CNN is featuring an Election Night live stream for CNN All Access subscribers, with contributors like Charlamagne Tha God, Ben Shapiro, and Kara Swisher joining the coverage.
From 8:30-10:30 PM ET on Tuesday evening, the network’s Election Livecast will feature Charlamagne and Shapiro reacting to results in real-time and providing “unfiltered” analysis, the network describes.
Other figures joining the stream include Swisher, and other podcasters like The Daily Wire’s Isabel Brown, The Young Turks‘ Ana Kasparian, The Breakfast Club’s Tezlyn Figaro, and others.
Additionally, CNN’s Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten, will be included on the coverage, breaking down the results from contextualized data and metrics, featuring demographics, historical figures, and trends related to the election results.
The live stream broadcast will only be made available to CNN All Access subscribers. It will be made available on CNN.com, as well as the network’s mobile and connected TV apps.
The coverage on CNN’s cable channel will be led by Jake Tapper from Washington, D.C., with Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett based in New York City.
Beginning at 5 PM ET, Tapper will anchor the network’s coverage from the nation’s capital alongside Dana Bash and Kasie Hunt. Burnett and Audie Cornish will join to provide early analysis.
At 8 PM ET, Anderson Cooper will continue coverage with a panel from New York. Meanwhile, John King will be at the network’s “Magic Wall” throughout the evening as results from around the country come in.
Kaitlan Collins will be at the White House reporting on the reactions from the Trump administration, while Abby Phillip will contribute and facilitate conversations from New York.
Phillip will lead the network’s coverage from Midnight through 2 AM ET, while Harry Enten will take over the “Magic Wall” from King.
Elex Michaelson will take over the coverage beginning at 2 AM ET from the CNN studios in Los Angeles.
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.
Michael Jordan’s presence on NBC Sports may not be limited to the early installments of his MJ: Insights to Excellence series. According to Front Office Sports, the NBA legend could sit down for two or three additional interviews with NBC’s Mike Tirico as the network continues its first full season back with the league.
Since NBC first announced that Jordan would serve as a “special contributor” to its NBA coverage, speculation has swirled around how much time the six-time champion would actually give the network. His first two segments—discussing retirement and load management—were filmed during the same interview with Tirico, leading some to wonder if NBC planned to stretch one conversation into multiple episodes across the season.
Sources tell FOS that Jordan could return for more conversations before key moments on NBC’s calendar. These include the 2026 NBA All-Star Game and the postseason. One source saying, “I don’t think it’s one sitdown—but I don’t think it’s 15 either.” While another described the arrangement as “open-ended,” suggesting Jordan will participate at his own pace and schedule.
Fans shouldn’t expect to see Jordan at courtside or in a broadcast booth, though. The belief is Jordan won’t appear in live game coverage or studio analysis. Even during NBC’s upfront presentation earlier this year, Jordan didn’t appear live, instead addressing the audience through a taped message from afar.
NBC Sports has not commented on any future interviews.
Jordan’s appearances have drawn mixed reviews from many in sports media. Some clamoring and celebrating the basketball legends inclusion in current NBA overall discussions. Others have shamed the network and Jordan for too much hype with very little output.
NBC’s new 11-year, $27 billion deal will also carry the All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday Night. That stage offers the ideal setting for Jordan. Who won three All-Star Game MVPs and two Slam Dunk titles. To share his perspective on a weekend that once defined his own legacy.
Jordan’s Bulls dynasty played out entirely on NBC during the 1990s, and the network is clearly leaning into nostalgia. Its renewed NBA coverage has drawn strong reviews. Blending old-school elements like the “Roundball Rock” theme and Bob Costas cameos with modern production and picture quality.
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.
Tucker Carlson has long built a career on pushing boundaries, challenging conventional wisdom, and giving airtime to voices outside the mainstream. His recent interview with Nick Fuentes, however, is a stark departure from the kind of contentious yet illuminating discussions he’s made his name on.
Nick Fuentes is a figure whose statements are widely condemned as racist, anti-Semitic, and fundamentally opposed to the principles on which our country was founded. And that’s because his statements are racist, anti-Semitic, and fundamentally opposed to the principles on which our country was founded.
Yet, Carlson’s approach in this instance fell flat, failing to confront or meaningfully challenge those views.
Tucker Carlson is one of several media figures who pride themselves on fearlessly engaging with “alternative viewpoints.” It’s a decision that has earned him a massive audience and significant influence. Viewers often tune in expecting him to interrogate ideas, expose contradictions, and hold controversial figures accountable. That’s why this episode with Fuentes is so striking: rather than interrogating, Carlson allowed. He let Fuentes speak mostly unchecked, rarely pushing back, and in doing so, amplified abhorrent ideas instead of dissecting them.
There are debates worth having, and then there are voices that exist purely to poison discourse. Nick Fuentes falls squarely in the latter category. His beliefs are not simply unpopular — they are a direct affront to the values American society was built upon. Liberty, equality, and the pursuit of a more just nation are the antithesis of what Fuentes promotes. Carlson’s failure to visibly challenge these views sends a troubling signal: that such perspectives are acceptable fodder for public debate, rather than dangerous ideologies to confront and expose.
Contrast this with Carlson’s approach when he interviewed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). In those moments, he pressed, questioned, and occasionally cornered the Senator. That Carlson was present in full force, challenging positions he disagreed with, is exactly the model that should have guided the Fuentes interview.
If he had brought that same energy to confronting Fuentes’ extremism, viewers could trust that Carlson was offering a lens of accountability. But instead, the episode felt like a megaphone rather than a microscope, magnifying ideas that ought to be critically examined and widely condemned.
It’s tempting to assume that Carlson’s intention was simply to let viewers “decide for themselves.” But that logic falls apart when applied to someone like Fuentes. Not all ideas deserve the platform of national television, and not all figures merit the benefit of impartial curiosity. There are times when silence — or direct challenge—is the more responsible choice. By failing to exercise discernment, Carlson either underestimated the consequences of his reach or, far worse, knowingly offered a stage to harmful rhetoric.
The impact of this misstep cannot be overstated. Millions of Americans watch Tucker Carlson with the expectation of rigorous debate, not passive amplification of extremism. By allowing Fuentes to speak without meaningful interruption, Carlson risked normalizing views that should never be normalized. This is not merely a journalistic miscalculation; it is a failure of judgment with ethical and societal implications.
Ultimately, Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes stands as a cautionary tale about the limits of platforming under the guise of open discussion. Courage is about more than giving airtime to unpopular views — it’s about holding them accountable, exposing their flaws, and demonstrating why they should not be accepted. Tucker Carlson has the tools, the audience, and the gravitas to do that.
But in this instance, he fell short. The result was a moment that should have disheartened those who once believed Carlson could wield his influence responsibly and with moral clarity. It’s why Ben Shapiro offered such scathing criticism on his podcast Monday morning.
Carlson has built a brand on bold conversations, and being willing to go where few others would dare. But some voices are not worth elevating. Nick Fuentes is one of them. By failing to challenge him, Carlson magnified dangerous ideas instead of confronting them.
It feels as if there are only two options here: either Tucker Carlson is ignorant of the power his platform wields — which is somewhat scary — or he doesn’t care about the power his platform wields — which is even scarier. Let’s hope there’s a lesson learned here: not everyone is worthy of having a discussion with, regardless of how many views it will get and no matter how much attention it will draw.
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.
Welcome to the first installment of ‘The Industry According To’. This series will run each Tuesday, and feature 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 keith90405@gmail.com.
The music industry is massive. Thousands of jobs, companies, brands, and artists, all chasing different goals. Mike McVay knows the business well. Just a few nights ago, he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. While many look at him as being a lifelong radio guy, his work far transcends radio. His resume needs a separate server for storage.
We’re lucky enough to get some hard-hitting thoughts from him on both radio and the music industry itself, so let’s get to it.
Title: President
Company: McVay Media
Omni-Platform
Keith: You’ve had a hand in every sector of the business — on-air, exec roles, ownership, labels, talent, brands. In looking back, what’s the single shift that truly surprised you, and how did it change how you advise clients today?
Mike: “Surprise” may be a more dramatic word than necessary, but radio’s slow acceptance of digital and multi-platform distribution has been concerning for me and somewhat difficult to understand. I learned a lot from having had Daniel Anstandig (Founder & CEO of Futuri) on the staff at McVay Media years ago when he had recently graduated from high school. His continual mantra of “What would radio be like today if the Internet was invented before it” has stayed with me from those days.
The surprising thing to me is that businesses outside of radio realized the strength of being a legacy platform, like radio is, and made adjustments in their model to harness the attributes of radio. A significant part of my clientele could be identified as Radio Adjacent. The shift in how I do business today is to view radio as the creative driver of multiplatform content distribution. I’m ignoring the towers and transmitters in favor of everything else that distributes content. Not diminishing the strength of OTA distribution, but looking at it as one of many places listeners can hear and see content.
That leads to an approach of using every part of the cow. Audio and video that’s distributed on OTA, across podcasts, streaming, social media, YouTube, smart speakers, and on apps that use multiple channels to segment content to unique audiences. This technology exists.
NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt, Mike McVay and Collin Jones of Westwood One at the Marconi Awards ceremony in New York City (photo courtesy of the NAB)
Distribution & Disruption
Keith: Everyone still talks about “radio” vs. “streaming” or “TikTok” vs. “YouTube,” but you’ve argued it’s less about the medium, and more about the content and experience. “Legacy media” like radio, newspapers and linear TV still produce good content, so what mistakes are keeping them from being as disruptive as the platforms trying to replace them?
Mike: Newspaper is getting there with digital distribution. We cancelled the physical paper a decade or more ago. The types of stories you want to read can be selected by topic. Customization is key. Social media allows me to watch the bits of what I want to watch when I want to watch it. How many times do you punch the Down button on an elevator thinking it will help it come more quickly? That’s how most people are with content on demand.
The fallacy of legacy media is thinking that they’re competing with digital. They should be owners of it, driving it, and dominating it. Niche media needs mass media to drive it. We are Mass Media. Own your own niche media and drive that. We have the perfect vehicle to market what we do across all platforms.
Niche media needs legacy media because legacy media has resources and established credibility that niche media can leverage, while niche media provides a way for legacy media to reach new, more engaged audiences and stay relevant in the modern media landscape. They are increasingly interdependent, with legacy media providing raw content like news and data, and niche media using it to create more engaging, specialized content.
How Should Artists Use Radio
Keith: You’ve consulted both artists and labels — in 2025, if an artist came to you and asked: “How should I use radio; what’s the best way?” — what would you tell them, given how radio’s role has changed, and many artists see it as optional rather than essential?
Mike: My friends at the top of the record label food chain view radio as less important to launch a song today, but critical to making a song (or an artist) a huge hit. The DSPs are the equivalent of the bricks & mortar record stores of the past. Labels watch what’s streaming and resonating with an audience. They look to see what social media is drawn to as well. Then they invest there. That’s the song they promote to radio. When radio plays a current, each exposure is a commercial for the song and the artist.
Radio, for the most part is no longer the discovery vehicle it once was, and as such we should be watching streaming, social media, and pay attention to platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Radio tends to watch the trends of similar stations for what they’ll play. That is akin to following lemmings of a cliff. Pay attention to the consumer (listener) more than each other.
The Monetization Crisis
Keith: Some sectors have pivoted to address new revenue challenges — labels with digital and 360 deals, artists with brand collabs and deeper merch, but Radio’s model hasn’t truly evolved. With your view across platforms — what does radio need to stop talking about and start doing to turn the tide?
Mike: This is a tough one as radio doesn’t control the advertising market. Radio should focus on total impressions and create advertising packages that have all of their platforms tied together. When you advertise with “us” you receive Over The Air, online, in Podcasting, on demand, and as a part of Reels on social media. There was a time when radio sale reps did the “Consultant Sell.” They asked the client what they wanted to accomplish, and then they put together a marketing plan, with the price being the last thing discussed.
We need to get back to focusing on selling the advertisers product, services, and wares & goods. Stop selling “commercials.” Several of my radio clients do it the right way and focus on giving their clients what they want, because when the client gets what they want the station gets what they want.
Radio Hall of Fame co-Chairman Dennis Green, Mike McVay, and Radio Hall of Fame Chairman Kraig Kitchin at the Radio Hall of Fame ceremony in Chicago (photo courtesy of the Radio Hall of Fame)
Talent
Keith: Many don’t know you’ve coached a long list of talents like Stephen A. Smith, Soledad O’Brien, Donny Osmond, Reba McEntire, John Salley, Zach Sang and you’re also responsible for launching big, syndicated shows like Delilah and John Tesh. Give us the name of a relatively undiscovered talent we should know about?
Mike: Andy Beckman & Kat Blair do a great show on WAJI/Fort Wayne. I cannot really say that they’re undiscovered as they’re #1 in the ratings and Marconi award winners, but they’re not nationally known because of the market they’re in. Hannah Lane at WUSJ/Jackson, MS is growing as a Co-Host on a morning show. Will David at WFKN/Franklin, KY is another talented young personality who is building a career.
Keith: What separates good coaching from bad coaching with talent at that level?
Mike: My belief is that you have to know who the talent is and what they believe in before you can start coaching them. What interests them. What do they see as their strengths and weaknesses. Do they understand the goals of the station, show, network. Are they coachable. How badly do they want to win. Once you know who they are and what they want to do to be a success, and the strategy is aligned, you can help them become successful. Good coaches are all about giving the talent the win. Not about the coaches ego. I do not believe coaching is a “My way or the highway” situation. It’s about alignment and collaboration, but it’s most importantly about giving the talent a win.
Bad coaches are the opposite of everything I just said. If you define the parameters with negatives, it becomes scary for a talent to venture outside of them, and that’s not a recipe for success. It becomes a situation where the talent thinks “it’s better to do nothing than try something and get into trouble.” That’s not good. That’s the result of bad coaching.
The Format Future
Keith: We haven’t seen a successful new Radio format emerge and last, arguably since the dawn of JACK. I won’t ask for ideas you want to keep under your hat, but look ahead to 2035: will the radio dial still be filled with the same genre-focused music, news, sports and talk formats we know today, or will the terrain sound a lot different?
Mike: We’ll have a lot of the same formats that are out there today, still out there. I believe that some existing formats will become significantly bigger over the next 10 years. Contemporary Christian AC will keep growing. We’re seeing a young conservative movement in the flyover states and the southeast and southwest. That’s where the format is strong now. I expect that movement to grow.
Don’t count out bilingual formats. We’ve seen Spanish/English perform well in Miami, Houston, and Orlando. I’m involved as a part of the consulting team for that format in New York City and Las Vegas where it’s growing nicely since their early year launches. Spanish language air talent and imaging is what you’ll hear. English AC music with a couple Spanish hits hourly. The commercials are in English or Spanish. It’s a format I was first exposed to in the late 90s at WFID/San Juan. iHeart scored with it first in Miami. The diversity of America will feed this format. The audience is bilingual.
AI
Keith: Everyone is using AI for the basics: writing copy, one sheets and decks, graphics, and even gimmicks like turning Slayer into a Jazz band — but have you seen anyone in the industry using this tech in a way that made you say, “OK, this changes everything”?
Mike: Don’t underestimate the strength AI brings to writing copy. It’s also a great source for research and delivers information that heretofor may have been unaffordable. The weakness is that you have to safely check the information you receive as AI sometimes hallucinates.
I do not want to see AI replace talent, but voice duplication can help nationally syndicated shows to provide more localized liners & sweepers, promos and other content that they might not have time to record and update as frequently as affiliates desire. That’s a benefit.
Today’s Endless Research
Keith: You believe in research and today it’s metrics mania — more data than we know what to do with. For sectors like podcasting or streaming, real-time impressions make decisions a little easier, but when it comes to radio, what’s the data you advise leaders to rely on most?
Mike: Nielsen is what we have that is most accepted by national advertisers at this point. There is also Eastlan Ratings which some stations prefer because of the methodology and sample size. Nielsen provides a lot of information as to audience demographics, use of radio, etcetera. I’d like to see encouragement from the industry to have Nielsen increase and better balance their sample size. It would be most helpful if they could do a better job of measuring digital listening. A station with an app can show a number that’s very different than what Nielsen captures, but that comes back to sample and not methodology.
The PPM meter design, being tested to determine better ways to have panelists carry them and accurately capture audio, and the change to a 3 minute qualifier (3 individual minutes in any quarter hour count as a full quarter hour) are helpful to showing radios real audience.
I remain a believer that radio should show ALL audience from ALL platforms and note that their may be duplication among listeners. It’s commonly held that the more times a listener hears a commercial message, the more likely it is that they will retain that information. Why not combine impressions and note duplication as a benefit.
What Does Future Success Look Like
Keith: If everything is going to look differently 10-years from now — what does success look like 10-years from now? Forget the revenue part, what’s the “win” every great brand will be chasing?
Mike: It’s impossible to dissect success without including revenue. I’ve been a consultant to stations that hit #1 in demo and a sales team couldn’t sell the ratings because the demo was A35-64 and not A25-54. One manager once told me “What good is it if the best I can be is #5 with Adult 25-54? The older 35-64 means nothing to me.” We changed to a more conducive format to attract A25-54 … and suddenly being 5th was a distant memory.
My view of success is for radio to return to being a dominant marketing machine. It starts with understanding how to succeed by dominating narrower demographics and how to generate revenue from them. Advertisers cry that they don’t need the “waste” that radio delivers, and that’s why they invest in digital for marketing. If that desire is what advertisers want, why do we continue to invest in growing waste and not in focusing on a 20 year cell with a 10 year core in the middle, that is sold to advertisers who desire that core because that’s their target customer.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Keith: What’s the uncomfortable truth you wish all radio Execs, GMs and PDs would just admit?
Mike: Our commercial loads are too heavy. We air too many units in every stop-set. Radio has great distribution. The reach (Cume) of radio is greater than SiriusXM, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon, and the rest of the DSPs. They wish they had radio’s distribution. If we could simply figure out how to generate more money per/message, and reduce our Spotload, we’d see an increase in audience. It’s not about where you can hear radio, because you can hear it everywhere, but rather it’s about the downgrading of the listening experience.
Radio did this to itself.
The One Story
Keith: Before you go, what’s your best story: success, nightmare, or pure madness.
Mike: I have so many stories. Many fall into different categories. I’ll share this one which I closed my Radio Hall of Fame induction speech with on last Thursday night:
I acknowledge the greatest influence for me getting into radio. That was my brother Jim. I am the youngest of 5 children. Born late in my parents lives. Twenty years between the oldest and me. The others are all gone now, including Jim, who was 7 years older than me. When I was only 10, he inspired me to become a disc jockey. It’s true.
Because our father worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad, we could ride the train for free. Jim and I used to take the train from Greensburg, PA into Pittsburgh and run around for the day. The train station was next to WHJB Radio. They had a showcase studio, and we’d stand outside and watch Cowboy Phil do his morning show. Sometimes when the records were playing Phil would get up and leave the studio. I remember asking Jim “Where do they go while the music plays?” He said, “They go in the back room and smoke, drink, and play cards.”
That is the moment that I decided I wanted to go into Radio.
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.
In recent weeks, no one shy of the candidates inside the race has had a bigger impact on the race for Mayor of New York City quite like Sid Rosenberg and 77 WABC.
First, Republican candidate and 77 WABC host Curtis Sliwa shared his extreme displeasure with fellow hosts Sid Rosenberg, Greg Kelly, and station owner John Catsimatidis for calling for him to drop out of the race due to lackluster polling numbers.
At the time, Sliwa declared that the “ABC” in the station’s call letters — which he had previously argued stood for “Always Broadcasting Curtis” — now stood for “Always Broadcasting Cuomo” — arguing that the station had placed its backing behind independent candidate Andrew Cuomo.
The station returned to the spotlight after Sid Rosenberg argued that Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani would be cheering if another 9/11 took place in the city. Those remarks caused backlash for Cuomo, before Rosenberg took a stand and reiterated that he, not Cuomo, made the statements. The statement by Rosenberg led to words like “vile” and “disgusting” being associated with the comments by the likes of Mamdani, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), among others.
He, however, said he wouldn’t apologize for them.
In advance of the mayoral election, the 77 WABC morning host was asked about his comments, if he regretted them, or if he was just trying to stir controversy by making them.
“I’ve been called a Jewish shock jock,” Rosenberg said. “I haven’t heard the term shock jock since Howard Stern and Don Imus. It’s gotta be decades since I’ve heard shock jock. But if you Google my name, you’ll see the phrase ‘Jewish shock jock’ about 100 times in the last two weeks. But this is real. Look, I’m a Jewish kid. You have a guy there (Mamdani) that refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. You’ve got a guy that would love nothing more than to globalize the Intifada, where they kill Jewish people. He’s had countless opportunities to come across as someone that cares.
“What has he done that doesn’t prove my point? Everything he does says ‘I’m a terrorist sympathizer.’ No, this is not a shock jock. I legitimately hate this guy. I hate him.”
Rosenberg admitted he was surprised by the backlash he received from those statements.
“First of all, I’m not President Trump, I’m not a Congressman, I’m not a Senator. I’m a radio guy,” said Rosenberg. “I’ve certainly said some things in the past that — good and bad — I have apologized for … Thinking back at it, I shouldn’t have been surprised because that was their ticket to try to destroy any chance of Cuomo upsetting Mamdani.”
Few news/talk radio hosts in America enjoy the spotlight like Sid Rosenberg. And yet, even he, who enjoys being in the headlines and the topic of conversation, has said the election season has taken a toll.
“It’s been no fun. I hate it. I can’t wait for the electio to be over,” he shared, adding “I think I’ve lost a pretty good friend in Curtis Sliwa.”
Sliwa is, by the data collected by every poll, unlikely to win the election for the Big Apple’s top office. He’s consistently polled around 20%, well behind Mamdani and Cuomo.
And in recent weeks, he has been at odds with his longtime home, 77 WABC, after station personnel and owner John Catsimatidis have encouraged him to drop out of the race in an effort to help the chances of Cuomo.
In a fiery exchange with Rosenberg, Sliwa argued that “you will never see me at the studios of WABC again, never, no matter how this election turns out.” He added that he felt “personally offended” by what his “friends and colleagues, many of whom I trained at WABC, many of whom wouldn’t have a job at WABC without me, have done.”
Rosenberg admitted that he and Sliwa — who made daily appearances on the station’s morning show before running for election — haven’t spoken since that moment on the air last month.
He’s not thrilled about that development.
“He’s very angry with some of the hosts, calling us backstabbers and sellouts, not having any loyalty to him. He spent most of his time in the last days of the election bashing the radio station and very little time bashing Mamdani. So, after talking to Curtis upwards of five times a day for the better part of six years, we have not had one conversation in the better part of the past two weeks.
“I was upset. Now I’m angry and upset. Because I was very honest with Curtis. I told him on the air and off, that even more important than you winning is Mamdani losing. I had Eric Adams on the show, I had Andrew Cuomo on the show. I’ve had them all because, yes, given the choice, everything equal, I’d love Curtis to be mayor. I waited until two weeks, not two months. Others left him months ago. I waited two weeks from the election to make a difficult decision. And I really thought in my heart of hearts he would handle it well. He has not.”
Despite the hostilities with Curtis Sliwa, which has included some of the followers of the Guardian Angels founder lambasting the morning show and 77 WABC, Sid Rosenberg said he holds out hope that the divide between Sliwa, himself, and the station can be mended and someday the Republican challenger will return to New York news/talk brand.
“He was on a competing station again — and I say competing, but no one will ever compete, we destroy them six to one — he talked about how their hosts have been so nice to him and that we were mean on the morning show,” Rosenberg said, alluding to 710 WOR. “I suggested that he drop out of the race one time. Their morning show did it 10 times. Some of the things he says, they’re pretty ugly.
“But if you’re asking me and John (Catsimatidis), would we want Curtis back? The answer is yes, but Curtis has done a pretty good job the last couple of weeks of burning that thing to the ground. He continues to blame WABC … He can’t win in this city. He’s a Republican, and they just don’t like Republicans in New York City. That’s the bottom line. And if he comes to that realization, and says, ‘You know what? I’m sorry.’ I think maybe we would have him back. But at this point right now? I’d probably bet against it.”
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Sports radio has had several long and successful dynamic duos. From Mike & The Mad Dog to Mike & Mike, the longevity of a pairing on sports radio is only as good as the chemistry and defined roles of the two individuals. Tony Rizzo and Aaron Goldhammer have been waking up Cleveland sports fans on ESPN Cleveland for the better part of the last two decades.
Known as The Really Big Show, the pairing has entertained audiences through the hills and valleys of what makes Cleveland a fascinating Midwestern sports mecca. Leaning on their chemistry as self-admitted “theatre kids,” Goldhammer and Rizzo built upon a proven brand in the market and, true to the namesake of the program, made it really big.
“Sometimes hosts in this industry can’t stand to work with one another. I think Rizz [Tony Rizzo] and I appreciate each other just about every single day,” explained Goldhammer on what he feels makes their partnership work over time. “The luckiest thing that ever happened to me is that I landed with Rizz. He was a known personality in the market that had a vision for the show he wanted to do. I aligned with that vision.”
Goldhammer’s journey to “The Land” began in the small town of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in 2005. The small community, home to just over 16,000 people, is where Goldhammer began his career at Good Karma Brands, which was also founded in the same town. Between running soundboards and learning through making mistakes. Goldhammer recalled this time as some of the most important in his career.
“I can’t tell you how valuable that time was,” said Goldhammer of his time in Beaver Dam. “Going to a smaller market where the stakes are lower and being on the air every single day. Make mistakes, get feedback, and grow. That was so important for me. I don’t think I’d be here without that experience.”
Being a Part of the A-Team
When he made the move to Cleveland to pair with Rizzo on ESPN Cleveland, Goldhammer understood he was joining a known commodity. The goal was not to overtake but to embrace. Playing off one another and putting ego aside for the entertainment of the listener. The two provided balance in conversation and never shied away from honesty with the audience.
“He’s the total local Cleveland, live-and-die-with-the-teams guy. I think I provide good balance with that as someone who didn’t grow up here,” explained Goldhammer. “I’m confident that I highlight his strengths and put him in a position to be successful. That’s the most important part of my job. If he’s at his best, everything else is going to fall into place.”
Recently, ESPN Cleveland shifted its weekday lineup ahead of football season, providing more options for Cleveland Browns fans to get content surrounding their favorite team. With the announcement of the new lineup, Rizzo would be tasked with hosting a one-hour program streaming on YouTube only. Separate from the station carrying the syndicated ESPN morning show Unsportsmanlike.
Adapt or Die Mentality
For Goldhammer, he considers the hour away from Rizzo as an opportunity to join him with fresh ammo for The Really Big Show at 9 a.m. However, the move is less about one show and more about how the consumer is reaching content.
“We’ve realized that if we’re just going to be an AM radio station. Then we are going to be out of business. We know we have to be involved in being a digital media company,” said Goldhammer. “This is a big experiment we’re doing to see how it would go if Rizzo did essentially what he’s looking at as a television show—an hour before he and I then come together at nine o’clock. It’s gone awesome so far.”
Admittedly, Goldhammer said the new YouTube program has thrown off old habits of preparation for the three-hour Really Big Show. However, he reiterated that he is fully supportive of the measure because he sees the opportunity to capitalize. Where other traditional radio brands have yet to start thinking about the future.
“We are as numbers-driven a team as we’ve ever been. These are numbers that we really believe are accurate. They aren’t just a reflection of a very small sample size being extrapolated to try to show what the entire community is thinking,” said Goldhammer.
The metric that defines success for Goldhammer is revenue. If the station is making money, that defines success. The one element of his role that keeps him up at night is whether he’s endorsing the right products. Also whether those partners are receiving a return on their investment.
“We’re in business. So all the different ways that we have to drive revenue for our team is ultimately how we’re judged. Rizz isn’t the most valuable teammate in the history of Good Karma Brands just because he does a really good show. He’s also an incredibly trusted and wonderful endorser of products,” explained Goldhammer. “I think all the time about how to engage the audience that’s there and get them to be a part of our community.”
In line with driving revenue through unique means. An aspect that makes ESPN Cleveland stand out is the continued adaptation of The Land On Demand—a paid subscriber-based podcasting platform for those who wish to consume ESPN Cleveland content on demand with no commercials. The concept was introduced in 2017 and is still a viable option for listeners today. Despite consumers shying away from paywalls.
“We try to treat the subscribers like family. It’s a cool club, and I think we’ve made it a fun club to be a part of,” said Goldhammer. “What else we could add to get to the next level of subscriber—that’s something we’re talking about internally all the time. But if you ask the typical Land On Demand subscriber if they get their $8.50 a month in entertainment, they would say, ‘I get $85 worth of entertainment.’”
An All in Partnership With the Browns
What aids ESPN Cleveland in its content model is a unique partnership with the Cleveland Browns and their cross-town competition at 92.3 The Fan. The Browns partnership is one fixated on having both stations involved in Browns programming. With talent from both stations contributing to content airing on the opposing station. Play-by-play for every Browns game is also heard on both stations, maximizing the reach of the broadcasts to sports fans across the market.
Goldhammer admits that the partnership may seem foreign as a concept to many brands around the country but says it has worked for many years because both brands work so well together.
“The Browns understand that we love them. If we’re critical of them, it’s only because we care so much. We want to have the day when the Browns go to the Super Bowl,” said Goldhammer. “Audacy has also been an incredible partner, and that’s why we keep doing this. We’ve renewed this agreement a number of times because it’s worked. The Browns like having all the voices involved together. I see them mostly as our partner rather than our competition.”
While many of his peers tend to keep an eye on their competition, Goldhammer stresses the opposite. His reasoning lies in the notion that he can only control what he can control.
While Goldhammer admits he’s not naïve to the fact that consumers will dabble from station to station, his focus solely remains on content creation at ESPN Cleveland and building audiences for the future.
“We’re driving so much of our consumption to YouTube. I think it’s so important for what we’re doing,” said Goldhammer. “What will never be the same is the format in which the audience consumes us and the way they consume us now. Social, digital, YouTube, video—it’s so important for us to nail those areas so we can adapt to the world we’re living in now. It’s not the only thing we’re offering, but I understand what that’s all about, and it makes total sense.”
The investment that Good Karma Brands continues to make at ESPN Cleveland is what has Goldhammer excited for his future and Cleveland’s longest-running dynamic duo. What began in a small town in Wisconsin has now morphed into a two-decade career at one of the most innovative sports radio brands in the country.
“The world is changing rapidly; technology is changing it. The sports conversation is not going to stop. Where the sports conversation is happening and how it’s happening is evolving by the day,” said Goldhammer. “I’m not saying we’re anywhere close to perfect. I just know that the one-on-one connection you make on radio—that’s the world we live in today.”
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’s a delicate balance between personal brand and honoring the employer you work for. Especially when it comes to social media. Late last week, as the ESPN carriage dispute with YouTube TV was officially underway, you saw something on social media that you typically never see unless under dire circumstances.
ESPN personalities were posting company-written and -produced messages to sway their personal social followings on how they should perceive the ESPN product going dark on YouTube TV. It’s a common practice ESPN has employed before. In fact, around the same time last year during The Walt Disney Company’s battle with DirecTV.
In an age where image is everything, a single post won’t severely damage a personality’s reputation with the consumer forever. However, what it does is put a face on the battle itself — one that personalities should always consider before being the good soldier.
I’ve worked for a few broadcast companies in my day. They never owned nor operated my personal social media accounts. However, there was a balance of understanding that the platform I represented did bring me some following. The thought process was that my employer hired me to produce content that I post and that is shared on the employer’s social accounts.
A simple tit for tat, if you will.
Inserting A Personal Touch
However, there were those rare instances involving messaging for a greater cause. I recall the push for AM stations to urge their listeners to contact their representatives to save AM radio in cars. While the message was about keeping AM radio in your car, the ask wasn’t so subtle.
It was mandatory — no questions asked. We posted on personal and branded social accounts, ran extra spots in unsold inventory, and even did live reads from talent in segments to push the message out. The cause was right; the result mattered to how people consumed products for the public service it provided.
Saving AM radios in cars didn’t cost consumers an added penny, and it was a no-brainer to amplify the message online.
What’s going on between The Walt Disney Company and YouTube TV is much different. Two multibillion-dollar companies in a stranglehold over fees paid out to ESPN for their content to be housed on YouTube TV. While there is a much larger play here regarding the future of live sports. Let’s focus on the simple aspect of messaging.
When Disney’s programming went dark on YouTube TV and its millions of subscribers, there was no face to the battle. Only public statements were made. But plenty of online chatter surrounded the disappointment of not being able to enjoy the products that subscribers pay for.
The blackout impacted Monday Night Football, NBA games, college football, and many other Disney programs across its channels. With the college basketball season starting this week, that will also be affected. Even though much of the sport’s regular season is insignificant.
ESPN then put a face to the battle by placing its top talent in the arena with messaging that all read the same. It contained statements about missing out on your favorite NFL and NBA games on ESPN and ABC — with no mention of any ESPN programs the network produces featuring stars like Mike Greenberg, Stephen A. Smith, Scott Van Pelt, and Stanford Steve.
While it was cringeworthy to watch these forced messages being read by the faces of the network itself, it pushed followers to KeepMyNetworks.com for further information.
What is the greater cause here?
If you're a YouTube TV customer, you may lose access to ESPN's networks, including CFB, NFL and NBA games on ESPN and ABC. Go to https://t.co/7Rt52TtDUR now so you don't miss out. pic.twitter.com/pedTniPUUE
Is it ESPN, which just rolled out its new direct-to-consumer app knowing there would be a carriage dispute coming in the months ahead? Is it YouTube TV, which is positioning itself as asking for a fair deal when the monthly price for the consumer leapt another ten dollars less than a year ago?
Does premier content cost more than ever for networks to secure? Yes.
Do distribution services have to potentially pay a higher rate because of this? Yes.
Who will this ultimately cost the most in the end? The consumer.
There is no greater cause in this battle between Disney and YouTube TV. There is no way for the consumer to benefit from two behemoths in the content industry jabbing at one another over more money than most sports fans will ever see in their lifetime.
SMH
Sports fans are upset, and rightfully so. They depend on networks and distributors to work together to get the most people watching so everyone benefits. This isn’t about shifting blame to lure favor with the sports fan — and that’s why ESPN putting its personalities into the arena doesn’t help their personal brands nor the network’s messaging.
Public relations 101: always keep the star looking like the star. By putting the star in the lion’s den with already-upset consumers, it risks spoiling their personal brand.
No face should be put on messaging unless it serves the greater good of the consumer you serve. This carriage dispute doesn’t benefit anyone except ESPN and YouTube. The fans lose either way.
If ESPN gets a higher rate from YouTube TV, the cost comes back to the consumer.
If YouTube TV gets a fair deal, there could be less ESPN programming coming to the streaming platform — again upsetting the consumer.
ESPN and YouTube TV are both missing on the messaging, and poorly at that.
This standoff isn’t just about ESPN and YouTube TV — it’s a snapshot of the crossroads media is standing at. Personality-driven brands, corporate messaging, and consumer fatigue are colliding. How networks navigate that balance will define who still has an audience left to fight for.
Maybe the next time these giants square off, they’ll remember who’s actually holding the remote.
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.
Whatever your opinion of Nielsen Audio, they have a tough job. When Nielsen started measuring radio back in the 1930s (long before Arbitron existed), recruiting survey respondents was pretty easy. People were impressed that a company wanted to know what they listened to on the radio, and even into the ‘50s and ‘60s, response rates were high.
We’ve gone through a transition of declining response rates combined with the change from landlines to cell phones as a method of recruiting people. Door-to-door interviewing went away in the ‘70s with the demise of Pulse, and we’ve moved to an address-based sample frame because of the change from household phone numbers to individual phone numbers. The task keeps getting harder to accomplish.
I’ve spotlighted this issue before in this column. As costs go up, Nielsen, like any other company, will look for ways to keep their expenses in line. Some initiatives work well, and others, like offshoring their data crunching, haven’t been as successful, as I’ve noted here recently. South Bend was added to the list of screwups last week, putting the tally at 58 markets so far.
Back in my time at Arbitron, we were occasionally accused of reusing sample. I remember having to write a piece when someone in the industry called it the “windshield wiper effect,” a completely bogus accusation. In the pre-PPM days, a household could end up in the diary sample more than once in a short period of time—say, a year—but it was purely by chance.
In random samples, anything can happen. Baseball is full of those oddities; for example, the 8-6-2 double play by the Brewers against the Dodgers in the NLCS. Or one of my recent favorites: the New York Rangers set an NHL record by being shut out three times in a row at home to start the season. You would guess correctly that I’m not a Rangers fan. It’s the same long shot as someone winning the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpots.
Now, Nielsen has added “targeted reselects,” which means going back to households that have been in the diary service previously. The emphasis is on households with hard-to-reach individuals, which is people who aren’t in my demo—more specifically, young and minority. If you have been doing, as I suggested a while back, reviewing the Presurvey Bulletin (PPM every four weeks, diary service every quarter), you’d know that Nielsen is looking for 25% of the sample in diary markets and non-metro areas to be targeted reselects.
In general, there’s nothing wrong with this approach. Nielsen has said that no reselected individual will show up twice in a survey, which means an extended period for the smallest markets that use two-book averages. It seems likely this will increase PUR just a bit.
While we know that one diary can have a real effect on ratings if it includes a great deal of listening to one station, the overall effect is typically limited.
One positive side effect is that if Nielsen can use targeted reselects to better balance the sample, that can reduce the effects of weighting. Sometime in your diary market career, you will discover that a heavy-listening diary also carried a heavy weight due to shortages in a particular cell, whether demo (especially young males), race/ethnic, or geography. The closer Nielsen’s sample can get to matching the market’s population estimates, the less the effect of weighting.
In the past, I’ve strongly suggested that subscribers check the E-Book to understand the makeup of their markets and to look at how the sample was distributed. Per MRC disclosure requirements, Nielsen includes the targeted reselect sample results in the E-Book. The disclosure is divided into “Fresh Sample” and “Targeted Reselects.” You can easily see the number of initial households, the diaries mailed, the intab diaries, and the percentage of the sample that came from these households.
Nielsen has set the goal for targeted reselects at 25% of the sample as of Fall 2025, in both diary metros and non-metro areas—in other words, the entire diary service. Their view is that testing and practice have shown little difference in listening, but the gains in proportionality are positive. The unspoken part is that this change will help control sample costs as well.
It’s hard to knock Nielsen for keeping costs in line. We’ve read too many trade press articles of late about friends in the radio business who will have to pursue new jobs and potentially new careers as their former employers “right-size” or use whatever euphemism they choose. For those of you who are still working and responsible for ratings success, keep abreast of the changes.
Let’s meet again next week.
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.
If you program a classic hits or adult contemporary radio station, this is pretty simple. It is called Christmas music. For news/talk radio stations, it is a little more complicated. There are many more questions than answers. You obviously have any network programming that you are carrying, but what about the local shows? Over the years, I have done different things. I don’t know if my ideas are better than yours; feel free to comment.
For Thanksgiving, I have followed this philosophy over the past few years. On Thanksgiving, I run the Fox News and Fisher House specials. I have six hours of local programming to fill the time. I am guessing that you have the same quandary. Best-of shows for your local programming can be a pain. If something goes wrong, a programmer will be on a laptop fixing the issues and not enjoying the holiday.
How do you pick the best-of shows? Most news talk stations are Topic A focused. How do you sound relevant? Does it matter? I think that running three hours of your local morning show discussing the government shutdown, which will likely be over, will sound as current as replaying coverage of the kidnapping of Patty Hearst.
If you are doing the best-of route for Thanksgiving and/or Black Friday, have your team begin to collect hours now. I have found that creating segments from different days and combining them into one hour of programming is quite challenging for the automation to sound right. Perhaps this is a shortcoming on my part, but I don’t want to spend my holiday on the laptop or going into the office.
So, get with your team and ask them to produce complete hours and have them ready by the Monday before Thanksgiving weekend. Obviously, time-sensitive content is not going to work. I heard a best-of from a syndicated show that was out of date by six months. Have some pride in your choices.
Black Friday used to be the best day for news talk. I think those days have passed in the last decade. Depending on your company’s policy, having your staff work on that day will create an extra day off before the end of the year. This is not an easy decision. I would base it on a market situation.
Ok, let’s talk about Christmas. There is no winning formula. Weststar offers Mannheim Steamroller, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has programming as well. You can load and play your own Christmas music. There is likely tremendous programming from your news service.
I know that Fox News Radio has three hours of special programming. I don’t know your situation, but I believe that if you have fresh content, it is best. Depending on your company policies, you may have December 26th as a company-wide day off as well.
So, Christmas has a Black Friday too. Yay us! Planning that may be a good idea. If you have not spoken with your team yet, this may be the best time to do so.
According to ChatGPT, a hot gift is personalized clothing. Here is a cool thing: it cannot be returned. If I receive a t-shirt with my picture and name on it, I can’t return it! What a win! Noise-canceling headphones are big. Soon everything will be as deaf as a radio human, so you will no longer need to ask people to speak up. 2025 is great.
For New Year’s Day, it gets a little easier. There is a plethora of end-of-year specials. You have to figure this out with your team. Again, if you are doing best-of programming, start building hours today. Make sure your programming is as enjoyable as possible. You may also have Black New Year’s Day. Your company may have that Friday off as well. There is a lot of programming to fill this year. I am sure you are fully capable of filling it, but the planning must start today.
I want my staff to enjoy time away from the office. I am reminded of this past Easter Sunday. Two of my stations were in weather coverage due to a tornado outbreak. Yes, breaking news happens on the holidays. Make sure your team is ready for any possibility. While most of us may not have a tornado outbreak, there could be snow, ice, or another breaking news situation where we will have to provide the information that our audience needs.
One year, I remember getting an ice storm on December 21st. My team and I were living at the radio station, and thankfully we were a short walk from the Waffle House, so we were fed. I remember getting home from work at 6 p.m. on December 24th. My home had just had power return. How do I know? It was 52 degrees in my crib.
Part of the fun of news/talk radio is that we are at the center of informing our communities during important moments. Being prepared for anything is our mission. This includes compelling holiday programming.
So, what are you doing? Please let us know in the comments.
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.
Radio formats are living, breathing, animated entities. Your brand should be on a path of constant improvement and evolution. The Japanese call this practice – Kaizen. Literally “change for the better”. If you’re not in the practice of addressing your format, where your brand fits in the market and the moving ageism of your target audience, make 2026 your year to do so.
In gold-based formats, the prevailing thought among programmers remains that the format(s) are stuck in an “era ice age”. There’s little they can do to chase demos below 50ish.
Adult Contemporary has the luxury of wrapping themselves in a moniker that prevents the format from being “caged” or locked into ears. However, there’s also evolution in AC. We’ll look inside Classic Formats in Adult Contemporary in this week’s column.
Classic Rock and Classic Hits were all the darling of Nielsen Ratings two decades back. Both formats were flourishing. The vast majority of Oldies brands have somewhat evolved to Classic Hits, incorporating later 1980’s and even early 1990’s product.
Here’s a bit of perspective. In the mid-1980’s, when the Oldies format was birthed “Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones was only 20 years old. It was a staple of the Oldies format.
Flash forward 40 years and it remains a song that reaches the air in gold-based formats sometimes once a day. The flip side? How does the 20 year old song fit up against the bulk of the Classic Rock or Classic Hits playlist?
The formats are not seeing the explosive growth witnessed in the earl to mid-2000’s. It’s also not despair as thoughtfully outlined in Barrett Media Colleague Mike Stern’s piece.
With a deep dive into Mediabase, you’ll find what the brightest are doing to remain relevant to those solidly in the heart of the money demo while not alienating their core. Stations are actively evolving their formats as the core listener demographic ages and as younger listeners enter the 35-54 target.
Here are trends in adaptation in the larger markets. Also included is the “newer” music that is being incorporated in an attempt to stay contemporary.
Expand “Classic” Through Imaging
Forward thinking programmers are moving the playlist era forward and away from the ‘60s and ‘70s to incorporate ‘90s and in some cases early 2000s. In select cases like Cumulus Media’s KQRS 92.5 FM in Minneapolis, they rebranded earlier this year promising “newer songs and a promised emphasis on Minnesota artists” and dropping a typical positioning statement altogether.
1990s -2000s Rock and Alternative Product
Programmers are testing songs in their Music Matrix from Alternative Rock, Post-Grunge and Modern Rock. In 2024 Mediabase reflects atypical Classic Rock product appearing on major market Classic Rock stations from atypical artists:
311
Modest Mouse
The Killers
Eminem
Goo Goo Dolls
Partial Rebrands
Other stations are pivoting aggressively. For example, suburban Chicago’s 95.9 The River moved from “Classic Hits” to a “Classic Alternative” format. They describe it as a “natural extension of Classic Rock… for the alternative hits of the 90s.” Others keep the “classic rock” feel but lean more contemporary while keeping the heritage base. The KQRS/Minneapolis example above is executing this.
There are also cases where older material (early 60s/70s) is being deemphasized because its audience is aging out of the desirable demo. On The Classic Hits side, surprising titles are slowly appearing on heritage playlists. Examples you’ll find include:
Bush
Smashing Pumpkins
Offspring
Evanescence
Nelly
Five thought-leading Classic Rock/Classic Hits brands you should follow and monitor who are on top of this evolution trend include:
KLOS/Los Angeles
KZOK/Seattle
WDRV/Chicago
KQMT/Denver
WMGK/Philadelphia
These brands provide solid insight into how the format is evolving. Also note that not all Classic Hits and Classic Rock brands are on-board – yet. While the core of format demos remain 45+, songs that are now 25 or so years old seem to fit as the “classic” horizon is fluid.
Adult Contemporary stations are a different cake of fish. Barrett Media covered thoughts of the greatest Adult Contemporary minds this spring. Twice. See the June piece on the State of Adult Contemporary and our column featuring legends of the format.
Historically, AC brands have sat in the shadows of jumping on newer tunes. In the past, AC allowed CHR and Hot AC break in the newer tunes for the market. Now, AC is often on a time-line playlist par with artists like Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Ed Sheeran.
When it comes to gold, it would have been unthinkable twenty years ago for Adult Contemporary stations to add sonically harder titles from Bon Jovi and Def Leppard to their gold mix. We asked if AC could go further during the summer.
How are gold-based AC’s adapting to their aging core? What are the best doing to serve the contemporary listener while not divorcing themselves from the older core?
Increase Current Exposure
There’s a clear trend toward giving more audio real estate to current product that bridges the gap to invite in younger listeners. Some have called AC today as a two formats within one – current product with an anchor of Gold titles as their base. Along with the newer artists mentioned above, AC is early on Taylor Swift, Lady GaGa, Miley Cyrus and like artists.
Tweaking Format/Imaging Rather Than Full Flip
AC stations are slowly evolving their playlist, creating contemporary atmospherics in branding and slowly shifting the balance of songs, rather than nuking the format entirely. The vast majority of Adult Contemporary brands have deep market heritage and AC overall has remained one of the healthier radio formats across the country.
The Not So Secret Weapon
The strategic use of holiday programming has increased in early coverage every year. Several articles on differing Christmas Music Programming are sitting on the Barrett Media Platform. AC stations leverage Christmas Music to expose the multigenerational and huge cume to their playlist evolution during the holidays.
A list of thought-leading Adult Contemporary brands you should follow and monitor who are on top of their game include:
WLIT/Chicago
WBEB/Philadelphia
WJXA/Nashville
WRAL/Raleigh
WASH/Washington D.C.
Successful Classic Rock and Classic Hits stations are attempting evolution as a lead to stay relevant to younger demos. If a format is a living, breathing and animated entity, revisiting playlists often throughout the seasons for opportunities for contemporary updates is key to sounding alive and not archival.
Adult Contemporary stations are also facing a crossroads. How do you balance deep market heritage while staying musically relevant?
Leading AC brands are accelerating the shift toward a fresh current playlist while others stay anchored in the familiar – gold libraries and conservative strategic philosophies. Branding evolution is taking place with playlist modernization, fresh atmospherics and kinetic imaging.
Fill your format with life by revisiting the entire depth several times throughout the year.
Hard to believe the following titles are now 20 years old. That’s the same age “Satisfaction” from the Rolling Stones was when the Oldies format was launched:
Green Day – “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
Kelly Clarkson – “Since U Been Gone”
Foo Fighters – “Best of You”
It sneaks up on you.
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.
