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Why OutKick vs Sport & State Competition Could Be Good for Both Brands

John Mamola
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Why OutKick vs Sport & State Competition Could Be Good for Both Brands

Fifteen years ago, Clay Travis launched OutKick. The outlet was designed to sit at the intersection of sports, pop culture and politics. For years, it drove conversation online about sports and culture from a conservative perspective. It leaned into the passion for college football, took network television talent to task and challenged the establishment. It made Travis a media star — and very rich, too.

Not bad for a guy who was making only $45,000 and had two young kids when he founded the company.

Earlier this week, Travis launched his second act, Sport & State. A media and content company built to be smart, original, funny and authentic. The content strategy sounds familiar: 70% sports, 15% pop culture and 15% where politics intersects with sports. Travis’ words himself.

In other words, it sounds a lot like the formula that made OutKick successful. Yet Travis insists he doesn’t view OutKick as competition. Instead, he sees the two brands as companions.

I’m not buying it. And frankly, I don’t think Travis should either.

A Hot Start

In business, history is difficult to repeat. Rarely does a second act following significant success rise to the level of, much less surpass, its predecessor. How many sequels are better than the original? That’s the challenge facing Sport & State.

Granted, Travis is starting from a completely different playing field than he was 15 years ago. He has name recognition, relationships, capital, an established audience and years of experience building a media company. The early returns reflect that advantage.

In just 24 hours, Sport & State had nearly 30,000 followers on X, 1,100 on Instagram and 1,500 subscribers on YouTube. Those are numbers many independent startups would love to have.

The company is also launching with infrastructure already in place. It has a title sponsorship with Hard Rock Bet, which reportedly owns 10% of the company. Travis is leveraging partnerships with companies he owns or holds a stake in to drive advertising sales. iHeartRadio is assisting with the advertising effort and selling ads across radio and digital.

The foundation is set. The lineup is in place. Now comes the hard part. Can it compete? The answer is yes. In fact, it already is.

Breaking Away Is Tough

In my opinion, Clay Travis was OutKick. He wasn’t simply the founder, CEO and Godfather of the digital brand. He was its biggest star, its loudest champion and the personality most closely associated with it, even years after selling the company to Fox. That matters.

Personality-driven media brands create a different relationship with their audiences. Followers become attached to the person as much as the logo. There’s history, familiarity and a connection between creator and consumer. It happens in radio, television, and digital media.

Where the star goes, the audience follows. That’s what Travis is betting on with Sport & State.

OutKick is Travis. Travis is OutKick. Johnny Carson was synonymous with The Tonight Show. Dave Portnoy is inseparable from Barstool Sports. Bill Simmons is forever connected to The Ringer. You can sell the company, change the logo, and build a new website. What you can’t do is completely separate a creator from the brand he helped build.

That’s why Travis saying he doesn’t plan to compete with OutKick makes little sense. Of course he’s competing with OutKick.

Blow The Whistle

Sport & State will compete with Barstool Sports. It will compete with The Ringer. It will compete with every digital outlet fighting for sports fans’ attention. But it will compete with OutKick in a uniquely personal way because of the person sitting at the center of both brands. Travis knows his audience. More importantly, he helped create the lane in which that audience lives. Why else would Withrow and Hutton join Sport & State after leaving OutKick, with Travis’ departure coming just a month later? Kelly In Vegas switched platforms, too.

Travis didn’t build a lineup that was completely foreign to his previous audience. He built one that looked familiar. That’s intentional. It’s also smart. Travis is right. OutKick and Sport & State aren’t necessarily Pepsi and Coke. His peanut butter-and-jelly comparison makes sense. But here’s the problem with that analogy: Consumers still have to decide which jar they’re reaching for.

Some people like more jelly. Others like more peanut butter. Either way, they’re making a choice. The same is true with media.

There are only so many hours in a day. Only so much attention an audience can give. Only so many clicks, video views, podcast downloads, social interactions, advertising dollars and subscriptions available to competing companies. Call them companions if you want. They’re still competing for the same shelf space. And that competition could be the best thing to happen to both brands.

Push One Another

OutKick now has a reason to remind its audience why it remains relevant. Craig Carton coming to the brand was a significant addition ahead of Travis’ announcement. The company now has another reason to make sure its content, talent and personality remain compelling.

Sport & State has an entirely different challenge. It has to prove that Travis can build something that stands on its own. Not OutKick 2.0. Not the company Travis wishes he had built the first time. Something new. Both brands now have an incentive. That’s where competition becomes valuable. Competition creates urgency. Travis should understand that better than almost anyone.

OutKick became successful because it didn’t spend its early years trying to be everything to everyone. It identified an audience, understood what that audience wanted and relentlessly pursued it. Sport & State is now attempting to do the same thing. So let it. Sport & State doesn’t need to pretend OutKick isn’t competition. OutKick doesn’t need to pretend Sport & State doesn’t exist. And Travis certainly doesn’t need to convince anyone that two brands built around the same creator, competing for overlapping audiences and talent aren’t going to compete.

They will. The question isn’t whether Sport & State and OutKick are competitors. The question is whether both sides are willing to embrace it. Because competition isn’t necessarily a threat. Sometimes, it’s the thing that makes you better.

If Travis’ second act is as ambitious as his first, the biggest winner may not be Sport & State or OutKick. It may be the audience. Two brands. One crowded marketplace. Two reasons for Travis to keep swinging.

Let them compete.

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

20 Brands in 20 Days: Yonni Rude, 97.9 The Box & Majic 102.1 in Houston

David Hill
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20 Brands in 20 Days: Yonni Rude, 97.9 The Box & Majic 102.1 in Houston

Yonni Rude arrived at 97.9 The Box in Houston just over two and a half years ago. He stepped into a station with a long and storied history spanning multiple ownership eras. “The Box has been around for a long time,” he explains. “It was Clear Channel first, then went over to Radio One. This was in the ’90s… April 1991 is when Box signed on. Though relatively new to Houston, Rude brings decades of programming experience across multiple markets, formats, and platforms.

His resume includes stops in Fayetteville, Charleston, Detroit, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Richmond — a career spanning diverse markets and formats. His track record in station success earned him the inaugural Mike McVay Award, one of radio’s most prestigious honors. Yet when you ask him what drives his work at The Box, you’ll hear something more personal than accolades. He demonstrates deep commitment to mentorship. He honors the tenured voices that define a station’s identity. Moreover, he nurtures the next generation of talent that will carry radio forward.

The Current Lineup: Experience and Elevation

The Box’s on-air landscape reflects Rude’s philosophy of building around established talent while creating room for emerging voices. The morning show, Good Morning H-Town, carries the torch from decades past. “Every member of the show, from J-Que, who we just added to the lead chair in February, to J-Mac and Young Jas, they were all members of the Madd Hatta Morning Show, which of course was on the box for decades,” Rude notes. For Rude, local continuity matters enormously in today’s media landscape. “Houston’s very local,” he says. “I know that’s kind of rare in 2026, but in Middays, Keisha Nicole, who previously hosted the first incarnation of Good Morning H-Town… is an amazing talent, who’s just been great at connecting with the audiences. Great in person, great on air.”

In afternoon drive, G-Man anchors the schedule — a personality who has been with the company “for a couple decades as well too.” Notably, what stands out most about The Box’s staff isn’t star power alone, but staying power. “One thing you’ll notice about the box,” Rude observes, “the Box staff has been there for a while. Most people, when they get to the box, they stay there.” He calls it marination rather than mere seasoning — a slow-cooked development that builds institutional knowledge and audience loyalty across years.

Managing, Developing, and Unleashing Potential

When pressed on how he manages tenured talent while still pushing for evolution and growth, Rude returns to first principles. He was asked a similar question while speaking to students at Virginia State University in 2017. His answer reveals the core of his philosophy. “I look for hunger, humility, and the willingness to learn,” he says. “One of them said, ‘Well, what about running the board and all that stuff?’ I said, ‘Oh, I can teach you that. I can’t teach you to be hungry. I can’t teach you to be humble. I can’t teach you to want to learn. So I think that’s the key with the veteran talent as well as the young talent, right? Because if someone thinks they already know it all, there’s nothing you can tell them.'”

This approach extends to how he cultivates mentorship without making it feel forced or obligatory. When discussing a young talent he hired, he described a moment where one of his veteran personalities — “someone who is very seasoned and considered not just the best in the market, but in the industry” — offered unsolicited encouragement. “I had to tell him later,” Rude recalls. “I don’t think you realize how much that meant to her for you to say that. I can tell her that all the time, but at the same time, for someone else, not only one of her peers, but one who is respected and considered the best to say that, carries a lot of weight.”

Importantly, Rude has never asked anyone to mentor younger talent. Mandatory mentorship becomes a chore. Instead, he creates an environment where peer-to-peer growth happens organically. “I’ve never asked anyone to do that, because how many people want to do a chore?”

The Arc of Recognition

The honors have arrived in succession. First, he earned the Marconi Award for Urban Station of the Year in 2025 with Magic 102.1 and then in 2026 came the inaugural Mike McVay Award. When he received the call about the McVay honor, his first instinct was disbelief. “I really asked that question. Why me, right?” he says. “Because when you keep your head down and you’re just you’re going forward, this is what you do, and then you realize, oh, there are other people actually realizing what you do. It really means a lot.”

What strikes him most about the award is its connection to McVay’s legacy across formats and markets. “When you have someone who has been so instrumental in the industry and in programming across different formats… I don’t think I can really put it into words how much that really means.” However, he’s careful to reframe both accolades as team achievements. “While it looks like an individual award, I still look at it as a team award because again, like I said at the Barrett Media Summit, my team makes me look good. THEY do the work.”

Paying It Forward

The thread that ties Rude’s career together isn’t ambition for the next title or the next market — it’s gratitude and obligation. When asked what mountain comes next, he’s honest: “I really don’t know what the next one is.” That openness reflects a man anchored by what came before. He thinks constantly about what he owes to those who helped him climb.

“There are people who helped me get to where I am. I have to pay that forward too,” he explains. At WZFX,Dee Cherie stopped him walking through the studio and asked what he wanted to do. At his very first remote, Lamont Swyng saw his nerves and helped him through the breaks. These small acts of attention and encouragement shaped his entire career. Indeed, at The Box — one of two heritage brands he shepherds in Houston — that same debt is being repaid daily. “I feel that’s what we should all do, but not everybody does. And I think it’s important for me to make sure that I do that.”

That’s the real legacy Yonni Rude is building. He’s not just chasing awards or ratings. It’s like his grandfather once asked him, “Now that you have their attention, what are you going to teach them?” He’s creating a station culture where seasoned professionals and emerging voices lift one another up. Local radio remains sacred in his world. The next generation knows exactly where to find their mentors.

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

5 Years After His Passing, Phil Valentine’s Colleagues Remember His Legacy

Garrett Searight
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5 Years After His Passing, Phil Valentine’s Colleagues Remember His Legacy

Five years have passed since Phil Valentine died, but the people who worked alongside him at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN in Nashville still speak about him in the present tense. His voice shaped the station for decades, and his influence still lingers in the building today. Colleagues describe a broadcaster who understood his craft, his community, and his audience better than almost anyone in the format.

Valentine passed away on August 21, 2021, after contracting COVID-19. Before his death, he shared deep remorse over his earlier skepticism toward the vaccine, urging his listeners to take the virus seriously and get vaccinated themselves. That transparency, those who knew him say, was simply who he was.

Three people who worked closest to Valentine agreed to reflect on his life and legacy. John Bozeman, known to many in the industry as “Johnny B,” produced Valentine’s show for more than 30 years. Dan Mandis, now host of Nashville’s Morning News on the station, served as Valentine’s final program director. Mike McVay, who spent years as Executive Vice President of Content and Programming at Cumulus Media, worked with Valentine during the final stretch of his career.

A Nashville Radio Legend

Bozeman put Valentine in rare company when discussing his talent behind the microphone.

“I’ve always put him up there with Rush Limbaugh,” said Bozeman. “He had the same kind of connection to his audience. He was a great radio man like Rush was… He understood theater of the mind.”

Mandis pointed to longevity as the defining trait of Valentine’s career.

“The thing about Phil is longevity,” Mandis said. “He was in Nashville for years and years and years. He had a brief stint in Philadelphia, but then he came back home. He was instrumental in what Nashville remains today, which is a state that does not have a state income tax.”

McVay’s history with Valentine stretched back even further, to the days before either of them arrived at Cumulus.

“He just always was a guy who knew how to connect to an audience and how to connect to a community,” the former Cumulus executive stated. “He cared about the community. He cared about people, and he cared about providing a viewpoint that he was passionate about.”

Mandis also credited Valentine with shaping SuperTalk 99.7 WTN‘s identity long after his passing.

“I think the station still gets some of that glow from the Phil Valentine years,” Mandis said. “When people ask me what I do, and I say, ‘I work at WTN,’ they’ll look at me kind of quizzically, and I’m like, ‘The station that Phil Valentine was on.’ Oh, yeah, Phil.”

Mandis added that the station still uses Valentine’s voice in its legal IDs. “People still thank me for doing that five years later. That’s how much people loved him.”

Transparency in His Final Days

Valentine’s skepticism toward the COVID-19 vaccine defined the final chapter of his public life, and McVay didn’t shy away from that reality.

“Probably the most controversial thing was he was very much anti-vaccine as the pandemic began,” the former Cumulus executive stated. “As he got COVID and ultimately died, he changed his tune while he was in the hospital.”

That shift, according to McVay, revealed the same honesty that defined Valentine’s entire career.

“I believe some of the trade publications even printed words from him saying, ‘Take it from me, get the vaccine. Don’t go through what I’m going through,'” McVay shared. “That’s the transparency he had.”

Bozeman echoed that sentiment when discussing how Valentine should be remembered.

“That’s one thing I hope people take away from their memories of him — not how he died, but how the guy knew how to live,” said Bozeman. “I think that’s what endeared him to people, especially listeners, and even those that he worked with.”

The Man Behind the Microphone

Beyond the ratings and the political commentary, those closest to Valentine remember a man defined by generosity. Bozeman recalled how Valentine treated everyone at the station equally, regardless of title or position.

“The cleaning crew at the radio station, I don’t care who you were, he talked to everybody and treated you equally,” Bozeman shared. “When it was Christmas, Phil gave the cleaning crew a bonus. He didn’t have to, but he did. That was the kind of guy he was.”

Mandis experienced that same generosity firsthand when he first arrived in Nashville 12 years ago as WTN’s new midday host. Valentine, already a market legend, reached out with an offer few would expect from someone of his stature.

“Hey, if you need help moving into your new place, me and my sons would be right over,” Mandis said. “That just doesn’t happen. I was amazed.”

That humility, paired with genuine talent, is what made Valentine so respected across Nashville radio. Mandis described their working relationship as collaborative rather than hierarchical, even after Mandis became his program director.

“He never fought me. He’d say, ‘Have you ever thought about this or that or the other?'” said Mandis. “It was very collaborative in nature, and I always appreciated that about Phil.”

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

Mix 104.1’s Kennedy Elsey Turns Her Microphone Into a Lifeline

Bethany Kent
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Mix 104.1’s Kennedy Elsey Turns Her Microphone Into a Lifeline

Kennedy Elsey has spent more than 16 years on Boston mornings. Over that time, she has now found her true purpose and is using the megaphone of radio to make an impact where it matters.

I have been aware of Elsey’s work in mental health advocacy for a handful of years. I worked alongside her helping to curate content for Audacy’s I’m Listening initiative. But it’s only been recently, since living back in New England and commuting most mornings, that I’ve been able to spend enough time listening to her on-air to really get a full understanding of her work.

Elsey is co-host of “Karson & Kennedy” on Audacy’s Mix 104.1 and recently received the 2026 MIW Airblazer Award. She was chosen by last year’s honoree, Karen Carson. For Elsey, that detail mattered as much as the award itself.

“I was just honored to be honest,” Elsey said. “To be chosen by a woman I truly respect and to be included amongst the women who came before was unreal. She and I are so similar, and we share what it is to be a woman in the industry.”

Passing It Forward to the Next Generation

The Airblazer Award recognizes women who lift up others in the industry. It makes sense that when asked about who she wants to spotlight in the next generation of female radio talent, Elsey already has a list of names.

“Oh my gosh, I love my girly pops,” she said, naming Kira in Columbia, Hannah B in Chicago, and Kadie Daye among the talent she roots for. Her advice to them is simple and direct. “I want them to know that they have value, no matter their age or how long they’ve been in the game. Take up space, my loves.”

That message traces back to her own early years in the format, when confidence took time to build. Now she wants to shorten that timeline for the women coming up behind her.

A Walk That Keeps Growing, and Why That Matters

Elsey’s mental health advocacy has become inseparable from her on-air identity. Her Wicked Long Walk fundraiser has gained a ton of local attention and grown year to year.

“In two years, our listeners donated $113,000,” Elsey said. “I live with a litany of mental health issues, and once I started talking about it on-air, the world changed. Our listeners are the most kind and giving people on earth, and hearing about the donations and stories while I walk is something I will never be able to truly articulate.”

That openness did not stay confined to fundraising season. Once Elsey started sharing her own story regularly on the air, listeners started sharing back.

“It has changed everything,” she said. “Listeners have come up to me, emailed, or DM’d me that because of my story, they have started therapy, or their kid asked them if they could start therapy. I’ve even had a few say that by speaking out, I’ve saved them from taking a dark path. It’s such an honor.”

Few morning hosts can point to a direct line between their show and someone else’s decision to seek help. Elsey can, and she does not take it lightly.

The Penguin Suit and the Value of Being Nobody

Not every side project carries that same weight. Earlier this year, Elsey volunteered at Franklin Park Zoo where she relished in the opportunity to have a bit of rare anonymity by dressing in a penguin costume.

The gig made for an epic on-air bit for Mix 104.1 listeners, when Elsey had to miss work due to an allergic reaction to the penguin costume. What struck me as a listener was hearing her talk about how she loved being able to interact with the public while hidden inside the suit.

“My social anxiety is bonkers, which makes it hard to be at events and in public,” Elsey said. “Being able to hide a bit and just be a ‘normal girl’ keeps me humble and makes it easier for me to interact.”

For someone whose career depends on being recognized, a costume that erased her identity for a day offered a strange kind of relief. It is a small window into how Elsey manages the pressure of a public-facing job while carrying private struggles.

Can’t Beat Kennedy Became a Franchise

On lighter terrain, “Karson & Kennedy” built one of radio’s more durable contesting franchises in “Can’t Beat Kennedy.” Elsey credits programmer Steve Reynolds with bringing the feature to the show, and it has since spread to more than 50 stations.

“CBK is an animal that has grown and become our most popular feature,” she said. “It’s just fun. You don’t need a prize, although the money is nice. People just want to play along.”

The feature has become a generational touchstone for some listeners. Elsey said people in their 20s tell her they played along with their parents on the school run. One listener even listed beating Elsey as a fun fact on her Hinge profile, which Elsey called a highlight of her year.

Nearly Two Decades In, and Still Learning

Elsey and co-host Karson Tager have shared a Boston morning show since 2009. Sixteen-plus years in, Elsey said the rhythm of the job looks nothing like it did at the start.

“We know what we are doing now, and that took a looooong time,” she said. “We were flying by the seat of our pants in the early years. But with time and guidance from Steve Salhany and Steve Reynolds, we were able to fine-tune it into what we have now. We are such good friends and have been for 25-plus years, which helps.”

That friendship, paired with two decades of trial and error, shows up in how the show connects with its city. Elsey pointed to that local connection as the show’s clearest edge over syndicated or AI-generated competition.

“We focus on being hyperlocal,” she said. Explaining that “we are part of the community. We are friends with our listeners. We meet them where they are.”

What Comes Next

Between the Airblazer honor, the growth of the Wicked Long Walk, and a viral zoo shift, Elsey has had a packed year outside the studio. Even so, she is not chasing a new project. She is doubling down on where she sees her impact most valuable.

“I will continue to focus on my mental health work,” she said. “I realize now that THAT is why I was put in front of a microphone. It’s been life-changing.”

For Elsey, the mission is already set. The next chapter is simply doing more of it.

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

MTV’s Decision to Drop the Rock Category From the VMA Awards is Ridiculous

Keith Cunningham
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MTV’s Decision to Drop the Rock Category From the VMA Awards is Ridiculous

It’s one thing when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts R&B artists that cause the internet to melt down, or when the Grammys hands out Rock hardware to a Pop band — we’ve come to expect that. And as perplexing as that still is, news came crashing down this week that MTV has dropped the “Rock Category” from the VMAs.

What?

They dropped a still-thriving genre that was unquestionably one of the most instrumental in making MTV famous? Let’s give New Wave, Pop, and Michael Jackson their flowers, but who can even imagine MTV in the late ’80s and ’90s without: Metallica, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, and Headbanger’s Ball?

MTV’s Golden Age

Then came Nirvana, which transformed the channel seemingly overnight. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” played multiple times per hour — more spins per hour than Madonna was getting at Top 40 radio.

The Rock removal ends a 35+ year run of representation at the VMAs. Importantly, there is still “Alternative,” or MTV’s questionable definition of what Alternative is, which is another whole discussion. Ideally, at least there’s faint hope an electric guitar or real drum set might be on the show’s backline rider. (Let’s not hold our breath.)

The Bigger Picture

Certainly, let’s not hate on MTV too much. MTV isn’t a music outlet anymore — it’s a reality-TV network that occasionally cosplays as a music brand once a year. It’s their awards show, so they can do whatever they want with it. However, the bigger questions remain. Why dump Rock when other genres remain? And why won’t they explain it?

It can’t be streaming relevance. Rock remains one of the top global streaming genres. It can’t be touring strength. Rock acts crush touring revenue every year in arenas, stadiums, and festivals. It can’t be broad appeal. According to Luminate, Rock is the #2 most consumed music genre in the United States, beating Pop, Country, Latin, and EDM. The only answer that makes sense is that Rock simply isn’t the audience MTV is going for anymore. Notably, maybe if someone on Jersey Shore were in a rock band, things might be different.

Although MTV and the VMAs don’t carry the cultural punch they once did, I’d rather see the Rock category remain. Fortunately, Rock will be just fine without it. Rock is still everywhere — there’s no shortage of radio stations, streams, and platforms blasting Rock — old and new.

Rock as the Underdog

In fact, isn’t this how the Rock story is supposed to go? Rock is always the underdog. The outsider. The thing that makes its way in, steals the girl, rights the ship, kills the bad guys, and everyone cheers at the end. Perhaps the VMAs are doing Rock a favor? (Don’t blame a guy for trying to find a silver lining.)

I wanted to find out what friends and colleagues thought. Therefore, I reached out to a few for their thoughts.

Expert Voices

“MTV hasn’t had any credibility with rock fans for a very long time. This is unfortunate, but I’m not surprised.”
Ryan Castle — VP of Rock Formats, Audacy

“Seriously, since the VMAs decided to exclude ‘Rock’ from their anachronistic awards program, I’ve actually heard more buzz about the show than I have in years. So, that’s saying something.”
Fred Jacobs — President, Jacobs Media

“If you can name any of the last 3 ‘Best Rock’ Winners without Googling, I’ll give you a dollar. (Answer: Coldplay, Lenny Kravitz, and Maneskin). In fact, can you name any winner of any MTV award from the last 3 years? It’s hard to get too worked up over losing a ‘platform’ that wasn’t doing a whole lot of elevating to begin with.”
Derek Madden — VP of Mainstream Rock Formats, Cumulus Media

“For MTV to drop the Rock category is surprising and feels as if they’re misaligned with how music migrates across formats in an era where streaming is the music leader and has no format borders. The Foo Fighters, Shinedown, Jack White may appear on the Alternative charts, but they’re Rock bands. How do they not warrant their own category?”
Mike McVay — President, McVay Media Consulting

“I loved the rock-fueled years I was at MTV and VH-1. It’s disappointing they dropped the Rock category because there’s certainly enough going on to justify one, or a few. MTV used to create music pop culture, and the VMAs would award it. Today, MTV isn’t in the music game, so dropping the Rock category is probably more about what direction they’re heading in, not an indictment of the music.”
Matt Pinfield — Former MTV/VH-1 VJ, Award Winning Rock Culturalist

The Irony

I heard from many others, and to no surprise, the collective sentiment is clear. It’s not only disappointing and surprising — without any explanation, it comes across as tone deaf or like an embarrassing oversight. Completely ignoring a massive genre that helped get the network to the dance in the first place feels like:

McDonald’s dropping fries
ESPN ditching Sportscenter
TikTok banning dance videos

But really, in one of the oddest twists of irony, it’s all good. MTV’s most played and most popular show these days, by a wide margin, is named Ridiculousness.

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

Would Scott Jennings Really Leave CNN and Radio Behind for the White House?

Pete Mundo
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Would Scott Jennings Really Leave CNN and Radio Behind for the White House?

As speculation grows around who should — or will — be the next White House press secretary, my message to those intrigued by the brightest lights this side of Hollywood: be careful what you wish for.

The idea of being one of the most recognizable people in the country is going to be appealing to a wide swath of highly motivated individuals.

But for people who already have a big audience and following, there is little upside.

Why Hosts Already Have the Bigger Platform

I laughed when I saw Scott Jennings‘ name come up. Not because Scott would not be excellent at the job — he would be. But if you’re Scott Jennings, why would you take a sizable pay cut to say what someone else wants you to say, whether you believe it or not, when you already have several hours every day on radio and TV, nationwide, to share with your audience exactly what you think?

And let’s not forget, when you’re the host of a show, you control the narrative. You study the topics you and your audience care about for the following day. As a source noted to CNN about the position, “I don’t think people grasp how much studying is required to do that job, how much reading, how much thoroughly understanding every topic you could possibly be asked — I don’t think everybody recognizes how much work that is.”

And that’s where I think many people misunderstand the appeal of the position.

The public often confuses visibility with influence. A White House press secretary may become one of the most recognizable people in America, but recognition and influence are not always the same thing. The press secretary delivers the message. The people who often shape public opinion are the hosts, commentators, and analysts who interpret that message for millions of Americans every day.

The Career Calculus Has Changed

Twenty years ago, a job like White House press secretary may have been one of the quickest paths to national prominence. Today, that’s not necessarily true. Someone like Scott Jennings is already reaching millions of people every week on television and radio. In many respects, he’s already sitting in the seat many former press secretaries eventually hope to occupy.

Yes, there’s great recognition, and the post-career opportunities can be tremendous. However, most press secretaries ultimately end up in media anyway.

To be clear, this isn’t an argument against the job itself. For an up-and-coming political communicator, White House press secretary can be a career-defining opportunity. It can take someone from relative obscurity to national prominence almost overnight.

But if you already have a wildly visible and lucrative platform, what exactly would be the end game?

Scott Jennings isn’t trying to become a national voice. He already is one.

The Risk-Reward Math Doesn’t Add Up

That’s why the risk-reward equation feels completely upside down for someone in Jennings’ position. The downside is relentless scrutiny, daily controversy, and taking ownership of every decision made by the administration, whether you personally agree with it or not. The upside often amounts to a bigger perch in the media business after your time in government.

For someone who already has a national television presence, a successful national radio platform, and a loyal audience, that destination has already been reached.

I would also argue that Scott Jennings’ voice is more valuable in front of millions on TV and radio with regularity. The press secretary, whoever he or she ends up being, is going to have the talking points of the boss — that’s the job.

But then, it gets filtered through those in the media landscape who have sizable audiences.

And the icing on the cake: does anyone really want to have to spend time defending this Iran War? The gig doesn’t pay enough for that.

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

How the WNBA Proved Me and Everyone Else Wrong

John Lund
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How the WNBA Proved Me and Everyone Else Wrong

In the summer of 1997, I was a young sports reporter in Salt Lake City and got an assignment that, at the time, didn’t exactly feel like covering the Super Bowl. I was a sideline reporter for the Utah Starzz during the inaugural season of the WNBA. Yes, Starzz. With two Z’s. It was Utah in the ’90s. Apparently, everything needed to rhyme with Jazz.

I remember standing in the arena during that first season. Looking around some nights at what felt like a few hundred people scattered throughout a building designed for thousands more. The official numbers were better than my memory makes them seem. Utah averaged 7,611 fans that first season, but the Starzz still ranked dead last in attendance in an eight-team league.

I remember thinking something that, almost 30 years later, I can safely admit. This thing isn’t going to make it.

Great call, John. Thankfully, social media didn’t exist yet to preserve that take for eternity.

30 Years To Success

The WNBA began in 1997 with eight teams and a 28-game schedule. I respected the players and the basketball, but I certainly didn’t see what was coming. I’m pretty sure nobody standing next to me in Salt Lake City was whispering, “Just wait 30 years until these franchises are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and Amazon is fighting for streaming rights.”

Yet here we are.

I work in the Bay Area, where the Golden State Valkyries are only in their second season and have already been valued at $1 billion. The first women’s sports franchise to reach that mark. The average WNBA franchise is now valued at roughly $460 million. That’s an incredible business story. But the sports media story may be even better, because networks don’t pay for good intentions.

They pay for eyeballs.

Go back to 2023, the season before Caitlin Clark entered the league. WNBA games on ESPN platforms averaged roughly 440,000 viewers. Then Clark arrived. In 2024, ESPN’s regular-season WNBA audience jumped 170%, averaging nearly 1.2 million viewers. The WNBA Draft averaged 2.4 million, up 328% from the previous year,. The All-Star Game drew 3.4 million, the largest audience in the event’s history. ESPN’s social engagement around WNBA content increased 413%. Video views exploded 642%.

Those aren’t participation trophies. Those are media numbers.

Caitlin Clark

It would have been easy to dismiss 2024 as simply the Caitlin Clark phenomenon, and let’s be clear: Clark changed the business. Pretending otherwise is like saying Tiger Woods didn’t change golf television ratings. She brought millions of people through the front door who weren’t watching before. The bigger question was whether they would stay.

Then 2025 happened. Instead of retreating from that enormous 2024 jump, ESPN’s WNBA regular-season audience increased another 6%, to 1.3 million viewers. Its postseason averaged 1.2 million. The most-watched WNBA postseason on ESPN platforms ever, while the Finals averaged 1.5 million. Even WNBA Countdown increased its postseason audience by 30%. That’s when a moment starts looking more like a market.

Television executives apparently agree.

The WNBA’s new national media-rights agreements kicked in this season and run through 2036. The primary package with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon has been reported at roughly $200 million per year. That’s about four times what the league had been receiving.

This season, the WNBA has a record 216 nationally distributed games and events across a collection of broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. Think about that compared with the league I covered in 1997.

Back then, the question was whether anybody would watch. Now the problem may be figuring out which remote to use.

Maybe that’s the biggest change of all. Women’s basketball doesn’t have to constantly make the argument anymore that it deserves media coverage. ESPN isn’t putting games on ABC because somebody in Bristol wants a pat on the back. Amazon isn’t buying rights because Jeff Bezos suddenly became sentimental about pick-and-roll defense. They believe people will watch. Sports media follows eyeballs. Always has. Sometimes we’re just slow figuring out where those eyeballs are going.

What fascinates me most is how wrong my younger self was about where this could go.

Believe In ‘The W’

In 1997, I saw a fledgling league trying to establish itself in an already crowded American sports landscape. I saw empty seats, a product searching for an audience, and something that looked vulnerable. Nearly 30 years later, WNBA franchises are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. National television audiences have more than doubled in just a few years. In addition, some of the biggest media companies in the world have committed to showing the league through 2036.

Maybe the lesson isn’t only about the WNBA.

Maybe it’s about sports media and our tendency to decide far too quickly what people will and won’t care about.

We love declaring things dead. Baseball is dead. Radio is dead. Linear television is dead. Nobody will watch women’s basketball. Young people don’t watch sports. Then the audience has this annoying habit of making its own decisions.

I had mine made in Salt Lake City in 1997: This league doesn’t have a future. Thirty years later, WNBA teams are worth hundreds of millions, television networks are fighting for the games, and the Golden State Valkyries are worth a billion dollars.

Good thing nobody asked the sideline reporter.

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

Can This CNN Innovation Help Reach Younger Audiences?

Garrett Searight
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Can This CNN Innovation Help Reach Younger Audiences?

CNN’s The Arena with Kasie Hunt has leaned on an on-screen “text chain” during its run, and the graphic keeps drawing attention every time it pops up. The on-air visual displays real-time thoughts and reactions from CNN contributors, styled to look exactly like a group text thread scrolling across the screen while Hunt works through whatever topic dominates the hour. It’s not subtle, and it’s not meant to be.

This isn’t a new wrinkle for the show, either. The Arena has featured the text chain graphic for quite a while now, and it hasn’t gone away. But watching it evolve has been genuinely interesting, mostly because it feels like a deliberate swing at engaging a younger audience that doesn’t necessarily default to cable news.

The logic tracks. Younger viewers grew up on text chains, group messages, and firing off spontaneous reactions to whatever’s happening in real time. Meeting them where they already live — inside a scrolling thread of opinions — isn’t a bad instinct, even if it looks unusual next to a traditional cable news set.

Why It Works — And Why It Might Not

Do older viewers hate it? Probably, and that’s a fair guess given how change usually lands with legacy cable audiences. Traditional viewers tend to want their anchors delivering information in a straight line, not sharing screen space with a stack of scrolling text bubbles. Still, that reaction doesn’t necessarily mean the format is wrong for CNN’s broader goals.

Because here’s the thing: virtually any organization worth a darn is focused on the future and on acquiring new customers, not just protecting the ones it already has. Networks that only cater to their existing base tend to shrink over time as that base ages out. Consequently, if a scrolling text chain is what it takes to pull younger eyes toward CNN’s programming, that’s a trade worth making.

Hunt also feels like the right person to test this on. She’s spent her career building credibility across platforms, from print journalism to podcasting to television, and she carries an ease with digital-native formats that a lot of longtime anchors simply don’t have. The text chain doesn’t feel forced when she’s hosting; it feels like an extension of how she already communicates.

Could This Spread Beyond The Arena?

The bigger question is whether CNN expands this beyond one show. If the text chain graphic continues pulling in the audience the network wants, it wouldn’t be surprising to see similar formats show up elsewhere on the schedule. Additionally, other networks chasing the same demographic shift could start experimenting with comparable tools of their own.

That said, execution matters here more than the concept itself. A scrolling thread of contributor reactions only works if the comments add something — context, humor, a counterpoint — rather than just cluttering the screen for the sake of looking modern. Hunt’s show has generally managed that balance, which is likely why the format has stuck around this long instead of getting quietly phased out.

Ultimately, this is a small piece of a much larger conversation about how cable news survives the next decade. Younger audiences aren’t tuning into linear television the way previous generations did, and networks know it. Experiments like this one won’t single-handedly reverse that trend, but they at least show CNN is willing to test something rather than standing still.

Whether The Arena ends up as the blueprint or just a one-off remains to be seen. Either way, it’s worth watching where CNN takes it next.

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

Angela Yee Day Returns Sunday With Free Brooklyn Celebration

David Hill
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Angela Yee Day Returns Sunday With Free Brooklyn Celebration

Angela Yee Day returns this Sunday outside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The free family event celebrates community impact and social justice.

What We Know The event runs 12-5pm and marks the fourth annual celebration since Mayor Bill De Blasio designated the day in 2018. Therefore, organizers packed the schedule with resource-focused activations. Kids get free hair braiding from sponsor Libaci. Additionally, a mobile barber shop brings free haircuts for students heading back to school. Mesador distributes massive gift baskets to expecting and new mothers—filling a critical community need.

What They Said “It’s nice that people look forward to it,” Yee told us during a recent conversation. She continued: “If there’s anything I can do where I can provide resources or just provide some entertainment for people where they don’t have to come out of their pocket for anything—that goes a long way.” Her commitment reflects a deeper philosophy about business responsibility during economic uncertainty.

What Remains Unclear First, the exact artist performance schedule hasn’t been confirmed. Meanwhile, organizers promised a Broadway musical performance from the upcoming show “Wanted.” Also, the full reggae and dancehall roster—including artists like Ding Dong and Sham—deserves expanded promotion.

What It Means Small business owners facing genuine financial pressures still prioritize community investment. Moreover, Yee’s coffee shop partnership with the Social Justice Fund demonstrates how commerce and social responsibility intertwine. Ultimately, this event models sustainable community giving during challenging economic seasons.

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

iHeartMedia’s SportsTalk 790 Announces Lineup Swap Beginning Monday

John Mamola
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iHeartMedia’s SportsTalk 790 Announces Lineup Swap Beginning Monday

A Houston lineup shuffle just landed, and it’s a big one. SportsTalk 790 announced sweeping changes to mornings and middays, effective Monday.

What We Know: Matt Thomas and Ross Villarreal move from middays into mornings, hosting Matt & Ross In The Morning from 6 to 10 a.m. starting Monday. Dan Matthews shifts the other direction, taking over middays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Joshua Jordan also gets a promotion, moving from producer to co-host of The Dan Matthews Show. Meanwhile, The A-Team with Adam Clanton and Adam Wexler stays in afternoon drive, 2 to 6 p.m.

What They Said: Dan Matthews on moving to middays (via X): “Excited about it. I am pumped that I don’t have to wake up at 430 anymore. But I’ve loved doing the mornings. It’s been amazing. It’s been awesome.”

Dan Matthews on his approach to the new show in middays (via X): “Every day that’s what we’ll do. I’ll take you all to lunch. Not literally, but you know, send you on your way. Then when you go get that midday cup of coffee, why don’t you come join me?”

What Remains Unclear: No additional staff shifts accompany this announcement so far. Still, it’s unclear whether producer or support roles shift alongside the on-air changes.

What It Means: This move signals confidence in Matt Thomas and Ross Villarreal as a morning duo. Consequently, SportsTalk 790 is leaning into Dan Matthews’ relaxed, listener-first energy for middays. Meanwhile, elevating Joshua Jordan shows the station values homegrown talent. The announcement comes just a week after crosstown rival SportsRadio 610 flipped to FM and rebranded as 95.7 The Fan.

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