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Sports Radio Should Steal How Music Radio Celebrated Taylor Swift’s New Album Release

John Mamola
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Sports Radio Should Steal How Music Radio Celebrated Taylor Swift’s New Album Release

Taylor Swift is a phenomenon. A moment in time. An experience unlike anything else in the world of music. Her presence drives engagement, revenue and connection for everything her brand touches. We saw this earlier this year when she provided more than two hours of non-sports commentary on her boyfriend’s podcast, New Heights. It shattered records, touching the music, news and sports media all in a single appearance. Sports radio brands were discussing it, news media brands were criticizing it and music brands shared in it.

That’s the definition of a phenomenon.

On Friday, Barrett Media published a lengthy piece on how music radio celebrated the release of her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. While the title may not appeal to the under-18 crowd, the music encased within the tracks surely did. Getting back to being a phenomenon — is there anything that sports radio could learn from its music counterparts this past weekend as they celebrated the album’s release? There is. And it should shed light on the biggest opportunity sports radio continues to miss.

Let’s state the facts first.

Swift’s album will no doubt be the best-selling record of the calendar year. She had a documentary filmed about the creation of the new album that tops the box office this weekend. Last year’s Eras Tour grossed more than $1 billion in revenue and more than $2 billion over its two-year run.

She is the hottest music artist since Michael Jackson. Go ahead, debate me on that. Everything she creates is heralded as amazing, her lyrics become gospel to many and the cash cow doesn’t seem to be slowing anytime soon.

Is there anything in sports like Taylor Swift — or a Taylor Swift record-release party — that can generate a massive amount of buzz for sports fans across the nation?

There is, and sports radio always seems to be left out of the party.

A Super Bowl Type of Moment

The single biggest event on the sports calendar: the Super Bowl. The NFL has partnerships with iHeartMedia (NFL Podcast Network, several local rights), Cumulus (Westwood One play-by-play, several local rights) and Audacy (10 local NFL broadcasting rights agreements on its stations). There are also local rights belonging to other radio broadcasters such as Lotus Communications, Bonneville and others.

What music radio does better than any format is find a moment in time and build the formula for a promotion that fits all its brands. It finds opportunities with a record release, tour announcement or even an artist’s death. Stations pre-build contesting, prizing, promotional support, graphics, social media collaborations and more on the front end.

Then the moment in time occurs, and everyone launches their execution of the creative.

Music radio looks great. Listeners get exclusive playlists to celebrate the moment. The creative is clean. The website remodel for the day grabs attention, and social media is flooded with posts capturing the moment.

Has that ever happened with sports radio for anything?

Is it a challenge to get all sports radio stations on the same page? Of course. No sports radio station is the same. Every brand is modeled differently because the content is not a playlist — it’s spoken word.

However, have broadcast companies ever attempted to do anything similar that could create that same level of buzz, excitement or attention?

Sports radio plays in the same attention economy as every other format.

It Starts up Top, Not Locally

Where music radio stations receive massive support from upper management teams for nationwide execution, it’s almost as though sports radio is forgotten in the discussion. Several sports radio stations carry market share for their music contemporaries locally. There are plenty of NFL fans spread across the country who don’t all live in NFL markets but still want to celebrate the event itself.

When did spending a week at Radio Row become a reward to the listener? Most stations have already slashed their budgets for the trip because Radio Row has morphed into Media Row — full of podcasts and influencers looking for content.

It seems sports radio continues to give up ground on that front too.

However, what no podcast or influencer can do is build a promotion to launch on all radio across the country, driving revenue, reach and attention.

Why not have the massive national audio teams develop vignettes of Super Bowl moments instead of sports minutes? That’s sponsorable and better content than 45 seconds of a talent not heard on every brand spouting off about the NBA during NFL playoff season.

Why not work with your NFL partner or through your local NFL franchise to launch a national ticket giveaway promotion for the “big game” (yes, be careful with that, sports radio)? The whole point of the two weeks between Championship Weekend and the Super Bowl is to hype up the matchup.

Why can’t iHeartMedia do a national giveaway for the Super Bowl like its iHeart Music Festival?

Can Cumulus do a national giveaway for all stations that carry Westwood One’s NFL product?

Why can’t Audacy work through its local NFL partners to do something similar?

Try Something New

It’s all about attention in an attention economy. These companies have national brand teams that develop their websites and social creative. Why not get creative, lean on AI and your teams to do something that hasn’t been done before — catching the eye and heart of the NFL fan during the single biggest time for the most viewed sport in the country?

Are we just happy with quarterly cash contesting that doesn’t lift cume, increase TSL or do anything for branding your sports radio station?

While there are many hoops to jump through, in sports radio no idea is a bad idea. The format continues to lose ground to podcasting, on-demand video and social influencers. Instead of resting on what has worked with live coverage from Radio Row (if you can still afford it), why not think outside the box and take a lesson from what music radio does with its Super Bowl moment?

It could be a phenomenal moment for the format.

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.

Nielsen Needs Fewer Apologies and More Accuracy After Latest Ratings Flub

Dr. Ed Cohen
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Nielsen Needs Fewer Apologies and More Accuracy After Latest Ratings Flub

I don’t know if you happened to read it, but I viewed a recent letter emailed to Nielsen Audio clients from Ryanne Laredo, who holds the title of Senior Vice President of Customer Experience for Nielsen.

I’ll bet many readers didn’t know that Nielsen had such a position, but apparently, they do. That means you now have an additional person who can receive all your gripes about the service, other than your rep.

The subject of the letter was the recent unplanned outage of Nielsen’s online software services. Every Nielsen Audio online service (Tapscan, PD Advantage, etc.) was down for a couple of days in early September. Nielsen sent regular status updates until the services were restored. As you would expect, clients were unhappy. To be more precise, most were probably really pissed off.

The letter from Laredo (that sounds like the title of a country song, doesn’t it?) said the problem was a disk failure in the authorization program — the part of the system that lets subscribers get into the software and work with their data.

She said that Nielsen will devote more resources to their online services, but whether this means people, technology, or both wasn’t clear, at least to me. In the near term, the company is reducing “single points of failure.” Isn’t that nice? Did no one identify these points years ago? None of the software is new, so it appears that Nielsen went along with the system as it was. Why bother improving it if it works?

Long term, Nielsen says it will migrate its platforms to a “best-in-class cloud environment” with a target date of next June. If you’re a subscriber, you should be asking about Nielsen’s progress beginning early next year. Deadlines for IT projects have a habit of slipping, which is not unique to Nielsen but happens in many situations. If Nielsen comes back next June with a grand announcement about the completion of the upgrade, you should say, “Good work.”

But here’s what caught my eye. Now that we know that Nielsen even has an SVP of Customer Experience, why was nothing said about the recent reissues due to Nielsen mistakes? My column on August 12 noted the number of times Nielsen had to reissue reports because stations were left out of the report. When that column was published, the total stood at six markets, plus there was a delay in releasing PPM monthlies and CPRs.

Since that time, it’s happened three more times — in Stockton, Fargo-Moorhead, and Odessa-Midland. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s nine metros, plus the PPM delay, in the past few months. Considering the very small number of “oops, we made a mistake” reissues by Nielsen over previous years, this is a troubling trend.

Since Nielsen has an SVP of Customer Experience, I’ll take a wild guess that the customer experience in the affected markets (all 48 PPM markets, Monmouth-Ocean, Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, Gainesville-Ocala, New London, Grand Rapids, Omaha-Council Bluffs, and the three mentioned above) was less than the clients expected and less than Nielsen would like to see.

That’s 57 markets affected by Nielsen’s internal errors. Will there be another letter from Ms. Laredo explaining why this problem continues to happen and the steps that Nielsen is taking to ensure that this becomes a rarity rather than a case of “here we go again”? Will she say anything like, “Perhaps Nielsen has offshored a little too much of our operation, and it was better when people in Maryland were reviewing data before it went out the door”?

The Media Rating Council (MRC) closely reviews Nielsen Audio’s procedures as part of their annual audit, and I’m aware that MRC is looking into the reissue situation. However, MRC audits are shared only with MRC members. That makes sense because it keeps the nonprofit group in business, as MRC’s revenue comes from membership dues. However, not all Nielsen subscribers are MRC members.

Here’s my suggestion: when the MRC Radio Committee gets the opportunity to review the findings of what was behind the Nielsen Audio reissues, the committee members should vote to require Nielsen to release a public statement like the one sent voluntarily regarding the software issues. It needn’t be long but should cover what happened, how Nielsen found the problems (clients or internal review), how long it took to find the problems, and, most importantly, what the company plans to do to prevent further mistakes like this in the future. Nielsen Audio’s clients are owed at least that much.

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.

CNN Faces Tough Uphill Battle in Streaming Wars After Leaving HBO Max

Garrett Searight
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CNN Faces Tough Uphill Battle in Streaming Wars After Leaving HBO Max

Streaming isn’t the future anymore — it’s the present. And CNN is about to walk away from one of the most popular streaming platforms in the world, HBO Max, in favor of an unknown, unproven, and — at least for now — completely undefined service.

Come November 17th, CNN’s live stream will no longer be available on HBO Max, a move that raises more questions than answers about what exactly the network’s next digital home will look like.

This decision is tied to a major corporate reshuffling. Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two entities: Warner Bros. will keep HBO Max, while Discovery Global will take CNN under its wing.

That’s the business explanation. But the practical outcome is that CNN — which has struggled to find its footing over the past several years — will soon be leaving a thriving streaming ecosystem for a brand-new platform that hasn’t been announced, explained, or promoted.

That’s a risky move in a marketplace already crowded with streaming services, many of which are starting to feel the squeeze. Consumers have reached their breaking point. The streaming service bubble hasn’t just inflated — it’s starting to wobble. People are looking at their credit card statements and realizing they’re paying for seven different subscriptions they barely use. Something has to give. And if CNN thinks viewers will line up to pay for yet another standalone service, they might be in for a harsh reality check.

Here’s the problem: CNN isn’t exactly the kind of brand that commands loyalty in the streaming world. Sure, it’s a household name, but the way audiences consume news has shifted dramatically. On cable, CNN once had a captive audience. In streaming, viewers have endless options. You can get breaking news on YouTube, clips on TikTok, analysis on X, or live coverage from dozens of free apps. CNN’s biggest competition isn’t MSNBC or Fox News anymore — it’s the convenience of the internet itself.

When CNN+ launched in 2022, it became one of the most expensive flops in modern media history. It lasted less than a month before shutting down. And while this new effort may not carry the same branding, it’s hard to ignore that CNN is once again setting out to build something from scratch in a market that doesn’t seem to want it. The average viewer isn’t begging for more paid news content. They’re begging for fewer logins, fewer monthly charges, and fewer reasons to juggle multiple platforms just to stay informed.

If CNN were joining forces with an established streamer — say, remaining on HBO Max or attempting a deal with another entity like Netflix, AppleTV+, or Prime Video — this would be a very different story. But going it alone feels like a step backward. When every major media company is consolidating to survive, CNN is choosing to separate itself. The timing couldn’t be worse. It’s like watching someone leave a successful restaurant to open their own down the street, right as notices about the upcoming demolition of the entire neighborhood are being nailed to doors.

From a business standpoint, you can understand the motivation. Warner Bros. and Discovery want to simplify their portfolios and give each brand more independence. But independence isn’t always an advantage in streaming. Look at what’s happening across the industry: Disney is merging Hulu into Disney+. Paramount is exploring ways to integrate CBS and Showtime under one banner. Even Netflix, the original disruptor, is adding live programming to stay relevant. The companies that are surviving are the ones that are combining their strengths, not separating them.

For CNN, leaving HBO Max means giving up a built-in audience that already pays for access. On Max, users could at least stumble onto CNN’s live stream or on-demand coverage. That kind of discovery is valuable. On a standalone platform, there’s no casual traffic — only committed subscribers. And the truth is, there may not be enough of them to make it sustainable.

In my opinion, this move puts CNN in a dangerous position. They’re stepping out of a proven ecosystem — not by choice, for the record — into the unknown at a time when the entire streaming landscape is tightening. It’s not a question of if the bubble bursts — it’s a question of when. Consumers are already deciding which services are worth keeping. If CNN isn’t on a platform people already use, it risks being forgotten entirely.

Sometimes, it’s easier — and smarter — to join the party rather than try to create your own. HBO Max gave CNN a seat at the table. Now, they’re walking out to start a new party in an empty room, hoping people show up. In the streaming wars, that’s a gamble few have won. CNN might learn that the hard way.

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.

How Radio Can Turn Nostalgia Into Ratings and Revenue

Mike Stern
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How Radio Can Turn Nostalgia Into Ratings and Revenue

I am supremely confident that everyone in radio reading this post will be able to complete this advertising jingle. You won’t even need a second to think about it. It’ll be a reflex reaction. Ready?

I don’t want to grow up…

If you didn’t instantly say or think, “I’m a Toys’R’Us kid,” I’m worried about you. That means you don’t know that there are, “a million toys at Toys’R’Us” that you can play with.

While Toys’R’Us as a brand has struggled, it appears drilling the idea of not growing up and wanting to play with toys into the heads of so many kids with tons of advertising may have had more impact than expected. According to a Sherwood News article,  the trend of “kidulting” where adults yearn for time to play like kids is booming.

This isn’t just some fringe movement that makes for a good headline. It’s having real impact on company’s fortunes. For example, Build-A-Bear Workshop’s stock is through the roof. The stores where a person can stuff, name and dress a toy has seen their stock rise 2000% over the last five years. It’s in the top twenty biggest gainers over that period. The stock bottomed out during Covid when stores were closed. But since the end of lockdown the company has been on fire. Grown adults make up 40% of the business. They are the demographic driving the success.

Likewise, Lego is reporting record sales for the first half of 2025. Driving it are the success of Botanical and Formula One themed sets. Do you know who wants to build flower-themed sets of Legos? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not kids. Then there’s Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Squishmallows. They’re just a few of the toy brands that are seeing huge growth with adults.

This shouldn’t be a huge surprise. The world is tough to navigate right now. Prices are up, jobs are hard to find, and politics is a blood sport with sharp divisions. Why wouldn’t people, like your listeners, want to go back to a simpler time when they were building bears, racing Hot Wheels, or building Legos?

The real question is can you help them?

Our format is built around the idea of contemporizing nostalgia. We take music that is between thirty and fifty years old and find ways to talk about it that is relevant to today’s world. Our industry features hosts who, in many cases, are barely grown-ups themselves and probably have the same yearning to escape.

Your station is ready-made for this trend. Here are a few ideas to help get you started:

Giveaways: Lego sets are expensive. This new Death Star set that will cost you $1000 but it could make a great grand prize for a contest. Hot Wheels only cost about a dollar and Barbie’s aren’t that expensive.

On-Site: It would cost next to nothing to outfit your on-site presence with a bunch of toys for kids of all ages to play with. A Hot Wheels racing set, a Barbie dream home, even a few Squishmallows for stress relief. Give people a reason to stop by and hang with you.

Photo Credit: Canva

Adult Play Time: Sponsor recreational sports leagues, bowling, or game nights. Better yet, create your own. Try to be a part of any place your listeners are leaving their cares behind and acting like kids again.

On-Air: Think beyond the music when you are designing on-air content and contests. Talk about things that take them back or at least away from their troubles. Help listeners tap into that urge to escape even when they’re stuck at their desk or in traffic.

Social media: There is plenty of content to share that will tap into the power of nostalgia and play. Make it a regular part of what listeners can find on your social channels. If you do, they’ll keep coming back for more.

Escapism and any of the Classic formats go well together. There is an opportunity here to tie your brand to things that bring happiness and fun into your listener’s lives. That type of association is exactly what a streaming service cannot do.

Mark Starling Reflects on 570 WWNC’s Award-Winning Coverage One Year After Hurricane Helene

Garrett Searight
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Mark Starling Reflects on 570 WWNC’s Award-Winning Coverage One Year After Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the Atlantic coast during late September and early October last year. Few places were as damaged as the Asheville, North Carolina area. And 570 WWNC morning show host and News Director Mark Starling had a front-row seat to all of the carnage.

On Thursday, September 26, 2024, Starling went to work at the iHeartMedia Asheville news/talk station.

He didn’t know it at the time, but he and colleagues like producer Tank Spencer would spend the next 14-and-a-half days on the air, commercial-free. Connecting listeners throughout the region to vital, life-saving resources, as well as one another.

In the months following the devastation, the radio industry has recognized Mark Starling and 570 WWNC for their work during the hurricane and subsequent flooding. The station earned both a regional and national Edward R. Murrow Award for its coverage. Additionally, Starling was also nominated for a 2025 Marconi Radio Award for Small Market Personality of the Year. 570 WWNC was also nominated for Small Market Station of the Year. They’ll find out if they’re winners later this month.

Mark Starling said navigating the extra attention to him, the station, the cluster, and the market hasn’t always been easy.

“I never got into radio to get awards in the first place,” he shared. “Just being nominated for an award like (the Murrow Awards), no less winning it. I just never thought my name would be associated with that. That was a big deal. It’s still difficult, because I’m still of the mindset that the work wasn’t necessarily ‘award-winning,’ per se. This is what broadcasters do. This is what every broadcaster in the country does when their community is in a position like what we were in.

“It’s just a lot,” he continued, fighting back tears. “It’s just hard to wrap my head around,” he added before crediting colleagues like Eddie Fox, Amanda Fox, Josh Michael, Ariel Rymer, Tank Spencer, Brian Hall, and Ashley Wilson, among others, for their work during the two week period.

“If any member on that team was different, then this coverage would not have happened the way it did,” said Starling. “I don’t know that we’d be having the same conversation. I firmly believe that the right people were in the right place at the right time during a really bad event and we managed to make it work.”

There’s a dichotomy of the situation that Starling is forced to grapple with. On one hand, he’s proud of the work iHeartMedia’s Asheville teams produced when the community needed them the most. On the other, it came on the heels of pain, devastation, and uncertainty for a community he loves.

“I’ve probably said it 100 times: I would trade every article, every award, every nomination, and every recognition to be able to go back to September 25th and for that storm to go a different route,” he said. “I’m fully aware that the recognition is happening because a really horrific thing happened. There is a lot of levity in that.”

As vital resources became scarce in the aftermath of the storm, 570 WWNC served as a vital lifeline for the Asheville community. Thousands of listeners were exposed to the work done on the station after Helene hit. Starling said he’s felt the audience grow and prosper in the year following the carnage.

“I cannot tell you how many times that I have walked into the grocery store and been minding my own business in the produce section and someone walks up and just says, ‘Hey, I just wanted to thank you, and I wanted to just say hi and tell you how much what you and the team did meant to us. Can I give you a hug?’

“Maybe 10 trips to the grocery store since the storm has that not happened,” Starling continued. “There is such a special bond with these people now. I think there always was a special bond, we just didn’t know who a lot of the folks were. That’s one of the tough parts of radio. You don’t get to know every single listener on an intimate level. There was a certain amount of realism and just genuine bonding that took place that has continued. I don’t think it’s leveled off any.”

Recently, Mark Starling has started to go back and listen to each hour of the marathon broadcast. And as he reminisces, he said that he’s noticed something he wasn’t necessarily aware of in the moment. But as the hours turned to days, and days turned to weeks, he became more and more cognizant of.

“You kind of realize we weren’t necessarily providing people with any sort of groundbreaking information, because the truth was, there was no groundbreaking information,” he shared. “I think most of what we were doing was providing companionship and providing a place for someone to have an outlet. That if they wanted to vent their frustrations about whatever it was — whether it was FEMA, the county government, or whether it was the gas station or running out of gas — I think we just gave them a platform. I think that they have embraced that and continue to embrace that.”

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.

Why AI Shouldn’t Be an Option for the Radio Industry Right Now

Perry Michael Simon
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Why AI Shouldn’t Be an Option for the Radio Industry Right Now

Don’t do it. I know I won’t win this argument, but please don’t use AI as a research and show prep tool. This is not going to end well, the dangers should be obvious, and there’s nothing I can do to stop this bus from flying off a cliff… but I’ll give it a go anyway.

My history of fighting lost causes in radio isn’t promising. Several decades ago, I was dead set against junking up radio and TV stations’ schedules with infomercials. To me, they were at best not worth the revenue to drive the audience away and, at worst, as when the old WWDB-FM in Philadelphia had paid “guests” on its regular talk shows, dishonest.

I still think they’re terrible, and I’m not alone. Admit it: you cringe when you’re shuffling through the TV guide grid and you see something like that Larry King “Special Prostate Report.” You certainly don’t watch it. (Or maybe you do. Not judging.)

Anyway, my bosses at the time were radio people at heart, and they agreed with me, but I could see the handwriting on the wall. You can’t turn down the revenue if your owners are demanding that your cluster generate otherwise unattainable margins. The investors don’t care about creative integrity or, really, anything other than money. You do as you’re told.

Today, it’s AI, and broadcasting — like every other industry — is feverishly trying to get in on the action. There’s a lot of money riding on AI, and the AI companies are looking for ways to sell their technology to businesses before the bubble bursts or the AI platforms decide to kill all humans and take over the world — at which point Elon Musk and his billionaire compatriots expect to be living on Mars.

So AI is being adapted for radio as a back-office tool to automate certain procedures, as a programming tool to generate fake liner-card reader hosts, and as the ultimate show prep platform — able to pull up and summarize news stories, create jokes, and give you convenient access to sports scores, weather reports, and conversation starters. What could possibly be the problem with that?

Here’s one problem: AI isn’t ready for it. It gets facts wrong, sometimes spectacularly so. Remember when ChatGPT first opened for public use and people tried to get it to write their biographies, which turned out to be hilariously wrong? You’re gonna trust that?

Sure, it’s improving as time goes on and the AI platforms suck up other people’s work without compensation, but I keep seeing AI output that is very incorrect or insufficiently detailed, and it’s going to continue to be a (human) chore to train these engines to distinguish between trustworthy and accurate sources and garbage.

So far, it’s a mixed bag. And if you go on the air with AI-generated material, you’re bound to get some things wrong.

Oh, yeah, AI can generate voices. It can do a rough approximation of people’s voices saying things the real people never said. You can interview AI Donald Trump, or AI Taylor Swift, or AI Saquon Barkley — no need to call press offices or PR flacks.

But if you don’t make it clear that the voice is an impersonation, you’re being dishonest with the audience, and if you do say it’s AI, it kind of defeats the purpose of doing the bit in the first place. Besides, isn’t there too much misinformation and fakery already? You know that your fake Kash Patel will end up in a clip posted as fact to social media. Let’s not contribute to the downfall of society any more than we already have.

AI also doesn’t know your audience. You do. You know what works and what doesn’t, and you don’t want to delegate that duty to a computer platform. It’s a matter of nuance: AI is not (yet) capable of knowing — nor can it be expected to know — how humans (your audience, I assume) respond, or don’t, to programming elements.

I mean, you could let AI program everything, from talk topics to music selection, and the technology is in place, but will the result be good or just “good enough,” as in “it sounds like a radio station, close enough for rock ‘n’ roll”? Do you have any pride in what you create, or are you more interested in saving money for your bosses so you can keep your job? Because if it’s the latter, your bosses really don’t care about you, and the moment they feel confident in replacing you with AI, they will.

Anyway, don’t use AI for creating content. It’s exploitative, it’s lame, and whatever time you save using it isn’t worth trashing your shows. Also, those AI-generated cartoon memes everyone’s posting to Facebook suck. Now, off to tilting at some more windmills….

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.

How Music Radio Celebrated the Release of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’

BMM Staff
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How Music Radio Celebrated the Release of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’

When Taylor Swift drops a new album, it’s the equivalent of Christmas for many music radio stations. ‘The Life of a Showgirl‘, Swift’s new record became available on Friday. She said in a post on social media that it’s an album that just feels so right.

Music radio stations everywhere leaped into action to capitalize on the excitement with their listeners. Brands and personalities carved out hours of airtime to play new songs from the record. They also built on-air conversations around Swift’s transformation and growth as an artist and human being, and her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce.

iHeartRadio made the new record a big part of its programming strategy, playing each track in exact order. Pop and Hot AC stations across the company began broadcasting The Life of a Showgirl in its entirety at 9pm PT/midnight ET Thursday night, accompanied by custom track-by-track recorded audio from the singer herself. It allowed listeners to hear exclusive insight into the making of each song. Swift also called in to Elvis Duran and the Morning Show to discuss the meaning behind the record.

SiriusXM launched Channel 13, featuring 24/7 airplay of Swift’s music to help support the new record. On the 13th day of the channel (Friday, October 3), when “The Life of a Showgirl” came out, Channel 13 began playing the full album from beginning to end every other hour starting at midnight ET. Taylor’s Channel 13 is available until October 19th. Swift is also expected to appear on The Morning Mashup on SiriusXM Hits 1 Monday October 6th.

Audacy created a cool piece of programming too in addition to featuring the new album across many of its radio stations. Taylor Swift: On The Record, takes listeners inside the making of The Life of a Showgirl. The program hosted by Bru features Taylor Swift taking fans track-by-track through her twelfth studio album. It’s available on the Audacy app on Friday, October 3rd at 7PM.

In addition to hearing the record on radio stations nationwide, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, fans can find it on YouTube as well. As expected, views of each track are already surging into the millions in its first day of availability.

Local radio stations in the Hot AC and Pop/Top 40 formats got in on the action too.

Los Angeles’ 102.7 KIIS-FM re-branded as 102.7 SWFT FM to meet the moment. The station’s positioned itself as Los Angeles’ #1 Taylor Swift Station, and held an album release listening party on Thursday night at 9pm PT. Written content is also available on the station’s website and social media pages.

101.9 The Mix in Chicago went all-in on Taylor Swift mania as well. The Mix launched a Taylor Taykover, playing Swift’s music from midnight on October 3rd through 11:30pm on Sunday October 5th. Chris and McCabe are also hosting an exclusive, private screening of Taylor Swift: Release Party of a Show Girl—featuring the world premiere of “The Fate of Ophelia” music video. The event is set for Saturday October 4th at 10am at AMC movie theater in Naperville, IL. Keywords are being given out at 8am, 10am, Noon, 2pm, and 5pm to give listeners opportunities to win.

Long Island’s 106.1 BLI seized the moment, re-branding as 106.1 TLI. The radio station’s Taylor Takeover can be seen and heard everywhere. The website was full of content about the new album, social pages were filled with posts about it, and on-air conversations led by The Skye Morning Show with Ally Ali treated it like a big deal. Regardless of which platform listeners turned to, they knew Taylor had a new record, and 106.1 BLI was fully supporting it.

Photo Courtesy of 106.1 BLI on Facebook

WALK 97.5 in Long Island, NY also threw its support behind the new album. The station kicked off a ‘Two For Taylor Weekend‘. New songs from the album are airing every hour, all day, along with hits from Taylor’s other eras.

Cincinnati’s Q102 launched a themed giveaway prize for six lucky listeners in celebration of the new album. The promotion is called Tap That Track and rewards listeners via the Q102’s mobile app or desktop stream player. Fans are receiving opportunities to win “The Life of a Showgirl” Vinyl — Lakeside Beach Blue Sparkle, “The Life of a Showgirl” Vinyl — Lovely Bouquet Golden, “The Life of a Showgirl” Sweat and Vanilla Perfume Portofino Orange Glitter Vinyl, “The Life of a Showgirl” Cardigan Box Set + $100 VISA gift card courtesy of Cincinnati Mini, “The Life of a Showgirl” Sweat and Vanilla Perfume Cassette, and “The Life of a Showgirl” Sweat and Vanilla Perfume CD with Poster. Most items are already sold out online.

KOST 103.5 in Los Angeles celebrated the release by playing a fun game. The Ellen K Morning Show created a great video featuring staff members having to finish the lyric of some of Taylor Swift’s most popular songs. The album and Taylor’s media interviews were a topic of conversation throughout the morning show. Ellen also gave listeners opportunities to win tickets to Taylor’s release party over the weekend. The premiere is running in 3600 movie theaters nationwide.

97.9 WRMF in West Palm Beach, FL celebrated with a “Tay Tay Double Play” weekend on the radio station. New tracks from the album, and songs from Taylor’s other eras are running back-to-back 13 times a day today, tomorrow and Sunday!

98.5 KISS FM in Cookeville, TN used the opportunity to excite listeners, have some fun, and turn a profit in the process. The radio station re-branded to Swiftie 98.5 and tied in a local business as the presenting sponsor.

Billy & Lisa on Kiss 108 in Boston spent a good amount of time on their morning show talking about Taylor’s new record including the diss track. They also analyzed some of Swift’s spicier lyrics on the record.

106.7 Lite FM in New York celebrated the release of the album too. Christine Nagy and Paul Bryant headed down to the Sound Exchange record shop where listeners could win prizes after buying a copy of the album.

Taylor Swift supported the release of the record in the US and UK, doing a number of interviews on both radio and television. One of the more memorable conversations came on BBC Radio 1 with host Greg James. During the conversation, Swift spoke with James about her relationship with Travis Kelce, making bread, the new album, and more. She then surprised James by inviting him to her wedding. The friendship between the UK radio host and Swift has spanned years.

Many radio professionals across the flocked to social media to offer reviews of the record, and express excitement about it.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16xSkZppXx

Advertising leaders understood the importance of the situation too. Gary Sarner of ROI360+ shared on LinkedIn a reminder that when culture shifts, radio shines brightest.

Even Barrett Media’s Stephanie Eads started her day consuming Taylor’s new album. Apparently CEO Jason Barrett did too. He has yet to confirm this with the Barrett Media team. We’re still working on it.

Steph FB Post

Given the massive interest in Taylor Swift’s music, relationship, and life, radio stations everywhere treated the release of her new album like the major event that it is. There are countless other examples available across local radio airwaves and station social media pages worth highlighting. To those in charge of leading radio brands and connecting with listeners through the joy of music, job well done!

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Keith Hernandez Faces Free Agency After 20 Seasons in SNY Mets TV Booth

BSM Staff
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Keith Hernandez Faces Free Agency After 20 Seasons in SNY Mets TV Booth

Keith Hernandez, a cornerstone of the New York Mets’ broadcast team, is once again navigating free agency.

The longtime SNY analyst and former Mets first baseman confirmed that his contract with the network has expired following his 20th season in the booth. Hernandez told The New York Post’s Mike Puma he wants to continue alongside play-by-play voice Gary Cohen and fellow analyst Ron Darling.

“My contract has run out, but I would love to continue in the booth,” Hernandez said in a Q&A published Friday. “I enjoy what I do.”

The trio—affectionately known as “Gary, Keith and Ron”—has become synonymous with Mets baseball. Their 20-year run is the longest stretch of any announcing crew in franchise histor. They are often cited among the best television broadcast teams in Major League Baseball.

Hernandez, 71, signed his most recent three-year deal before the 2023 season. While his future at the network remains uncertain, his contributions have been significant.

He has earned three New York Emmy Awards for “Sports Analyst” (2009, 2012, 2015) during his tenure. He played an integral role in helping SNY establish itself as the Mets’ flagship broadcaster when it launched in 2006. Prior to that, he worked Mets games on MSG.

Known for his sharp analysis, dry humor, and unique focus on “fundies”—his shorthand for baseball fundamentals—Hernandez has carved out a second career that complements his decorated playing days. The 1979 National League MVP, two-time World Series champion, and 11-time Gold Glove winner was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1997. The team retired his No. 17 jersey in 2022.

On the field, Hernandez was a central figure in the Mets’ last championship run in 1986. He spent seven seasons with New York after a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, where he debuted in 1974 and became one of the National League’s premier hitters and defenders. His 17-year career concluded with a brief stint in Cleveland in 1990.

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.

WCBM 680 Morning Host Bruce Elliott Departs

BNM Staff
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WCBM 680 Morning Host Bruce Elliott Departs

WCBM 680 has announced that morning co-host Bruce Elliott is departing the station.

Elliott has been with the station’s morning show since 2019, after former co-host Frank Luber exited. Elliott had been paired with longtime morning host and WCBM Program Director Sean Casey in the daypart. Casey has spent the past 33 years helming mornings for the Baltimore news/talk radio station.

Bruce Elliott originally joined WCBM 680 in 2015 as a fill-in host before joining in a full-time capacity in 2016 following the death of Tom Mars.

According to a release from the brand, the morning show will be rebranded as Casey & Company, featuring Casey and a rotating cast, including newscaster Maggie Hunter, traffic anchor Chuck Whitarker, sportscaster Gary Stein, and producer Kristen Haegerich.

Casey & Company will air from 6-9 AM each weekday morning.

Elliott’s final day with the station was Friday.

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.

ESPN Welcomes Back Michael Malone as Analyst on NBA Countdown

BSM Staff
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ESPN Welcomes Back Michael Malone as Analyst on NBA Countdown

ESPN is turning to a familiar face as it prepares for another season of NBA Countdown. The network announced that former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone is rejoining the show as an analyst, expanding a role he briefly held last spring.

Malone made his ESPN debut during the 2025 Western Conference Finals, when NBA Countdown took the studio show on the road for the matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder. His presence drew strong reviews, with viewers praising the championship-winning coach’s blend of insight and personality.

Now, Malone will be a regular part of the team, joining host Malika Andrews and analyst Kendrick Perkins on the panel. The addition bolsters ESPN’s NBA coverage with a coach who has been in the trenches, offering a perspective that resonates with both players and fans.

Malone most recently served as head coach of the Denver Nuggets, leading the franchise to its first NBA championship in 2023. He spent nine seasons in Denver before parting ways with the organization following the 2024–25 campaign. Prior to that, Malone was the head coach of the Sacramento Kings from 2013–14 and held multiple assistant coaching roles across the league.

By adding Malone, ESPN continues to blend entertainment with expertise on NBA Countdown. Andrews has established herself as the face of the program, balancing playmaking ability with journalistic authority. Perkins, a former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, has carved out a reputation as a strong, opinionated voice on the desk. Malone’s experience adds another layer to the panel, giving the show the credibility that comes from someone who has drawn up plays in huddles and made critical decisions under playoff pressure.

For Malone, the move represents a new chapter. After two decades of coaching, including stints as an assistant with Golden State, New Orleans, and Cleveland, he transitions into a national media role with a high-profile platform. Whether his time on NBA Countdown turns into a full-time broadcasting career or a bridge back to the sidelines remains to be seen, but ESPN is banking on his voice making an impact this season.

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.

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