Nothing is ever a guarantee. Success is never a guarantee, no matter how much you feel a formula is unbreakable. Every movie isn’t guaranteed to have a happy ending. The paying customer always faces the chance to leave without a smile. You can even guarantee tomorrow, for we all reflect on making the day today the best it can be. iHeartMedia is now guaranteeing that everything you hear from every single radio station they own is human.
Do you believe them?
Times are changing. In effect, business is adapting to artificial intelligence faster than ever before. MIT recently released a study showing that 11.7% of the United States workforce could already be replaced by AI. For iHeartMedia to take a stand and launch a “guaranteed-human” branding campaign as the AI evolution gains steam is striking, yet confusing at the same time. For the 81 sports radio brands that iHeartMedia owns, does this campaign signal a safer future for their section of the industry?
Investing in people should be a rallying cry for marketing. With widespread concern over AI’s impact on the workforce, this could be a positive campaign highlighting iHeartMedia’s belief in human talent. People entertain people—without AI intruding into the daily lives of listeners.
The consumer clearly wants media created by real humans. iHeartMedia’s research shows that while 70% of respondents use AI tools themselves, 90% of that group want real people producing the content they consume.
Sports radio is an ideal format for this messaging. Few media formats are more trusted than spoken-word shows like sports radio.
What stands out is the bluntness of the campaign. iHeartMedia emphasizes it doesn’t use AI-generated personalities—but for how long? It doesn’t play AI-generated music—but for how long? iHeartMedia guarantees its podcasts feature human voices—but for how long?
It is remarkable that a company needs to reassure consumers of something so fundamental: that the voices telling the stories of their favorite teams are real humans, playing music crafted by actual artists. The most compelling point is the company’s commitment to authenticity.
Yet, this raises questions. Did consumers start doubting that the voices on iHeartMedia stations came from real humans? Was there research showing concern about this issue? To my knowledge, iHeartMedia has never used an AI-created talent on any of their radio brands.
Therein lies the confusing part. If consumers had no real concerns, why address it? Is this proactive marketing, or a band-aid over a perceived problem?
It is interesting that a company that once marketed local, shifted to companionship, is now pivoting to marketing “real.” iHeartMedia has experienced the same number of reductions in force as many of their contemporaries, yet it continued to push local as the overwhelming marketing strategy point. Now it is marketing human creativity, even as the number of actual humans working for the company has dwindled.
Let’s consider this as well, since we’re keeping things real and authentic.
Last November, during iHeart’s round of layoffs, CEO Bob Pittman was blunt in his assessment of the company’s talent roster. He said the layoffs were “not getting rid of air talent” and that, because of “technology,” they could take talent in any location and put them on the air in another location.
In one case, technology replaced humans. Now, it supposedly will not? When every business is finding ways to use AI to improve efficiency?
For now, AI is marketed as a tool, not a replacement. But in a year, the landscape will look very different. Traditional radio will continue to face challenges: layoffs, more platforms, and even more content. Consumers may prefer human-created content, but can any industry truly resist AI in full?
This is why iHeartMedia’s move puzzles. The same company that used technology to reduce staff just a year ago now promises it won’t replace humans with AI—even though consumers have never signaled concern about AI content on their radios in mass.
This campaign offers no real assurance for sports radio professionals. AI-generated music is topping charts, AI is infiltrating daily work and home life, and investments in AI are accelerating. AI-driven podcasts based on game results may be next. The whiteboard of possibilities continues to grow in nature.
For sports radio talent, this campaign is a reminder: no slogan can shield you from industry realities. AI isn’t coming—it’s already here. In a world where a human guarantee is a marketing message rather than a contract, talent must continually adapt, evolve, and prove their value every single day.
Because after all, nothing is ever guaranteed.
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.
Thank you for checking out ‘The Industry According To’. This series runs each Tuesday, and features radio and record industry executives, managers, programmers, talent, artists, and professionals from all areas of the business world. To be considered as a future guest, email me at keithblackboxgroup@gmail.com.
The music industry is massive. Thousands of jobs, companies, brands, and artists, all chasing different goals. Today we tap the mind of Fred Jacobs.
Most know Fred Jacobs as the President of Jacobs Media and a pioneering Radio consultant, but that’s like saying Apple just makes computers. Fred and his team have tentacles in every conner of the audio and entertainment world, from Rock radio to apps, automotive dashboards to digital brands far outside music. Few see the industry’s past, present, and possible future as clearly as Fred, so let’s dive in.
Day-to-Day Reality
Keith: You run a multi-media consultancy that touches everything from radio to tech to automotive. What is the real thing that keeps your clients (and maybe you) up at night right now?
Fred:The things that keep ME up at night? Barrett wouldn’t give you that much space!
As for industry people, most are concerned about the basic fundamentals of the business – which is saying something, because for most of us over the age of 40, you never questioned the efficacy of broadcast radio. Build your brand, do your homework (research!), attract an audience, market your station, and hire well-dressed, knowledgeable people to rep it, and chances are, you were creating a successful, sustainable high-margin business. Today, all those underpinnings – the stability of the radio model – are on very shaky ground. And because the economics of the radio business are so precarious, broadcast owners started skipping key steps that are essential for winning over the long haul. That weakens brands, and over time, the companies that own scores or hundreds of stations lost the advantages of scale.
Along these lines, the digital conundrum also has confounded radio ownership – the degree to which technology has changed the basic ways in which people consume entertainment and information, how to monetize it, and how to compete against the biggest companies in the world that provide many of the same products and services. The world was a simpler and more profitable place when broadcasters just had to concern themselves with their own brand(s) and a handful of radio competitors in the local market, along with a hometown newspaper and the usual network TV affiliates.
Data Blind Spots
Keith: Your annual TechSurveys have been like a reliable GPS tracker for the industry for years. What’s the one finding you’ve been screaming about that radio and label leaders still ignore?
Fred:I’ll give you three of them: a key takeaway and two basic observations from having conducted these every year since 2005.
The big finding is the ongoing power of both personality and “local” year-in-and-year-out in Techsurvey. These aren’t just important to fans of radio; they also happen to be the defining differences between broadcast radio and virtually everyone else. (An aside: In our dealings with automakers over the past two decades, when we tell them we’re in radio and we talk about the value of the medium TO THEM, they always bring up the power and value of air talent and connection to the local community. Every time. What does that tell you about their obvious value?)
The observations? Our sample is a direct function of the email databases of our stakeholder stations. And based on that, we can see the perpetual aging of the medium, year after. Millennial representation if uniformly poor, while Gen Z’s are virtually nonexistent. You don’t need an actuary to explain the implications of this on radio’s future.
The other ignored aspect of Techsurvey and studies like Edison’s “Infinite Dial” is that it hasn’t stimulated more radio companies to wider their POVs and look at the larger media ecosystem their stations compete within. Instead, most competitive conversations and research studies revolve around how we can beat the crap out of The Bull, B97, or Rock 104. Many don’t consider the larger picture. That is what is typically eating their lunch, both on the sales and programming sides.
Radio’s Lost Turf
Keith: Spotify and Apple built personalization on what radio invented in, curation and discovery. Should radio fight to reclaim that ground, or evolve beyond it to something else?
Fred: My sense is radio has inherent strengths (see above) that sets it apart without trying to compete with behemoths like Spotify and Apple. Plus, radio operators cannot seriously compete in these arenas, so why bother? Again, if radio broadcasters were asking the right questions, this wouldn’t even be a discussion.
Fred Jacobs presents information to sports radio pros at the 2025 BSM Summit in Chicago (Photo Credit: Barrett Media)
If Ratings Didn’t Matter
Keith: If Ratings didn’t matter tomorrow, how would stations actually sound? Would they be a little different or like new brands? Do you think that’d be better or worse for listeners?
Fred: What a wonderful world this would be. Seriously, most of the things radio does to program to the ratings work against its competitive energies. Start with cramming all those commercials into just two stopsets. While that practice may make sense in moving meters, it does not create a great listener experience.
Then there are the stations spending what little marketing they have chasing a meter here or a meter there. I’m all about trying to win in the ratings war, but when those actions conspire against presenting the best programming possible, the process becomes self-defeating.
Show Us the Money
Keith: Radio’s revenue model has been under siege for years. Critics say :30s and:60s, and Nielsen estimates feel outdated, while some podcasts and streams are printing money like they’re in Dubai. Have you seen anyone genuinely trying to reinvent the revenue model so it’s listener-first?
Fred: The listener-first concept is so smart, but most broadcasters cannot get out of their own way to make these campaigns come alive. I am a proponent of dragging an empty chair into any and all radio station meetings that represents “the listener.” Too often, stations default to what’s right for the company, the bottom line. While organizations need to deliver on their goals, doing this by creating negative experiences for audience members simply drives more people away.
Broadcasters continue to chase diminishing “radio dollars” rather than prospecting for new money, sponsorships, and local collaborations entities like Apple, Google, and Facebook cannot do. Listeners appreciate when stations do some of the simple things that show they care. Every time I conduct Listener Advisory Groups for client stations, people thank the station for caring enough about their opinions to invite them to these sessions. That provides insights into just how powerful giving the audience a voice can be.
Keith A quick follow up to that. If you could pull one lever to reverse radio’s revenue decline, what would it be?
Fred: I would bring an air personality (or the PD) to every significant pitch. Who better to describe the station’s mission and why advertising on the station or sponsoring event can be so smart? I’ve dreamed of being reincarnated as a client so I could sponsor some of radio station’s best events. It is absolutely shameful how much great feature programming or unique station gatherings go unsold.
Innovation & Identity
Keith: You created the Classic Rock format and it still works. Why hasn’t radio created its next great formats? Is it a lack of creativity, courage, or something deeper?
Fred: I honestly don’t know. If you would have told me in 1985 when Classic Rock started lifting off that aside from Jack and Classic Hip-Hop, nothing new would be developed over what is now four decades I’d have been very surprised.
When I tell you how difficult it was to convince ANYBODY to take a shot on a new format back then, it would discourage even the most optimistic person. I remember some of the early sales meetings I was thrown into to “explain” Classic Rock to the AEs. Invariably, they’d ask, “But what does it sound like?.” I’d explain that it didn’t sound like anything else that was on the radio. Which was the point.
Thank goodness those original stations exploded in the ratings. There certainly wasn’t a whole lot of enthusiasm in those early sales meetings.
Metrics Mania
Keith: You’ve seen it all – diaries, PPM, LPs, Streams, MySpace, and now it’s Impressions, Dashboards and TikTok. What’s the one metric today that tells youand advertisers that fans really care?
Fred: I continue to be a fan of the Net Promoter Score, something we’ve included in every Techsurvey we’ve done for commercial, public, and Christian stations. It’s a simple, but effective, recommendation score that measures word-of-mouth. When a trusted friend, co-worker, or relative sing the praises of a new band, a new TV series, or a new morning show, it overshadows user metrics. For individual radio stations, tracking NPS over years can paint an insightful picture for programmers. Next month, we’ll go into the field for Techsurvey 2026.
We literally chart these scores over 21 years. I find it’s a direct reflection of how stations sound and how well they serve their audiences. Firing a veteran morning show or even a sidekick without some degree of honesty and transparency almost always results in lower NPS marks. And justifiably so.
Radio Talent
Keith: Does radio have a talent problem, a pipeline problem, or a perception problem?
Fred: Yes, yes, and not really.
Many stations don’t lean into the talent they have. There’s a tendency to take talent for granted and load them up with too many endorsements. Let’s get real. When a morning host is shilling for a dozen different advertisers (some of which come up multiple times in the same stopset), it’s just not credible.
I haven’t missed a Morning Show Bootcamp in years. For my money, it’s the best view of radio talent our industry has. I wish more of radio’s corporate officers would attend this event and see the passion, energy, and enthusiasm these people have. Despite industry problems and speed bumps, these folks are excited, energized, and motivated. They want to improve, try different things, and learn from one another. I wish every exec in radio could make it a point to show up to this event.
Then there’s the pipeline. Better put, the lack of a bench, minor leagues, or whatever you want to call it. And it stems from the elimination of those shifts that served as training grounds for fledgling talent – nights, overnights, weekends. Our AQ research studies comprised of commercial radio air talent has been especially revealing in quantifying this key point. The best on-air talent today got their starts doing airshifts that for all intents and purposes no longer exist. We’re going to see more and more shows, teams, and individuals who have been on the air for decades retire – or be retired. Who will replace them?
Keith: Which would you rather have — the loud and polarizing personality, or the consistent one?
Fred: Neither. They both bring something to the table but are flawed. The former may be attention-getting, but at this moment in time, most people aren’t turning on the radio to be shocked, angered, or shaken. Life is hard enough as it is.
On the other hand, a consistent personality without hooks or the ability to truly connect with audiences isn’t a great option either.
There’s no single personality type that guarantees results. But if I was building the “Frankenstein talent” in a lab, I’d be looking for someone with at least some of these qualities: Empathetic, storytelling, wired in to the community, human, self-deprecating, and a good ambassador to the station.
AI
Keith: Are any of your clients using AI in a way that is truly additive to the listener experience? I’m not just referring to backend support or automation.
Fred: I don’t think so. The typical usage patterns revolve around using the technology to eliminate some of the drudge work so that programmers and managers have more time to think and breathe.
I am concerned about how AI will be utilized in the media in general. I know a lot of people from VO talent to on-air personalities to programmers are concerned about the bots taking their jobs. In this regard, I’d recommend everyone pick a copy of Seth Godin’s old book, “Linchpin.”
I’d also suggest that even if AI scares you, you should take the time to learn it as much as possible. It’s not going anywhere. It would be advantageous for any broadcaster to learn how to use it and understand its capabilities.
Future Leaders
Keith: A 25-year-old walks into your office and says they want to reinvent radio like Steve Jobs did Apple and Tech. What’s your advice?
Fred: Write me up a plan, laying out how you’re going to do it. If he/she has a good storyline, rationale, and mission, I’d try to find them a place in my company to sandbox it. More points if they’ve already done it somewhere.
Hiring a 25-year-old and giving him/her the keys to one of our starships seems risky. But when I got into the business, I’d estimate the average age of a rock radio PD was somewhere between 25-30. It often worked out pretty well.
Futurecasting
Keith: You often quote Wayne Gretzky about skating to where the puck is headed. So, where is it going? What does music and media look like in 2035?
Fred: Boy, I wish I knew. I would expect more consolidation in all forms of media and entertainment. The more sources for content, including thousands of YouTube channels, the harder it will be to amass a big audience and make a profit.
I worry about the state of news and the lack of trust that so many news organizations are burdened by. Social media may be fascinating but as a news source, it is problematic.
AI will have to be reckoned with and we’re not off to a good start. When music can be created with this technology and many consumers don’t care one way or the other, that’s a game-changer.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that questions like this one generally cannot take into account media and tech that doesn’t exist. We had no warning on iPods, smartphones, social media, podcasts, TikTok, Netfix, and ChatGPT. Yet, each of these innovations came along and CHANGED EVERYTHING. There’s no reason why this pattern won’t continue. It’s why Paul and I go to CES every year. As my friend and mentor, Jerry Lee, likes to remind me when I ask him why he’s been to more than 50 of these events, “I don’t want to miss the future.”
The Uncomfortable Truth
Keith: What’s the uncomfortable truth you wish all radio Execs, GMs and PDs would just admit?
Fred: Radio’s dominance in cars – its #1 listening location – is seriously up for grabs. It’s not just because some manufacturers would just as soon stop including an AM and/or FM into their dashboards. We’re reaching that tipping point where more and more drivers and passengers are connecting their phones to their vehicles, thus bringing in their content. Radio is going to have to fight harder to remain relevant in cars. And not to beat a dead horse, but that “secret sauce” might once again prove to be local content and proprietary personalities.
Jacobs Media’s Fred and Paul Jacobs
The One Story
Keith: Before you go, what’s your best must tell story? It can be success, nightmare, or pure madness.
Fred: There are SO many that would blow you away. But one of the fun ones was in the 1980s when I first started consulting 91X. Most people associate me with Classic Rock, but I was fortunate to work with that station and its amazing team back in the formative years. (It led me to launching the Edge format).
91X was (is) a Mexican station and its call letters are X-E-T-R-A. Many in the station’s inner circle back then were concerned that if San Diegans knew 91X was in actuality a Mexican station, it might be a deterrent to listen. The call letters had to be spoken in Spanish, and they used a young girl with a “non-radio” voice and buried the legal ID in a produced music and effects piece.
When they hired me, one of my first tasks was to moderate a set of focus groups. The first one on the agenda was 18–24-year-old women. I have become good at playing dumb and letting listeners tell me the story of the radio stations they spend time with. When the topic came around to 91X, the female respondents started telling me all about the station – its music, the jocks, contests, events, everything. And then one of them said, “You know, they’re actually a Mexican station.” And I asked the room how many knew that fact prior to attending the group. They all raised their hands.
So, I asked the woman who first brought it up how she came to know that. She explained, “They do their letters in Spanish once an hour.” Before she could blurt out the Spanish call letters, I asked the room how many of them could knew the ID. Again, all hands went up.
On the count of three, I asked them to recite it. And in unison, I got this:
It was one of the coolest moments of connection I’d ever seen with a radio station. They went onto explain to me how there was a distinct underground hipness that 91X had, stemming from its unusual roots. As I learned from a focus group of young women, 91X was ALTERNATIVE years before we started using that word.
After the groups, it was a foregone conclusion that the legal ID would be untethered from the top-of-the-hour production so it could stand out. And that is still how it is delivered today.
Keith: Anything else?
Fred: Pet peeves. I have 3 of them:
PDs who refuse to tease (because it “telegraphs commercials are coming”). You have to give listeners a reason to stick around or come back.
Companies that don’t even ask their people to think about innovation. Employees get the message quickly. If new ideas are unwelcome or won’t be considered, why bother?
Visibility matters (especially when outside marketing is at a premium). Go where your audience goes, show up, hang out. This is how connections are made and how relationships form.
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.
Sports commentary and political commentary used to be like oil and water—separated and never intertwined for the audience to consume. They stayed in their lanes and rarely, if ever, crossed paths. Today is a much different time, where sports and politics are more like Kool-Aid mixed with water, constantly finding ways to intersect, with passionate discourse on both sides. Dan Dakich finds himself at the intersection of these discussions with his daily program Don’t @ Me on the OutKick network.
“I’m not a journalist, although I studied telecommunications when I was in college. I’m an entertainer,” said Dakich when asked what the OutKick consumer demands from content. “Sure, it’s about sports, and I’ll give you information. I’m also going to try and entertain by giving you insight from a perspective that you don’t get anywhere. OutKick is no different.”
Dakich joined OutKick in November 2021 after leaving his role as a college basketball analyst with ESPN, which he held for a decade. Following the departure of several of his colleagues, Dakich says ESPN losing the rights to the Big Ten signaled that his time at the network was up.
“I wanted to leave ESPN. When Mike Tirico, Allison Williams, and several others were gone… I didn’t enjoy it,” explained Dakich. “I was the luckiest guy in the world because I didn’t work with guys that had egos. Play-by-play guys trying to make it about them—I worked with established guys.”
Finding Liberation at Outkick
What drew Dakich’s interest in OutKick was his appreciation for founder Clay Travis. While he admittedly didn’t know what to expect when he joined the outlet, he’s been impressed with the freedom OutKick provides in content creation.
“The group at OutKick is beyond anything that I thought,” said Dakich. “It’s been a freaking blast and liberating.”
Dakich has never shied away from political commentary. His father pivoted from being a schoolteacher to a union lobbyist for the teacher’s union. Growing up in Indiana, Dakich was a daily reader of local newspapers and always paid attention to the political landscape on both the local and national levels.
Over his time at ESPN, he admitted that calling games became boring, but he found an interest in participating in the political discourse of the country.
“We’re not afraid to address politics, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to go to OutKick,” noted Dakich. “OutKick’s audience has expectations—you can talk about politics, and it’s accepted.”
Don’t @ Me is a two-hour program filled with sports and political commentary, sprinkled with interviews featuring figures from around the country. Built on Dakich’s strong opinions, the goal of the program remains entertainment.
However, Dakich’s background is rooted in the sports arena.
Pivoting to Media
Before his days at ESPN, he was a four-year student-athlete under head coach Bobby Knight. He served as Indiana’s team captain during his junior and senior seasons at Indiana University, then became the first graduate assistant coach under Knight for the Hoosiers. Twenty-three seasons later, Dakich was an established head coach, accustomed to dealing with media from a player/coach standpoint.
He saw opportunity in his experience after leaving the college game.
“I’ve been in the public spotlight since I was 17 years old,” explained Dakich. “I always thought to myself if I ever go into sports media, I’m not going to say something just to say something. I just rail on them [sports media] because I know how dishonest they are.”
As much as he felt targeted by false stories and criticism as a player and coach, Dakich has also created controversial headlines as a member of the media.
An admitted non-journalist, Dakich was suspended in 2019 from his highly rated sports radio program on 93.5/107.5 The Fan for not adhering to “journalistic principles valued by Emmis.” His no-nonsense approach also landed him in hot water in 2020 with Emmis after he responded to the firing of a high school basketball coach.
Dakich eventually exited his radio show on The Fan in 2022.
“Screw it, I don’t really care [about what sports media perceives about him]. I’m not going to be one of those guys that disrespects the job and lies to just get a story or get a reaction,” explained Dakich about criticism of his own sports media career.
Grading Stephen A. Smith
One aspect of the sports media landscape that piques Dakich’s interest is how many sports personalities are entering the political commentary lane—something he accomplished by joining OutKick four years ago.
One name that has caught his eye is ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, who hosts First Take for ESPN and a political talk show for SiriusXM radio.
“He’s been brilliant,” explained Dakich. “He’s become a useful idiot for the Republican Party and has become a guy that has figured out how to appease the Democratic Party.”
Dakich is quick to applaud Smith for balancing the two focus points of his media career: hosting First Take on ESPN while also tackling political commentary across other networks.
“I think he’s doing a wonderful job,” said Dakich. “Media finds people they can use to put on shows. Someone who will give their side or know where they stand on an issue. He’s been brilliant.”
A Return To Indy
As impressed as Dakich is with Smith’s balancing act, he doubles his own media approach every weekday. In January 2024, Dakich returned to Indianapolis sports radio as the midday host on 1430 Indy’s Sports Ticket. The program airs an hour after his OutKick show ends. Dakich switches back to an all-sports format while leaving politics at the door.
While politics does creep into the discourse from time to time, the show allows him to connect with Indy sports fans as he always has.
“People ask me all the time how I talk for five hours a day. I really don’t know, but it’s not hard,” said Dakich. “I feel like it’s the easiest job in America.”
Now, two years after joining the station, Dakich remains the lone local personality on 1430AM. While he appreciates the opportunity to talk directly to Indianapolis sports fans, he wishes there were more growth for the show and station.
“We need to do better. We’re very limited,” said Dakich. “There’s not a lot of money. What I want to do is get the station to a point where people want to come to work there… AM radio has a place on your dial if you’re driving, but it’s not the destination it was. It’s even less than it was in the last three years for whatever reason.”
Future Plans
While Dakich continues to entertain audiences locally and nationally, he doesn’t see a return to the analyst’s chair in his future. Since leaving ESPN in 2021, Dakich admittedly hasn’t tried to get back into the role, feeling he’s too political for networks to consider. His final days with ESPN left a lasting impression of how much the role changed.
However, he hasn’t lost the passion for the job.
“I would like to return,” said Dakich. “I would love to go back and do the games. Talking to coaches and breaking down the games, but I like being with the people more. I would do it if I had a group of people that I was looking forward to being with.”
While a return to the analyst role may be distant, Dakich is excited about continuing his work with OutKick. He hopes to stay around following the conclusion of his current contract with the outlet, which ends in March 2026.
“My contract is up in March, so we’ll see. I hope they want to re-sign me. I think we’ve been pretty good,” said Dakich.
Sitting at the intersection of sports and politics is where Dan Dakich hopes to remain, with an outlet that gave new life to a liberated Hoosier soul.
“I love what I’m doing, the people, and the freedom. I don’t plan on going anywhere, unless they tell me,” exclaimed Dakich. “I’m at an age where f**k it. If they do, then I’ll go lay on a beach somewhere.”
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.
The network’s social media platforms, NBC News.com, and the NBC News app are handing him the reins for a solo Election Night special as results from the Tennessee special election roll in.
It’s a simple idea. It’s also the right one. No panels, no roundtables, and no forced conversations. Just Kornacki, the big board, and a steady flow of information delivered by someone viewers trust.
This is the blueprint every streaming news network should be studying. For years, the industry has convinced itself that viewers demand more bells and whistles. Executives cram screens with extra graphics and extra voices. They chase viral clips with moments designed to feel spontaneous, yet carry the unmistakable whiff of planning. But audiences don’t ask for that. They want clarity, honesty, and a guide who can explain what the numbers mean without piling on three more people to repeat the same point or disagree just to be disagreeable.
Kornacki’s appeal has never been complicated. He is a data storyteller. He lives in the details, but he also knows how to make those details matter to people who are not glued to polls every day. His delivery is natural. His presentation is clean. And his enthusiasm feels genuine. There is no sense that he is playing a character. That’s why handing him a bare-bones streaming special makes sense. The stripped-down format is a feature, not a drawback.
Too many streaming news networks fear simplicity. They worry that if a show doesn’t look like a cable broadcast, viewers will ignore it. Look at some of the barebone backdrops of the most popular YouTube creators as proof. Streaming audiences are not cable audiences. They aren’t channel surfing. They choose what they want with purpose and they reward authenticity. Shows that respect the viewers’ time rather than overwhelm them are rewarded. A host with a clear mission and the room to do it can win on any platform.
Election coverage should not feel like a variety show. Yet in recent years, big nights have turned into showcases for every available commentator. Producers jam talent onto the screen for the sake of balance and optics. The result is predictable. Everyone talks. No one listens. Viewers are left sorting through noise while waiting for the handful of people who actually know the material, just hoping you’ll tell them who won, who lost, and what the data looked like before it is contextualized.
On Tuesday, NBC News is avoiding that trap. They’re giving the stage to one person who thrives with space.
The idea of a single host driving election coverage is not new. But on streaming, it carries new power. A focused broadcast helps viewers understand what matters and why. There is no distraction from awkward transitions into pre-taped packages. No cutaways to interviews that add nothing. No hunting for moments that might rack up views on social platforms. The content is the product. The information is the hook.
If streaming news networks want to build trust and wider audiences, they should borrow this approach. It is truly, legitimately, this simple: give viewers something they can’t get anywhere else. Kornacki provides that. His presence signals that the network values expertise over theatrics. It tells the audience that the story is the results, not the personalities around them.
I’m looking forward to the coverage on Tuesday night. I suspect other viewers will find it refreshing. Streaming news is still figuring out who and what it wants to be. There is room for innovation, but there is also room for restraint. NBC News seems to understand that. Other network executives and producers should take note. The path forward may not be to add more, but to strip away what does not matter. Viewers will reward the networks that get that right.
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.
It happens to all of us. In your house, garage, and car. It sneaks in slowly—almost unnoticed. It happens to your radio station too. Uninspired audio content, lingering rules in your music software, and tertiary categories unvisited for months.
Clutter Creep.
From an on-air perspective, the holidays are over. Christmas music is well underway, your tree-lighting remote is complete, and first-quarter planning has begun. As the holiday slowdown settles in, Gold-Based and Adult Contemporary stations get a rare Christmas gift: time. Now is the perfect moment in the annual calendar to clean house on-air and online.
While most people will use the remaining four weeks of 2025 to burn vacation time, this slow stretch in December means scrubbing tired promos, refreshing clocks, rules, and rotations, retiring and updating imaging, organizing digital assets, and de-cluttering the mess that quietly accumulates behind every air console and programmer’s computer.
As you work through this exercise, keep in mind what we shared in July 2024:
The average occasion of radio listening, according to Nielsen PPM data—whether you’re a Talk, Christian, or Country brand—is somewhere between 11 and 15 minutes. Whether you’re 1st or 31st, the average is 13 minutes. Combine this data point with the fact that attention spans have diminished 50% over the last two decades. Listeners behave more passively than ever.
Take a day to examine the “why” behind every on-air and online element:
Manage Your Music
Build a reputable format-specific panel in Mediabase. If you already have one, mix up the radio stations you monitor. Repack your categories and create a tighter list. The most common issue we encounter is categories that are too large. Even veteran programmers “tinker” throughout the year. When in doubt, leave it out.
Given that attention spans are way down, tighten your artist separation. Taylor Swift is scorching hot. So why—other than antiquated thinking—would you not play Taylor two or three times an hour? Classic Hits/Rock: why not spin Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama”—Classic Rock’s all-time tester—six or seven times a day? The No-Repeat Day, or Workday, is dead. Listeners complain about hearing songs they dislike too often. They don’t complain about hearing their favorites.
Reimagine Your Imaging
Year-end is the perfect time to write and rebuild recurring imaging pieces. Whether it’s music promos, morning-show feature audio, or ongoing sponsor announcements, fresh writing is likely needed.
When revisiting or rebuilding clocks this month, kill the “silent segue.” ID between every element. Some radio programmers argue it creates clutter or that “the listener already knows who they’re hearing.” Listeners don’t. Starbucks doesn’t print its logo on every third cup—brand impressions matter. With 13-minute listening occasions, if you don’t ID frequently, your audience won’t remember who gave them that experience.
Brush Up Those Benchmarks
Many of our contemporaries aren’t in sync with us on this idea. If a benchmark feature is a killer, why limit it to once per show? The 6:20 a.m. audience is not the 8:40 a.m. audience. Nielsen data shows that running a signature bit once at 8:40 a.m. each week is heard by less than 5% of your P1s. If it’s hot, repeat it throughout the morning vertically and across the weekday morning horizontally.
Reimagine current benchmarks and toss recurring features that no longer work. Disney often replaces rides in their theme parks if a ride feels dated, like their “Frozen” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” rides. Disney does the same with rides that have low attendance. If your “Second Date Update” or “Craigslist Missed Connections” fails to create buzz after years, dump it. The audience will tell you if they miss a dropped feature.
Show – Station – Client Promos
Cross-promoting the morning show “a few times a day” isn’t enough. Everyone fears clutter, but if only a sliver of your audience hears the message, it’s essentially not running. As Nielsen experts remind us, “Your cume is beehiving all the time.” It turns over every 13 minutes.
Television understands this. NBC, fully aware that viewers second-screen their way through programming, ran a minimum of six Winter Olympic promos or mentions during The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade last Wednesday. When NBC airs the 2026 Super Bowl, you’ll see the same tactic. Six. Per. Hour.
Air shorter promos more often. Push incremental details to your digital platforms. Increase the frequency of mentions for shows, events, and clients dramatically. Swap standard :30 promos for tight :10s or even :05s, and run them multiple times an hour. Drop them in stop sets the way television does.
Lead with the benefit. Don’t bury the hook. If you’re giving away a trip to Hawaii at your T-Mobile event, that’s your opening line—not the closer.
Dive Into Digital
In every new situation, we encounter radio stations that have dated content or broken links on their digital platforms. Even worse, some have photos and bios of staff who have already left the building. Begin with a page-by-page audit and put several sets of eyes on your pages. Run a link-checker tool like BrokenLinkCheck.com to uncover outdated graphics and references to past promotions. Look for expired contests and talent no longer with you on sub-pages. This strengthens your digital credibility.
As with promo copy, tighten your writing while deleting long-neglected blog sections. Update outdated biographies and ensure every call-to-action leads somewhere useful. A clean digital presence projects a professional approach. Your audience is pummeled with up to 10,000 ad messages a day. Fast, error-free digital real estate is far more attractive and engaging.
An intentional and compelling brand is a great way to emerge from post-Christmas programming and a gift to yourself for the holiday. Listeners will hear—and see—a difference!
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.
Your news/talk radio station likely has a text line.
Various services are offering this, and it can be another avenue for listener interaction with hosts, anchors, producers, and the brand manager.
The more ways to interact with fans, the better, right? Perhaps not.
Here Are Some Guardrails For You:
Don’t consider the text line to be an accurate representation of your station’s listeners. It isn’t. If your text line is like mine, there are a handful of people who reach out to the show or the station. This is an extremely small sample.
When is the last time that you texted feedback to any organization? I haven’t. I have a life, and your actual target listeners have a life as well. Anyone who is busy with a job is not texting your station. They just aren’t. When have you stopped doing what you have been doing to take a minute or two to text a radio station? This is a communications tool. That is it.
Do use it for actual purposes that help your show. Ask listeners to give feedback on a poll that is of interest and not necessarily a hot topic. Perhaps there is a disagreement with the team on the show — maybe if someone is in the minority of the argument — promote the number to get a feel for whether the outlier is an idiot. Trust me, people will come out to defend the stupidest take. Use it to make the person being made fun of into a hero. Believe me, people will hit it up.
Use the text line for an informal poll. Should all people given temporary asylum be re-evaluated and the problematic people returned to their country of origin immediately? For Christmas, is the main course turkey, ham, or goose? There are a bunch of healthy ways that will help you use your text line for good!
Here is What You Don’t Use Your News/Talk Radio Text Line For:
Don’t use it to replace phone calls where the host is reading texts instead of taking calls. We need to retrain people to call your show. If someone can just text you and get their thoughts mentioned on the air, you are defeating the meaning of talk radio. You could just call us text radio. That is boring as hell.
We have all misinterpreted a text from a friend or family member. A short sentence does not show the tone of the comment. I like the process of exchanging ideas. Yes, callers are a tool that makes your show sound bigger.
We are in show business! Train the listeners to call again. Is there a good acronym for this? TTLOCA? T – Loca may work. This may be out of my pay grade. I am, though, pretty good at giving nicknames. Usually, they are somewhat denigrating. Since I have moved into management, I have learned to be careful to tag someone with a nickname. But I am still good at it!
The text line should never, ever be used as a replacement for calls. The text line is just another touchpoint for the host and the listener. Text these nice people back and don’t validate trolls. For the uninitiated, “LOL! Trolls” are people who comment on social media or text you who are just seeking a reaction. They have zero interest in your show. These people are just focused on getting into your head. Too many hosts allow this. Don’t be thin-skinned. You are a mighty, powerful, and attractive member of the media. Some anonymous dope from a tenement on the poor end of town who works as a part-timer at the quickie mart stocking shelves is not worth it.
The last time that this man knew the delights of romantic attention from an actual romantic partner was before 1999. So why are you giving that person attention? Keep your eye on the prize. Focus completely on your station’s target demographic. If I hear another host tell me about how their listeners are different from the station’s actual fans, I will scream and throw up the now-digested holiday meal.
There are now several ways for you to interact with your listeners: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, text line, and calls. Never ever let these alternatives supplant callers.
Make sure that you recognize those who are communicating with your show. Just a quick reply that you can copy and paste. You can use terms like: Thanks, Good point, I appreciate you listening, etc. Your reply means that you read the message. It does not mean that you should read the message and change your show’s focus. The show always comes first. You can text back something like, call me on this with the station phone number. This is a total win for the station.
Push the interactions on the air above everything. You must be completely focused on those who can make your show more interesting and grow.
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ESPN reporter Marty Smith has built a reputation on his energetic storytelling and dogged pursuit of a good interview. Yet even by his standards, the lengths he went to on Sunday were extreme. He secured an exclusive conversation with Lane Kiffin just as the coach left Ole Miss for LSU, creating a nearly cinematic moment.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Smith explained how a simple tip about flight activity in Oxford quickly turned into an all-out pursuit. According to Smith, word began circulating that two LSU-chartered planes were headed toward the Oxford airport. At the same time, Kiffin had stopped responding to text messages about when an interview might happen. That’s when Smith’s instincts took over.
“There had been a lot of information coming in that two LSU planes were landing at the Oxford airport, and I was still waiting to get this information from him on when we might do this interview,” Smith said. “Nothing. Crickets. So I look at my guys. I’m like, boys, we’re going to airport. My journalism antenna went up.”
The ESPN crew headed toward the airport and waited in the cold for hours. Eventually, Smith said he received a short message from Kiffin: “We’re on the way.” That was enough to trigger a full scramble.
Complicating matters was the vehicle Smith had been assigned for the holiday week: a massive conversion van he jokingly described as “a loaf of bread.” The oversized ride became the center of relentless teasing from colleagues. However, it turned out to be the only reason Smith and his crew could move fast enough to keep up with Kiffin’s movements.
“I had been given at the Birmingham Airport Thanksgiving night this conversion van,” Smith said. “Now y’all this ain’t no minivan. This is like a sixteen-person… like driving a loaf of bread. If I didn’t have that van in that chaotic moment where we’re running to get Lane Kiffin, there’s no way I can fit my whole crew, all cameras, all the gear, in one vehicle.”
As Kiffin shared brief position updates by text, Smith and his team raced toward the Oxford airport. They traveled in a bulky van. What happened next sounded more like a scene out of The Dukes of Hazzard than a routine reporting assignment.
“When we take a left off this highway, there is all these fire trucks that have blocked off the road,” Smith said. “I said, to hell with it. We’re ‘Bo Dukeing’ this thing.” Smith then drove the van off-road, cutting through a field, past farm equipment, and over ditches in an effort to reach the tarmac as Kiffin arrived.
Eventually, Smith crested a hill, steered the van toward the runway, and spotted the coach standing outside the aircraft. The decision to trust his instincts — and risk a little off-road improvisation — paid off.
The resulting interview aired across ESPN platforms and became the final on-camera appearance of Kiffin’s Ole Miss tenure. It also became another example of Smith’s relentless approach to storytelling, proving once again that the chase sometimes becomes the story itself.
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There’s a special election in Tennessee, and NBC News is plotting special coverage featuring Steve Kornacki on Tuesday night.
Kornacki will provide special election night coverage of the race. But he’ll be alone as the results come in.
In a post on social media, Steve Kornacki shared that he’ll be by his lonesome to provide coverage until a call in the race has been made.
“We’re trying something new and hopefully fun,” Kornacki said. “I’ll be streaming live from the Big Board — no frills, no guests, just results. It’ll go live at 7:45, 15 minutes before polls close, and I’ll stay until we’ve got a result. Hopefully the start of more nights like this!”
The coverage will be featuread across multiple NBC News platforms, including NBCNews.com, the NBC News App, and NBC News’ YouTube channel and Instagram account.
We've got a special House election in Tennessee tomorrow and we're trying something new and hopefully fun.
I'll be streaming live from the Big Board — no frills, no guests, just results. It'll go live at 7:45, 15 minutes before polls close, and I'll stay until we've got a… pic.twitter.com/tkHO2yJH1Q
The special election is for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District. Former Rep. Mark Green (R) resigned the position in July. Matt Van Epps (R) and Aftyn Behn (D) are the nominees. In the Middle Tennessee district, Republicans usually garner 60% of the vote. But the result on Tuesday is expected to be very close. A Democrat has not represented the district since 1982.
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“I want to thank our loyal affiliates and sponsors for believing in us, going back to when we first started some 25 years ago,” said Kraeutler’s wife, Sue, who helped co-found the show’s production company. “This wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s time that we closed the Squeaky Door.”
In the aftermath of Kraeutler’s death, the show was helmed by former co-host Leslie Segrete.
The final edition of the show will be broadcast on December 27th and 28th. The home improvement-focused program has aired on hundreds of radio stations across the U.S. Most recently, the show had featured more than 400 affiliates.
The show is distributed by Talk Shows USA.
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.
Daybreak Entertainment is marking a milestone. The company has released its 2025 Morning Show Holiday Sampler, a project that has quietly grown into one of the most relied-upon seasonal tools for morning shows nationwide.
Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the sampler continues its mission: giving programmers, producers, and hosts a curated vault of Christmas music that works on air, in production, and in show imaging.
Each year, Daybreak Entertainment assembles a fresh collection of holiday tracks that stations can use for seasonal airplay, bumper music, or music beds. The 2025 edition stays true to that formula. However, it also reflects the expansion of the sampler’s reach and the evolving needs of morning shows competing for listener attention during one of radio’s most crowded stretches of the calendar.
This year’s sampler features more than 30 new and classic Christmas cuts. The lineup spans genres and eras, offering stations flexibility no matter their format or tone. It includes tracks from Dan + Shay, Gabby Barrett, The Eagles, Hannah Ellis with Nick Wayne, Harper Grace, Herb Alpert, Kylie Minogue, LeAnn Rimes, Alicia Witt, Lee Brice, Mannheim Steamroller, The Pretty Reckless, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Sarah Reeves and Clark Beckham, Scotty McCreery, Warren Zeiders, and Yachtley Crew, among others.
For stations, the draw is the breadth. Morning shows often look for music that can match different segments, moods, and pacing without sounding repetitive or off-brand. Daybreak’s sampler answers that challenge by offering a range of contemporary, country, rock, pop, and instrumental holiday selections that can rotate easily throughout December.
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.
