treats digital as ancillary will have ceded ground to competitors who understand audience behavior. This isn’t a guess — it’s a pattern visible across every media sector. Those who meet listeners where they are will thrive. Those who don’t will watch their relevance shrink.
News/talk radio has survived and thrived for decades because it adapts. This is another moment to evolve. Prioritize digital. Meet your audience on the platforms they prefer. Extend your brand beyond the broadcast tower. Because the signals you reach now are just the start. The audiences of tomorrow are already online, and they’re waiting for content they can access on their terms.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
