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Approaching The Summit: Justin Johnson, 98Rock

David Hill
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Approaching The Summit: Justin Johnson, 98Rock

Approaching The Summit is a series of special interviews created in partnership with Point to Point Marketing featuring speakers at the upcoming 2026 Barrett Media Audio Summit in New York City. Follow along with this series as prominent names surrounding the event June 30-July 2 share their insights and expectations for what’s to come in the big apple. The Summit takes place at the SVA Theatre on West 23rd Street. For tickets and hotel room reservations, click here or visit the Summit section at the top of the website. 

As radio professionals prepare to gather for another industry conference, few topics are more relevant than the value of continuous learning, collaboration, and adapting to a rapidly changing media landscape. Justin Johnson, Program Director of Baltimore’s legendary 98 Rock (WIYY), believes radio’s future belongs to brands willing to evolve beyond simply playing music and instead focus on personality, content, community, and culture. In this Q&A with Barrett Media, Johnson shares his thoughts on the importance of industry events, the challenges facing rock radio, the value of learning from peers, and why taking risks may be more important than ever.

*Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.*

David Hill: Why is it important to attend events and learn?

Justin Johnson: It’s important because none of us has the whole answer. You can get tunnel vision very quickly. You’re focused on your station, your ratings, your market, your talent, your fires — and suddenly you realize you’ve been solving the same problems with the same tools. There may be other ways to solve your problems. The best programmers — workers in general — I know are still students. The second you think you’ve got radio figured out, everything changes, and you know nothing.

David Hill: What is the value of connecting with peers and competitors?

Justin Johnson: The value is huge, because we’re all fighting similar battles even when we’re competing against each other. The truth is, a good conversation with another programmer can save you six months of mistakes. I think the best value of the bigger companies is the wealth of knowledge and accessibility to smart people. That’s why it’s a shame to see the big companies devalue the humans on the ground. That’s your wealth, and they are throwing it away.

David Hill: Biggest challenge facing rock radio?

Justin Johnson: For rock, the biggest challenge is making sure the format feels alive, not preserved in amber. The music matters, obviously. But in 2026, listeners can get every song ever recorded from a device in their pocket. So our job can’t just be “play the right songs.” That’s table stakes. The real job is giving the audience something they cannot get from an algorithm — attitude, context, companionship, local connection, humor, chaos, community, and a reason to care. In short, programmers are the biggest challenge to the format. The old trope of the PD that’s afraid of his own shadow is as true as it’s ever been. Being afraid to be fired in 2026 is going to kill your station quickly. Danger is the friend of the format. Get in trouble and risk it when necessary — if you get fired, at least it’s for a vision you believed in.

David Hill: Favorite moment from past shows?

Justin Johnson: I love the moments where radio people drop the armor a little bit. We all act like we’ve got it completely figured out, but then you get into a real conversation and realize everybody is trying to solve the same puzzle with fewer pieces than they used to have. Those are the moments where you walk away better.

David Hill: Speaker you want to hear most?

Justin Johnson: Lee Abrams is one I’d really want to hear. That’s someone who helped shape the language of rock radio, but I’m less interested in nostalgia than I am in hearing how a mind like that looks at the next version of this business.

David Hill: View of the industry, present and future.

Justin Johnson: I think radio’s future is strong, but only for brands willing to evolve. We can’t just be music delivery systems anymore — the audience already has those. We have to be personality companies, content companies, community companies, and culture companies — with a transmitter as one of our biggest weapons. The stations that understand that are going to be fine. The stations that don’t are going to sound like a museum with commercials.

Purchase your tickets to the 2026 BSM Summit here, and for more information BarrettMedia.com

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. 

‘Inside the NBA’ Lost Some Spark Through No Fault of It’s Own on ESPN

John Mamola
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‘Inside the NBA’ Lost Some Spark Through No Fault of It’s Own on ESPN

The NBA couldn’t ask for a better situation than the one it currently enjoys. The New York Knicks are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. They face the San Antonio Spurs, another historic franchise led by international superstar Victor Wembanyama. It’s a conclusion to the first year of the league’s new media rights agreements that couldn’t have been scripted any better.

For ESPN, this season also marked a first. It was the debut of the 21-time Emmy Award-winning program Inside the NBA on the network’s airwaves. For more than two decades, the program has helped shape conversation and sparked controversy around the league. Its bold personalities built a reputation by offering unfiltered opinions on the game, its players, and sometimes even each other.

For years, Inside the NBA was must-see television. This season, however, felt different.

You can’t question the program’s history. Inside the NBA has spent more than two decades succeeding by doing things differently. It bucked conventional wisdom, took risks, and often became as much a part of the NBA conversation as the games themselves.

Some viewed the panel as a reflection of what fans truly thought about the league. Others criticized the show for being too negative and argued it wasn’t always beneficial to the NBA’s growth. Regardless of where you stood, one thing was undeniable: people talked about it.

This season, they talked about it far less.

Are You There?

The reason may have had less to do with the show’s content and more to do with its availability. Which more than likely affected the impact of the program’s content.

Inside the NBA aired just 20 times during the NBA regular season on ESPN. Four of those appearances came between Opening Night and Christmas Day. Despite ESPN describing the schedule as “robust” when the partnership was announced, the show’s footprint was dramatically smaller than what viewers had become accustomed to during its years on TNT Sports.

At times, the show felt almost invisible.

Earlier this year, FOX Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd suggested that Inside the NBA once felt enormous but now felt invisible. He’s not wrong. By January 23, when Cowherd made those comments, the show had aired only five times on ESPN.

The biggest issue is scheduling.

ESPN’s calendar is crowded with college football, the NFL, college basketball, and countless other programming commitments during the fall and winter. Finding space for a studio show that traditionally thrives on consistency and repetition isn’t easy.

Less Time, Less Opportunity

Yet consistency is exactly what made Inside the NBA special.

The show wasn’t built on a once-a-month appearance. It was built on habit. Fans knew where to find it. They knew the personalities. They knew there was a good chance that something entertaining, controversial, or completely unexpected would happen.

What made Inside the NBA special was never just the personalities. It was the freedom. The freedom to go long, argue, and create moments no producer could script and no focus group could predict.

This season simply offered fewer opportunities for all of it.

Did Inside the NBA create many national talking points this year that grabbed the attention of the sports world? Were there moments that dominated sports debate for days? Did anything approach the type of widespread reaction the show routinely generated in previous years?

The answer is largely no. That’s not necessarily because the panel changed, because it didn’t. It’s because the circumstances changed.

Less airtime creates fewer opportunities for memorable moments. Fewer appearances mean fewer chances to generate conversation. Reduced postgame windows shorten discussions before they have a chance to develop.

When you reduce the opportunities for a show to be itself, you naturally reduce its impact. Even ESPN appears to recognize the issue.

ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus recently told John Ourand on The Varsity podcast that he’d like to see the schedule spread across more of the regular season.

“If I could change something, it’s really unrelated to how the show appears onscreen,” Magnus said. “I would like to spread the shows over more of the regular season. It’s quite back-loaded at this point. We didn’t really get going until Christmas Day.”

Would ESPN Allow More?

Magnus isn’t wrong. In fact, the schedule isn’t fully all under his control. He told The SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Trainia in November that he hopes to work with TNT Sports on “more flexibility and more regularity throughout the season from beginning to end.”

However, the question isn’t whether Inside the NBA should return next season. Of course it should. The more important question is whether the program will gain enough opportunities to matter once again.

Inside the NBA remains one of the most successful studio shows sports television has ever produced. Its chemistry can’t be replicated, its legacy is secure, and its place in basketball history is undeniable. But even great shows require visibility.

If ESPN can find a way to expand the program’s footprint next season, it may create more opportunities for memorable moments. It may restore some of the relevance that felt absent during many portions of this season. It may remind viewers why the show became appointment television in the first place.

Because the biggest lesson from Inside the NBA’s first season on ESPN isn’t that the show suddenly became less talented, less entertaining, or less insightful. It’s that audiences can’t engage with a show they rarely see.

Inside the NBA didn’t lose its entire voice this season. It simply wasn’t given enough opportunities to use it. And if ESPN truly wants the program to remain one of the NBA’s most valuable studio properties, finding it more room to breathe would be a good place to start.

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.

Should Radio Go Commercial-Free on the 4th of July Weekend?

Jim Ryan
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Should Radio Go Commercial-Free on the 4th of July Weekend?

Let’s go commercial free 4th of July weekend. While you’re at it, do the same for Labor Day weekend. The programmers may be cheering. The other side of the building — from the new AE to the Chief Revenue Officer — is saying that Ryan guy is an idiot.

Let me take you back in time. My first radio memory as a kid was a trip to the beach on a holiday weekend. Literally everyone had their radio on WABC. You heard the same song from one end of the beach to the other. On air, Dan Ingram would tell everyone to “roll their bod” so the beach tanners on their blankets would get the perfect even tan.

Go to the beach today, it’s all personal playlists. I like to tell young programmers I’m so old, I remember when radio listening actually went up on the weekend and holidays. Now, for many stations, it’s dismal. Why not make a serious attempt to go back in time and help get some people back to radio on a holiday weekend? If you can’t clear the spots from the entire weekend, how about at least the entire afternoon? Commercial-free beach afternoons would sound awesome.

July 4th weekend and Labor Day weekend fall on the first weekend of the month, when the spot load is light already. I’d bet that if your traffic person told you the revenue number for that first Saturday, you would be embarrassed anyway.

Live Talent and Listener Interaction Can Save Your Holiday Weekend

If you want to make that commercial-free afternoon even better, ask your best talent to go on the air and do the shift live. Add some listener interaction with phone calls, app messages, and talent reading texts, and you’ve given your audience a reason to listen. Don’t forget to promote it every hour each weekday leading up to the weekend.

If your audience has abandoned your station on holiday weekends, it may be because you’re getting back what you put in. Is your commercial log a bunch of low dough and bonus spots? Did your talent cut tracks for a Monday holiday on the Friday before the weekend? Is your weekend programming just songs, sweepers, and spots?

I Was Guilty of This Too. Don’t Repeat My Mistakes.

Let me be the first to admit that I was guilty on all charges when I programmed day to day after COVID. My weekend talent never came back to the studio after 2020. As a programmer, I was conditioned to look at share of audience — which was fine — while average quarter-hour persons declined. Don’t let my failure deter you from doing the right thing. Weekends are special for your audience. Make them special on your radio station.

When you get your Nielsen numbers for the period that included Memorial Day, compare the AQH persons from that day to the Thursday that started the Nielsen week. If the AQH numbers were 30% lower or more on Memorial Day, I suggest a meeting with your sales manager before the 4th gets here.

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.

Toy Story 5 and Taylor Swift Give Country Radio a Culture Moment

Kevin Callahan
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Toy Story 5 and Taylor Swift Give Country Radio a Culture Moment

Hold onto your cowboy hats. Taylor Swift is officially hand-delivering a brand-new song to the Country format. It’s called “I knew it, I knew you,” and it’s the flagship track for the upcoming Toy Story 5.

Taylor Swift and Pixar just handed Country radio a golden ticket!

The backstage rumblings have already started. I’m hearing some programmers cross their arms, channel their inner internet troll, and mutter, “Well, she left the format years ago, we don’t ‘belong together’ anymore.” Seriously? For a format that prides itself on the mantra “You’ve got a friend in me,” some programmers are acting remarkably unfriendly the second the biggest superstar on the planet knocks on our door. (I say second biggest just to whip up the Swifties.)

If your defensive game plan right now is to skip over Taylor, you are acting exactly like Woody in the original Toy Story when Buzz Lightyear first showed up on the bedspread. You are staring at a shiny, high-tech spaceship with laser beams. You’re stubbornly pointing at your pull-string and complaining that it’s stealing your spotlight.

Don’t be a sad, strange little man. This isn’t a music scheduling dilemma; it’s a relevancy test.

Here is why you need to put this track on the air, regardless of your programming anxieties:

The Event Always Eclipses the Audio

I know, I know — we haven’t actually heard the audio yet. There is a blank space where the track should be. As programmers, we are conditioned to audit the hook, check the tempo, and analyze whether there’s enough fiddle or steel guitar in the mix before we show any fearless enthusiasm.

Get over it. The audio is completely secondary to the sheer magnitude of the event. You have a multi-billion-dollar cinematic franchise pairing up with a global icon, and they chose our format to launch it. (Even if they didn’t, make it sound that way.) The entire world — not just your P1s, but your cume, your advertisers, and the moms driving the carpool line — is going to be screaming about this track. If a listener turns on your station to see how you’re handling the biggest story in music and you’re playing a safe, mid-chart recurrent because “the data isn’t in yet,” you look entirely out of touch.

The Myth of the “Official Add”

A lot of programmers treat their music logs like a matter of national security. They think playing a song means officially “Adding” it to their reporting chart, committing to spins, and explaining it to their corporate VP. (Oh wait! I am the corporate VP.)

Newsflash: You don’t need to marry the song; you just need to invite it over for a party. Spin it as a “New Music Event.” Use it to create a massive moment on your airwaves, and then see what happens. You can participate in the cultural phenomenon without permanently breaking your music clocks. It’ll be okay.

The Timeline Doesn’t Matter

Does it matter if this song only stays in your rotation for 48 to 72 hours as a novelty feature? No. Does it matter if it shocks the system and ends up becoming a massive, heavy-rotation catalog staple for the next three years? Also no.

The timeline doesn’t dictate your execution on Day One. Your job as a local broadcaster is to reflect what the world is talking about in real time. If you ignore the song because you’re worried about callout research six weeks from now, you are missing the point of relevant local radio. Don’t wind up like a forgotten toy at the bottom of Andy’s chest.

The Playbook for the Week

Don’t write a “Bad Blood” chapter with the most passionate fan base on earth, or the millions of families waiting for the movie. When “I knew it, I knew you” lands in your inbox, here is what you do:

  • Drop the Gatekeeping: Stop worrying about whether she’s “Pop” or “Country.” She’s Taylor. It’s Toy Story. It is an undeniable event. Play it.
  • Frame it with Theater: Don’t just sneak it into a music sweep between two commercial stops. Own it. Have your imaging director build an aggressive, fun stager that highlights the connection.
  • Be Part of the Conversation: Use your morning show, your social channels, and your phones to ask the audience what they think. Lean into the spectacle. HAVE FUN!

Choose to sit out? Just look in the mirror and cue up the track:

“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.” But, what do I know? My favorite character is Forky.

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.

Why Scott MacFarlane Chose MeidasTouch After Leaving CBS News

Krystina Alarcon Carroll
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Why Scott MacFarlane Chose MeidasTouch After Leaving CBS News

Passionate, efficient, and likely on a dial near you. Since leaving CBS News in March, Scott MacFarlane has taken the reins of independent journalism by coming back to his passion for radio and integrating it with social media.

“They’re wildly more related than people recognize. Us old radio heads, we see it. We know it,” MacFarlane affirmed. “But what social media has done is amplified the voices of people who connect most effectively with their audiences, who can personally resonate with their audiences.”

A passionate storyteller, MacFarlane believes his job as a journalist is not to list facts. “Journalism is storytelling at its best,” the host of Scott MacFarlane Reports articulated. “If you’re just listing facts like a grocery sheet, you’re not doing it right, and I’ve always been captivated with storytelling, and most specifically, I’ve always been captivated with oral audio storytelling.”

Radio’s Dynamic Relationship With Social Media

MacFarlane noted that this captivation also gives him passion. “Radio is my passion, radio is my love. Radio is the most powerful medium of all because it’s a perfect palette for storytellers. You can capture people’s interests just with the spoken word, and I adore that.” Which is why his show can be heard on several stations across the country, including WVLY beginning this week.

Now the chief Washington correspondent and anchor for MeidasTouch, MacFarlane is using all his radio skills to attract listeners to his show, which can also be seen on YouTube. “The techniques are pretty straightforward from the radio playbook. Don’t waste time. Be efficient with your storytelling. Be efficient with the news,” MacFarlane said.

“We can do a nightly news program on our YouTube show in 8 to 10 minutes and cover all the ground we think we need to cover, including the reactions, the opinions, the counterpunches from the other side and viewer interaction.”

He further added, “We don’t need 22 minutes like we need to on the CBS Evening News because we’re not covering the world. We’re just covering the news that we believe drives our audiences.”

MacFarlane’s show is also leaving the theatrics of TV behind. “We start with the headline as the first thing out of my mouth. We don’t have theme music. And we don’t have fancy openings. We’re not working in a studio the size of an airplane hangar. And we’re not doing the theatrical. Within 15 seconds, you know the top story.” Another radio-born tactic he is using to bring his audience home.

The Time for Independent Journalism Is Now

MacFarlane’s new home with MeidasTouch was a natural move because he believes, “This is a pivotal moment. Democratic norms are coming unspooled, and if people don’t get after that, they’re going to keep unspooling.”

He added that the outlet “champions the same things I’ve been championing for years, which is don’t platform lies. Don’t platform conspiracy theories. Don’t sanewash insane things. Just tell people what happened straight to the point without fancy gimmicks, theme music, graphics.” He later added, “We were overlapping in our ethos, in our principles and in our approach to how to do the job. So we were a natural partnership.”

The move comes during what MacFarlane calls “the moment for independent and for watchdog and enterprise reporting.” Ten years ago, he would have said that notion was “bonkers.” But today, “this felt like a natural time to go into independent journalism and to do watchdog enterprise reporting.”

He may not have the resources of a large outlet anymore, but that’s not a terrible thing for MacFarlane. “It’s natural for me because I’m a specialist. My specialty is covering the Congress, the Department of Justice and enterprise reporting in Washington.”

MacFarlane didn’t dismiss the idea of working at a large outlet but noted, “The legacy of linear news organizations are generalists. They’ve got to do everything. They have to cover the hurricane. They have to cover the tragedy overseas, they have to cover the medical issue of the day. And they have to cover the Oscars, the Tonys.”

Looking Toward the Future

MacFarlane is excited to continue his show’s growth. “I am adding each week more radio affiliates to the program because my passion is radio and I’m a radio guy.”

As a true radio guy, he believes there is a bright future ahead. “The radio network is a priority because radio has a bright future, and I want to invest in that and I want them to be invested in me.”

He knows the battle for journalistic truth is not his alone. MacFarlane believes, “This is a great time to get in. We need more proprietors, and we need [young journalists] looking at the places others haven’t covered already.”

This might sound like a basic journalistic task, but he believes it’s not just Washington that needs a watchdog. “In which communities in your market are reporters not seen every day? In what suburb, in which local courthouse? At which smaller police department? At which government agency are people not spending time? Find them because government is impacting everybody’s lives.”

MacFarlane believes the most pressing and impactful stories are happening outside of Washington. “The most interesting stuff is happening in our schools because we care viscerally, emotionally, in our core about what’s happening with our kids.” He added, “Is there a journalist covering the suburban school system, not just the big one in the big city? Are people going to the board meetings? Are they talking about cell phone policies? AI policies in our schools? Are we getting there to look at the transportation problems that are happening in our big communities where they can’t get kids to school on time?”

All pressing questions local journalists should be asking. MacFarlane believes, “These are all beats that aren’t checked because we don’t have enough journalists.”

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 iMAR Entertainment Turns Unsold Advertising Into Unforgettable Experiences

Garrett Searight
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How iMAR Entertainment Turns Unsold Advertising Into Unforgettable Experiences

Radio stations have long searched for creative ways to drive revenue and reward advertisers. One company believes it’s found a model that delivers for everyone involved. And it’s built around the one thing money can’t easily buy: access. iMAR Entertainment creates and offers premium experiences in entertainment, sports, and travel. Then it makes them available to radio stations through a barter-based model that turns unsold inventory into high-value marketing currency.

The company serves radio clients via both broadcasting and streaming. And its radio vertical has grown to include thousands of affiliates nationwide since launching in the U.S. roughly four years ago.

“We recruit experiences in entertainment, sports, and travel that companies around the world can use to power their marketing programs,” said iMAR Entertainment CEO Rami Eatessami. “Think promotions, think sales incentives, or employee incentives. The types of experiences we’re talking about are access to major events around the world: your big sports events, championship games, artist events, backstage opportunities, fashion weeks around the world, or great culinary experiences on all four corners of the globe.”

The pitch to radio is straightforward. Rather than purchasing experiences outright, stations provide iMAR with broadcast or streaming inventory — typically undervalued or unsold — which iMAR then packages and sells to advertisers. In return, stations earn iMAR credits they can redeem for experiences to use in on-air promotions, listener giveaways, or client incentive programs.

“All the station needs to do is continue focusing on what they do really well,” said Eatessami, “talking to their clients, bringing sponsors in, driving listenership, and turning these into promotions. And leave everything else to us.”

The Revenue Opportunity

The financial upside is where iMAR’s model gets particularly compelling for radio operators. Eatessami points to internal case studies showing ROI potential that can exceed ten times what a station might have otherwise earned by selling that same inventory through traditional channels.

“If they provide us with the inventory, they get a whole sales incentive program with multiple different tiers of experiences tied to incremental spend. And they can drive a 10 to 12x return compared to selling that inventory in network,” stated Eatessami. “The conversation becomes even simpler if you simply have unsold inventory on the books that’s already going unsold. Might as well turn that into serious revenue.”

That equation becomes even more compelling when streaming inventory enters the picture. iMAR expanded its model to include streaming impressions late last year, and the company believes the opportunity there is substantial. Roughly 30% of streaming audio impressions go unsold industrywide, according to company estimates — and many of those that do sell move through digital exchanges at CPMs below two dollars.

Furthermore, the white-glove execution is also a key part of the pitch. iMAR handles logistics, travel support, and on-the-ground coordination around the clock. That means stations don’t have to staff up to deliver a world-class experience. The days of worrying about something going wrong and it needing to be handled at the station level are gone.

“These are experiences that take place on any given day of the week,” the iMAR Entertainment CEO noted. “You’re going for a weekend to the other side of the world or the other side of the country. Gone are the days when there’s somebody to answer phones at a radio station on a Friday at 8 p.m. or a Saturday at 2 p.m. Flights still get canceled. Bags get lost. And I think that’s the part where radio stations really open their eyes and go, ‘Yeah, we need to think about this.’ Our team is so proactive. We’ve got a 24/7 travel support team that’s always on top of these situations as they occur. The station won’t even know about an issue by the time it’s been resolved. That’s a very big part of this.”

A Client’s Perspective

Steve Earnhart, iMAR Entertainment’s new Director of Partnerships, spent years on the radio side. He spent time working for several groups. Most recently, he served as an Area President for iHeartMedia, overseeing 10 markets. And he experienced the model firsthand as a client before joining the company.

“Every radio group is strapped for cash. They don’t have the funds to send listeners on experiences,” said Earnhart. “After COVID, artists basically stopped touring. They’ll swing by radio stations, but everybody is remote. There’s nowhere for artists to even go anymore, so it gets tough.”

Earnhart used his iMAR credits to take dozens of his biggest advertising clients on a week-long trip to France. It combined the Cannes Film Festival and Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix. The trip featured:

  • A branded boat cruise along the River Seine
  • A private tour of the Louvre
  • A Grand Prix viewing party above the famous hairpin bend in Monaco
  • And an after-party on a yacht in the Monte Carlo harbor.

“This was the first time that every single client I invited RSVPed for themselves and their plus one,” Earnhart said. “They didn’t send an underling or a manager. They all wanted to go on this trip, because when did they ever get invited to do something like that?”

He also credited iMAR’s concierge-level handling for making the program work from a client relationship standpoint. If something goes wrong on a trip, it reflects on the station — not the experience provider. With iMAR managing every detail, that risk largely disappears.

“If I send a client somewhere and iMAR can take care of them through the entire process, they only get five-star reviews. Because it’s a reflection of me,” said Earnhart.

Beyond client entertainment, some stations have also used their iMAR credits for internal purposes. Some companies have rewarded top sellers with annual trips that have become highly anticipated cultural events. It’s a creative solution to a real challenge: finding ways to invest in and motivate talent when budgets are tight.

The model also scales better than many stations might expect. While iMAR initially anticipated its strongest penetration in the top 20 to 40 markets, Eatessami says the streaming component has leveled the playing field considerably. A million impressions carries the same value regardless of market size. As a result, many smaller markets are generating significant out-of-market digital audiences. Those don’t help their Nielsen numbers, but could be helping their bottom line. That is where iMAR Entertainment helps benefit radio customers.

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.

Three Years After Chuck Todd, Kristen Welker Has Meet the Press Winning Again

Garrett Searight
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Three Years After Chuck Todd, Kristen Welker Has Meet the Press Winning Again

Three years ago today, Chuck Todd stepped away from Meet the Press. And with him went a familiar face that had anchored the program through some of the most turbulent news cycles in modern American history. Kristen Welker inherited not just a time slot, but an institution. That’s a different kind of pressure entirely. And she’s handled it well.

It would’ve been easy to predict disaster. Change at that level — swapping out the face of a Sunday institution — almost always invites criticism, ratings slippage, or both. Skeptics had plenty of ammunition. The Sunday political show landscape is unforgiving, and the history of legacy programs stumbling through anchor transitions is long. Audiences don’t automatically follow new faces. Trust takes time. Yet none of those doomsday scenarios materialized here.

Instead, Welker quietly got to work — and the results speak for themselves.

Three years is enough runway to make a real assessment. It’s long enough to separate a strong start from a sustainable run. Early goodwill fades. Bookings get harder. News cycles get stranger. The fact that Meet the Press is still performing — still relevant, still competitive — isn’t a small thing. It’s actually a significant achievement in a television news environment where relevance erodes faster than ever.

Winning Where It Counts

This Week with George Stephanopoulos on ABC routinely wins the Sunday political arena in total viewers. That’s a real accomplishment, and it deserves acknowledgment. The show has had a strong run in recent months, where it hasn’t been touched in that category.

But Meet the Press consistently takes home the Adults 25-54 demographic crown. That’s arguably the harder prize to claim. The audience in that sector is constantly changing, evolving, and frankly not usually interested in linear TV outside of live sports. But advertisers covet that audience. Networks fight for it. Welker’s program delivers it week after week.

Winning that sector isn’t luck. It reflects strong booking, consistent execution, and a host who understands what the show needs to be in 2026 versus what it was a decade ago. She hasn’t tried to out-anchor the anchors or reinvent the wheel entirely.

Instead, she’s built a version of Meet the Press that feels both familiar and fresh — a difficult balance that most television veterans never manage to strike. The “Meet the Moment” interview segment is a good example of that instinct. It introduced a different kind of conversation — one with more depth and less combat than the traditional Sunday roundtable format viewers have grown accustomed to over the decades.

Building Beyond the Broadcast

Welker’s also doing something smarter than simply protecting the legacy format. She’s helping evolve Meet the Press beyond the linear television environment in which it was originally built. Now, the brand’s expanding into live events, with a new franchise launching later this month featuring “Meet the Moment”-style conversations in front of live audiences. That step matters more than it might appear on the surface.

The in-person connection between a news brand and its viewers doesn’t show up cleanly in Nielsen overnight numbers — but it builds loyalty, credibility, and reach in ways that a Sunday broadcast simply can’t replicate alone. Live events create moments. Moments create memories. Memories create the kind of brand affinity that sustains a program through the inevitable dips that every show faces eventually.

She’s done an excellent job of evolving the program while remaining true to its roots. And that evolution continues to pay off.

Three years into the Welker era, the verdict is clear. Meet the Press didn’t stumble. It didn’t stagnate. It adapted — carefully, deliberately, and successfully. “Doing okay” rarely generates headlines in a media culture obsessed with failure and disruption. But maybe it should. Stability is underrated. Consistency is underrated. In today’s fragmented television news environment, both are genuinely hard to sustain.

Welker earned this moment. So did the program.

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 ‘NFL Live’ Stood Out on ESPN Owning a Day NFL Fans Will Never Forget

John Molori
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How ‘NFL Live’ Stood Out on ESPN Owning a Day NFL Fans Will Never Forget

In the classic film Field of Dreams, James Earl Jones, as Terence Mann, offers the line, “Baseball has marked the time.” I think it’s time for Mr. Mann to rethink his assertion. In truth, the American sports calendar is marked by NFL football. To say the NFL has become a year-round passion is an understatement. The calendar starts with OTAs and the preseason. Then moves into the soap-opera saga that is the regular season. It continues through the playoffs, and culminates with the single biggest sporting event in the country each year: the Super Bowl.

It doesn’t stop there. Soon afterward comes the NFL Scouting Combine, free agency, and the NFL Draft. Thanks to this past Monday, we can now add one more date to that chronology: June 1.

This year, the date was all about two of the most significant trades in recent memory. Defensive end Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams and wide receiver A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots.

So, when rumors become reality, where does the football viewer go for the latest information? The answer is ESPN’s NFL Live.

Marvelously hosted by Laura Rutledge, the June 1 edition of NFL Live became the top destination. Not only for news of the trades but also for deep analysis of the deals.

Owning the Moment

The show opened with a striking breaking news graphic. It detailed the Cleveland Browns trading Garrett to the Rams for linebacker Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter opened his report by saying, “We have the biggest trade of the NFL offseason. Arguably the biggest defensive trade in NFL history.”

Television sports is often built on exaggeration and hyperbole. However, in this case, Schefter was on the mark.

This was indeed a seismic trade that sets the Rams up as the prohibitive Super Bowl favorite. Schefter also noted that SoFi Stadium will host Super Bowl 61. With reigning league MVP Matthew Stafford and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Garrett now on the roster, Sean McVay’s club might just have an extra home game on February 14, 2027.

An ESPN graphic clearly illustrated how historic Garrett’s career has been. His 125.5 sacks rank second all-time through a player’s first nine seasons, trailing only the late Reggie White, who recorded 137. Garrett also set the NFL single-season record with 23 sacks last year and is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

He now has a new address with a team that could finally deliver the only thing missing from his career. A Super Bowl championship.

Joining Rutledge and Schefter on the program were NFL Live regulars Mina Kimes and Marcus Spears. Also along for the ride was one of ESPN’s best news breakers and storytellers, Peter Schrager.

The Cast Shines

Kimes has been on a roll lately. Winning the Celebrity Jeopardy All-Stars tournament, hosting the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and earning a Sports Emmy Award alongside the rest of the NFL Live crew.

Kimes’ profile has risen tremendously at ESPN. She has become one of the most respected NFL commentators on television. She combines a calm, confident style with direct analysis. Her in-depth knowledge of offensive and defensive intricacies is impressive.

In the wake of the trade, she discussed in detail how Garrett strengthens an already formidable defensive front. Kimes stressed that the Rams do not blitz often and now have even less reason to do so with Garrett on the edge. She also noted that Los Angeles upgraded its secondary with the additions of cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.

Always finding a different angle, Schrager shifted the conversation to the Rams’ controversial selection of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson in the first round of the 2026 draft. He stated, “I can assure you that when the selection of Ty Simpson was made, there was a conversation with Matthew Stafford saying don’t worry, there is more to come.”

The collective fervor of Schefter, Rutledge, Kimes, Schrager, and Spears was tangible. Schrager said the Garrett trade was somewhat expected, but there was still an unmistakable element of shock and awe on the NFL Live set.

Ready For Prime Time

An ebullient Spears immediately took the discussion in a media-focused direction. He noted fans will now see Garrett regularly in prime time. Spears related, “Everybody that loves the National Football League. That’s a lot of people around the world, and you are about to witness the Myles Garrett experience week in and week out. It’s going to be one of the best things that you’ve seen in this league for a long time.”

The Rams have four prime-time games this season. Spears added that Garrett’s move to a contending team will elevate him into the conversation as the greatest defensive player ever.

The June 1 edition of NFL Live demonstrated the power of the NFL.

This news pushed every other league and event to the back burner. At least for a day.

NFL Live features some of the best football analysts in the business, but the program is driven by Rutledge. Resembling Stephen A. Smith’s power on ESPN’s First Take. Both shows rely on collaboration, but Rutledge and Smith serve as the engines that make them go.

Rutledge is not only one of the best hosts in sports television, but one of the best hosts on television. Her enthusiasm, on-screen magnetism, experience, and ability to get the best out of her colleagues are unmatched in the industry today.

A Balanced Approach

The second block of NFL Live featured another massive deal: the trade sending A.J. Brown from Philadelphia to the Patriots in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. This move had been viewed as a foregone conclusion for weeks. Brown grew up a Patriots fan and flourished under New England head coach Mike Vrabel when the pair were with the Tennessee Titans.

A timely NFL Live graphic showed that Brown has surpassed 8500 receiving yards and 60 receiving touchdowns in his seven NFL seasons including playoffs. This puts him in a club that includes Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, and Tyreek Hill.

In analyzing the trade, Kimes stressed that Brown is the perfect receiver for Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. An accurate passer who likes to throw the ball downfield. Spears took a personality-based approach. He said Brown is a much better fit in New England than he was in Philadelphia, where he clashed with head coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts.

He also astutely highlighted Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, saying, “Every time Josh McDaniels has had a really good wide receiver, that wide receiver has put up enormous numbers. I think A.J. Brown will be the next in line.” Excellent point.

Schrager referenced the aforementioned NFL calendar. He noted that during the Combine, free agency, and the NFL Draft, almost everyone knew the Patriots were not going to pursue a big-name wide receiver because Brown’s arrival was imminent.

Late in the show, an Adam Schefter X post graphic summed up the day. Schefter wrote, “On one June day, the NFL saw two blockbuster trades that involved three players, 12 Pro Bowl selections, and five draft picks, including two first-round picks.”

Schefter gets it.

June 1, 2026, rivaled any day on the NFL calendar. NFL Live stood unrivaled in its coverage.

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.

Doug Hamand Retires After 48 Years In Radio Programming

David Hill
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Doug Hamand Retires After 48 Years In Radio Programming

Doug Hamand is calling it a career. The longtime programming executive will step away from the industry at the end of June.

What We Know: Hamand spent 21 years with Jacor, Clear Channel, and iHeart, holding multiple programming leadership roles — including an extended tenure in Tampa/St. Petersburg. He then joined Cumulus, where he served as Vice President of Programming Operations for the past 10½ years. His work there helped drive 50% ratings growth in year one, followed by 36 consecutive months of PPM gains year over year.

What He Said: “Radio has given me more than I ever could have imagined when this journey began nearly five decades ago,” Hamand said. He added that while his grandchildren still want to spend time with him, it was time to put family first. It’s a graceful exit from someone who clearly earned it.

What Remains Unclear: No successor has been named at Cumulus. It’s also unknown whether Hamand plans any consulting work or industry involvement going forward. The transition timeline beyond his end-of-June departure has not been publicly addressed.

What It Means: Hamand represents a generation of programmers who built careers across the consolidation era — from Jacor through iHeart and into the streaming age. His departure leaves a meaningful void in Cumulus’s programming infrastructure. However, the results he leaves behind speak clearly. Forty-eight years is a remarkable run by any standard.

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.

ESPN’s Burke Magnus: NFL Network Will Not “Investigate” the League, While ESPN Will Not Change Approach

John Mamola
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ESPN’s Burke Magnus: NFL Network Will Not “Investigate” the League, While ESPN Will Not Change Approach

ESPN is heading into it’s first season now in control of the NFL Network. The editorial boundaries of the two platforms continues to be debated in sports media with the NFL owning a 10% stake in ESPN. However, ESPN head of content Burke Magnus explained to The Varsity podcast that the league will not be investigated by NFL Network reporters.

What We Know: ESPN acquired NFL Network as part of a landmark deal granting the NFL a 10% equity stake in ESPN itself. That ownership dynamic raised immediate questions about editorial independence. ESPN head of content Burke Magnus will oversee NFL Network’s direction. He has been direct in acknowledging the differences in approach to journalism on both networks. Magnus clarified that the NFL Network will “not investigate” the league, while ESPN will continue to operate as normal. He also pushed back on any narrative that the NFL will influence any standards of investigative journalism at ESPN.

What They Said: Burke Magnus, ESPN Head of Content on the journalistic approach to ESPN compared to NFL Network: “We’re going to cover and report the NFL, it’s called the NFL Network. But we’re not going to investigate the NFL. We’ll leave that to what we do on the ESPN platform. The important part there is that the league has never discouraged us. It’s never been a conversation that we would in any way stop or alter what we’ve done historically in terms of our investigative journalism, or enterprise journalism at ESPN. Which from time to time we’ll delve into topics related to the NFL.

That’s going to be a balance that we’re going to have to communicate to people to understand. It hasn’t compromised in any way, shape or form what we do at ESPN. But at the same time, on the NFL network, as is the case with the SEC network and the ACC network. We’re going to report on the league. We’re going to cover the league, but we’re not going to investigate them if you gather the distinction I’m making.”

What Remains Unclear: The NFL’s 10% equity stake does continue to raise fair questions about long-term editorial pressure. Magnus insists no compromises have occurred. Still, how audiences and sports media outlets perceive that distinction remains an open question.

What It Means: When the NFL Network was under control of the league, of course the network was not in the business of investigating it’s ownership. However, with new oversight there was some questions leading into the new year whether or not that mantra would change. Also, how would ESPN operate moving forward now with 10% sold to the NFL itself. Magnus’ honesty about the approach is refreshing. He shows that he understands the questions that surround the acquisition leading to the oversight. This will be a discussion moving into the new league year when ESPN were to uncover an issue within the league to see if the staff all under ESPN control can abide by the approach.

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.

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