Legendary broadcaster Bob Costas knows a thing or two about landmark sports moments—and how they were delivered to audiences. But during a recent conversation on Sunday’s Meet The Press, the veteran sportscaster acknowledged that the way fans consume sports has shifted dramatically with the rise of streaming giants and digital media platforms. Reflecting on how tech companies like Amazon, Apple, and Netflix are reshaping the sports media ecosystem, Costas said, “Sports is coming at people, if they want to access it, from so many different directions.”
He contrasted today’s fragmented media landscape with his own early career experiences at NBC’s “Game of the Week” during the 1980s. “That really was the game of the week,” he said. “Now, if you want to, you can access every game.” That abundance, however, may come at a price. Costas noted that while options have expanded, the emotional gravity of individual events has diminished.
“I think it does diminish it to some extent,” Costas said. “Everything, every sport, every game is accessible. That takes away some of the excitement.”
Costas also voiced concern over the decline in serious sports journalism. Once-heralded programs like Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and ESPN’s Outside the Lines have either shut down or scaled back.
“A lot of sports coverage that’s not event coverage now is a bunch of people yelling at each other for an hour over a half-dozen different sports stories,” said Costas. “It’s all sound bites and arguments and clickbait stuff. And a lot of the journalism which used to be part of sports has been diminished.”
As network television’s once-dominant role wanes, Costas said it still holds influence but no longer enjoys full primacy. He candidly acknowledged the complex relationship between networks and leagues, noting that broadcasters are both partners and journalists. “It’s the only one I can think of where the buyer has to continually flatter the seller,” he said, adding that he tried to take a “judicious” approach throughout his career.
He also addressed how gambling and social media have influenced fan behavior. “So much of it is transactional now. You’ve got a bet on the game, so you have a different relationship to how that game plays out,” Costas explained. He also observed that digital platforms have created a harsher tone around sports. “There are no misdemeanors, only felonies. You lose a game, the coach should be fired. A guy goes 0-for-4, and he should be traded.”
Despite the changes, Costas remains proud of the era he came up in, calling it a bridge between the classic and modern periods of sports broadcasting. “The games I was involved in, including the Olympics, just landed differently than some things made today,” he said.
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.
Former ESPN Radio SportsCenter anchor and studio host Kevin Winter has landed a new position following his dismissal from the network back in February. Winter announced in a Facebook post that he has accepted a position with the University of Florida beginning July 11.
Although neither Winter nor the university has officially announced the position he will hold, it is expected that Winter will be named the new brand manager of on-campus radio station WRUF 98.1FM/850AM. Notably, the on-campus station serves as the radio flagship for Florida Gators athletics. It also maintains affiliations with ESPN Radio and several professional sports organizations.
“For all my life, I have called the northeast home,” posted Winter to his personal Facebook page. “The friends and relationships I have cultivated in these areas have made me the person I am today. Well, come Sunday, it all changes. Sunday afternoon, the moving truck arrives and I begin the next chapter of my life. I’m moving to Gainesville, Florida as I have accepted a job with the University of Florida.”
Winter spent 21 years with ESPN in several roles with the radio network. He first joined ESPN in 2004 as an ESPN Radio SportsCenter anchor and served as a studio host for MLB, NBA, NFL, college football, and college basketball. Additionally, he called college football play-by-play for ESPN Radio.
Furthermore, from 2005 to 2009, Winter was a host on 890 ESPN Radio in Boston, MA. He also worked as a writer and editor at SportsTicker for nine years and served as the host of Sports Pulse on CN8 for four years.
“I assure you, you have not heard the last of me on the air! I’ll be back doing what I love very soon,” said Winter. “The beauty of social media is this is not goodbye, it’s see you later. And so that’s how I will leave this. I’ll see you all later, just from a different part of the country! GO GATORS!”
Finally, Winter graduated from Hofstra University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism.
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.
WJR 760 has announced the addition of Ryan Ermanni as the new host of its afternoon drive program, JR Afternoon.
The program will be heard from 2-4 PM at the Cumulus Detroit news/talk station. Ermanni will step into the program previously occupied by Chris Renwick.
In a post to social media, Ermanni shared his excitement for the new opportunity.
“I am truly humbled to be associated with those legendary call letters,” Ermanni said. “I can’t wait to contribute to what WJR has meant to generations of listeners while bringing my own voice to the conversation. Excited for this next chapter and grateful for the opportunity to be part of something so iconic.”
Beginning Monday I’m joining WJR. I’ll be hosting JR afternoon weekdays from 2-4pm. I am truly humbled to be associated with those legendary call letters.
I can’t wait to contribute to what WJR has meant to generations of listeners while bringing my own voice to the… pic.twitter.com/emr4R8bKlY
“We are thrilled to welcome Ryan Ermanni as a major addition to the WJR lineup,” added Program Director Ann Thomas. “We are confident Ryan will bring fresh energy and compelling conversations to our afternoon programming, while honoring the values and voice that have made WJR a trusted name for generations.”
Ermanni will be a familiar voice to Detroit-area listeners. For the past 22 years, he’s worked at FOX 2 in the city as a morning news anchor. He’ll continue his role with FOX 2, in addition to his work at WJR 760.
Additionally, he has worked as a sports pundit at the Woodward Sports digital outlet in Detroit. However, that position will come to an end as he begins his new afternoon talk show with WJR.
“Ryan Ermanni is not only a seasoned broadcaster with deep roots in Detroit media, he’s also a longtime fan of WJR,” Cumulus Detroit/Ann Arbor Regional Vice President and Market Manager Steve Finateri said. “His passion for Detroit, his engaging on-air presence, and his respect for what WJR represents make him a perfect fit for our team.”
Ermanni will begin hosting ‘JR Afternoon today.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
I wrote last April that Artificial intelligence (AI) would change the game. I’m even more convinced of that today. The scary part, many media professionals hear the warnings about AI but they’re nowhere near ready for the tsunami that’s about to hit them. This isn’t just a writing assistant to help you create better spots and liners. It’s a tool that is going to disrupt the entire industry across revenue, content, marketing, staffing, management, engineering, and more.
In an interview last month with The Wrap, iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman shared something you may have missed. Pittman said, “We remain committed to identifying opportunities across our organization to operate more efficiently and take advantage of new and evolving technologies like programmatic and AI, which are critical to delivering short-term results and long-term growth even during periods of economic uncertainty. Much of how we use AI is in mining data to better understand our audience, the consumer. We are also using technology and AI to hit our target of $150 million in net savings in 2025.
Guess where that savings is going to come from? Here’s a hint, it’s not going to be software updates or studio repairs.
In a recent Axios article, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could wipe out HALF of all white collar jobs. Does that mean corporate execs, GMs and PDs are eliminated? Engineers? Traffic and HR managers, researchers, copy editors, marketers? Before you finish this article, watch the video down below. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei shared a lot of great insight during a recent appearance on MSNBC.
If you’re like me, you’re curious and concerned about AI. Most folks that I’ve talked to are doing basic testing with ChatGPT. They’re not experts on prompts or utilizing other AI platforms. They see AI as an extra tool in their tool kit failing to realize that this tool kit makes the need for others less necessary.
I watched a video recently of Gary Vaynerchuk talking about the hypocrisy that exists with people. He pointed out that adults tell kids how important it is to be educated yet put their heads in the sand with AI. Vaynerchuk reminded people that he’s just under 50 years old. The reason he’s built to thrive in the AI era is because he puts in the time to learn whereas others are too lazy to try.
In the past few months, Search has been massively disrupted by AI. AI Overviews on Google have increased impressions but click-through rates are taking a beating. Between May 2024 and 2025, the number of news searches on the web that result in no click-throughs has grown from 56% to nearly 69%. Organic traffic has dropped from over 2.3 billion visits at its peak in mid-2024 to under 1.7 billion. It’s expected to be worse in 2026 and beyond once AI Mode becomes the go-to destination for searchers.
Since 2022, the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal have reportedly lost 50% or more of their traffic. As traffic declines, so does advertising revenue. Publishers are so upset with Google that the tech giant recently launched a service called Offerwall to allow groups to experiment with other means of monetization beyond traffic-dependent options like ads. It’s unfortunately the equivalent of putting a band aid on a wound that requires surgery.
If brand’s are struggling to have their content appear in Search, you’d assume they’d prioritize their social media strategy, right? Log on to X or Facebook and go look at how many local media brands rely on heavily pushing articles. That approach is equal to hiring a research company to gather feedback from your audience and then ignoring all of it. It’s exactly what social media platforms tell brands not to do.
Using the wrong strategy and tactics may keep you active but it won’t grow your business or traffic. It also shows a lack of understanding of how the digital landscape works in 2025. I say this as a publisher who has done the same thing and learned the hard way. Recently, I hired my son to take the reins of our social media strategy to start moving us in a new direction. You’ll begin seeing some of those changes in August. The platforms own the space, we just rent it. If you don’t take care of their property how they’ve asked you to, you get evicted or hidden.
Facebook released a report recently which showed that 97.3% of content viewed in the US during Q1 2025 did not include a link to a source outside of Facebook. For the 2.7% of views that did include a link, they mostly came from a Page the person followed. The same thing is happening on X. Elon Musk acknowledged it in response to a thread by Jesse Colombo which highlighted how links have been suppressed on the platform.
Yet how many media professionals started today by scheduling their brand’s social media content using the wrong approach? I’m all for saving jobs and investing in people over machines. However, if the people hired to create the strategy and produce results fail, and my business lost a ton of revenue and 50% of its traffic in 3 years, and technology existed that could solve my problems, why on earth would I not use it?
Content Creation
AI tools already automate different parts of video production. Editing broadcasts, removing/adding segments based on trending topics and social media buzz, and rapidly turning around clips for social media are all done instantly. The speed in which these projects are completed can’t be matched by human beings. Products like Chat GPT, Opus, Swell, Descript, ElevenLabs, Speechify, Movio, Invideo, Sora, Hedra, Veo3, Answer the Public and others are elevating content ideas and processes quickly. If you’re not aware of them and haven’t explored what they can do, start. Knowing how to utilize prompts to get the best information and generate the best creative is what the game is all about.
Search social media and look at how many pieces of content are already touched by AI. You may hate being bombarded by content such as Arnold Schwarzenegger singing, Mr. Professor turning heavy metal songs into Yacht Rock, fake press conferences or videos like the two pigeons talking about Randy Johnson’s pitching and flying down for a closer peak, but more people are tapping into their creativity and that’s a positive. The best content still requires humans and original, thought and vision, but AI generated content has value when used properly. Fox Sports showed how that can be done with its powerful Jimmy Johnson tribute and Harry Caray hologram.
If you’re a talent, producer or programmer you may think non-human content isn’t a threat because it’s not a local media outlet. That is a mistake. Anything that has the power to steal your audience’s time, attention and potentially your advertising dollars is a competitive threat. For decades media shows have needed hours of production time to create prank calls, parody songs, production montages, etc.. Now, better stuff is spit out in seconds, and if promoted correctly, can reach millions across social media within minutes.
Imagine if TV viewers could interact with characters in their favorite shows or movies, influencing the storyline’s future direction based on their decisions or preferences. With AI, that type of content is closer to reality than ever before. It can enhance the viewing experience through real-time data integration, such as live statistics during a sports broadcast, or dynamically adjusting camera angles based on viewer preferences.
The possibilities for AI’s influence on audio and video production, online articles, commercials, and custom voiceovers (ex: Imagine Morgan Freeman voicing your R&B radio station) are endless. Even turning existing content around and distributing it in different languages to various outlets is now possible. I watched Ice Cube’s conversation with Gunz where he voiced his objections to it. Though I understand his points, I don’t think it’s a case of ‘AI or human’. Both are essential and will be working together more moving forward.
Where AI doesn’t shine and won’t anytime soon is in the opinion space. Demetri Ravanos wrote a piece last week which touched on the importance of being authentic and original when presenting commentary. He’s spot on. If you can’t do the homework and create unique thoughts, you shouldn’t be trusted to deliver them on a company’s platform.
While the opinion space may be safe, the same can’t be said for other industry roles. AI can write headlines, website articles, imaging and sales copy, schedule social media, build websites and newsletters, edit video/audio, analyze ratings, schedule music, dissect competitor strengths and weaknesses, create presentations, voice track air shifts, write and deliver a news or sports update and perform other functions. Just because it can’t host a great talk show doesn’t mean it can’t add value. Some folks don’t want to hear this because they fear jobs being lost but if the duties being performed can be done better, faster and cheaper by machines, the next few years will be very uncomfortable for many.
Automating Broadcast Operations
Broadcasting involves a myriad of operational tasks that are both time-consuming and tedious. AI can help automate these processes, reducing human error, and freeing up staff to focus on more creative and high-value tasks.
What if music scheduling could be done perfectly for an entire cluster of stations by one person in less than an hour? Imagine social media creative produced and posts written and scheduled for brands within minutes. Even content monitoring (ex: Sports PD tells his staff not to talk about politics on the air and within seconds uses AI to examine each second of air time from the past month to learn if the staff is following direction) and automatic detection and flagging of content that violates broadcast standards or inserting ads into exact moments during a broadcast, helping to optimize revenue, is now possible.
Smart systems can also track and analyze radio/TV/digital ratings, adjust programming strategies, create sales playbooks, and offer insights into audience behavior that would have been difficult to gather manually.
Future of Media Advertising
Advertising is the lifeblood of the broadcast industry, and AI is revolutionizing this space too. I expect we’ll see a rise in hyper-targeted, real-time advertising in the next few years that adapts to an individual’s viewing or listening habits. Expect AI to help advertisers create dynamic ads that change based on a viewer’s behavior, location or even the content they’re watching. Personalization should make ads more relevant, improving the overall user experience and delivering higher returns on investment for advertisers.
Additionally, AI will improve the creative process. In fact, it’s already happening. Check out how this dentist in Los Angeles used artificial intelligence to grow interest in his business. Using Google’s Veo3, video views spiked from 5K per video to over 800K with this creative ad. Think that might grow his business?
It's super interesting to look at the performance here: 560k views in three days.
I scrolled through a bunch of his other videos, and he seems to average ~5k views.
It's hard to see other small businesses not replicating this (as long as they have someone online…) pic.twitter.com/O4z7H5h2Fc
AI can take anything you imagine and turn it into real time opportunity. Want Snoop Dogg voicing your commercial? Done. Thinking of creating a talking whale for video endorsements for a local client’s restaurant? Done. Need custom music created or a special voice in promos to make a commercial memorable? Done. Combine that with the ability to optimize ad placement and ensure that spots are inserted at the most opportune moments to maximize impact and you can see why this is a game changer.
An argument can be made that the AI dentist ad would’ve made more sense for a beer brand, but that will be the next area examined. How does the creative stand out amongst a more creative field? Which brands use it best to turn leads into sales? With machine learning, broadcasters can improve creativity and predict which audiences are most likely to engage with a particular type of ad or piece of content, optimizing both the timing and placement. That’s a benefit to the advertiser.
Conclusion
AI is both exciting and scary. Trying to teach old dogs new tricks is hard, but many industry roles will change or become obsolete in the near future so learning it is imperative for media professionals. This is no different than what print editors, columnists, reporters and newsrooms faced in the 1990’s and 2000’s when the internet arrived. Those who resisted change learned the hard way, technology doesn’t slow down for anyone.
I read a column by Axios CEO Jim VandeHei which touched on how his company is preparing for the AI tsunami. VandeHei requires most of his staff to spend 10% or more of their day using AI to find ways to double their performance by the end of the year. Are you doing that today in your place of business? This is a priority for Barrett Media too. We use AI to improve process, speed, knowledge, and creativity to best serve our readers and clients. What we don’t use it for are opinions, reporting/features, conferences, etc., things that depend on human connection. The question isn’t whether or not you should be using it, it’s how are you using it?
By no means is AI perfect. I worry about the future job market, data privacy, repurposing of content without proper attribution, and content overload. These things must be addressed. I also take issue with information being created by people on behalf of brands and then used by AI-powered companies without compensation or attribution. Machines are taking our work, summarizing it, and making it available to users while tossing the original content aside. AI companies are becoming the publisher/creator without doing the actual work.
It may be imperfect and frustrating, and require government involvement down the line, but that doesn’t change the fact that media professionals who adapt and embrace it will be better equipped than those who don’t. If this is the landline era of AI, the iPhone era is just around the corner. If a machine can do your job 10x better and faster, and provide significant savings to your company, how do you think this story ends?
As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Whether you like AI and how technology is disrupting the world or not, it’s happening. Future-proofing your business and career is vital, so don’t make the mistake of ignoring it. It’s better to stand with those who evolved and learned how to use it to their advantage than with those who resisted the change and got left behind.
The Barrett Bash
Invitations went out in June to over 1,000 media industry professionals for the first-ever ‘Barrett Bash‘. Our invite-only event is being held on Thursday September 4th from 5p-8p at 1604 Broadway in NYC to celebrate 10 years in business. We can’t accommodate everyone so if you received the invite and plan to attend, RSVP as soon as possible. It’s first-come first-served. Normally people wait until a month before to commit but over 100 people have already confirmed their attendance. We expect a few hundred more to join us from across the sports, news, music, and advertising industries.
I plan to add a host for the event. We already have a DJ and I’m starting the process of talking with record label contacts about having an artist play a short acoustic-set at the event. Additional surprises are planned as well. Those interested in hosting or providing entertainment can email me at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
Quick Hits:
Kudos to the Radio Hall of Fame. They nailed it with the Class of 2025. Mike McVay, Julie Talbott, and Colin Cowherd are three of my favorite people in the business. Seeing Martha Quinn, Mojo, Alice Cooper, Bob & Sheri and others earn respect for their contributions makes a great class even greater. Tickets to the ceremony in Chicago are now on-sale here. Stephanie Eads and I will be in attendance.
Thank you, Ozzy Osborne. I watched tons of clips over the weekend from Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s final show. The emotion from the crowd as he sang Mama, I’m Coming Home especially stood out. Tom Morello and Sharon Osborne organized an amazing farewell for the Prince of Darkness’. The different combinations of musicians playing covers, Ozzy songs, and just jamming was awesome. If you haven’t done so, go down a rabbit hole on X and search Ozzy Osborne. It’s worth an hour of your time.
Speaking of going down a rabbit hole on X, do the same searching Oasis. The band returned after a 16-year break and sounded outstanding. Their first show back took place in Cardiff Wales at Principality Stadium. Seeing them on tour this summer is high on my to-do list.
Another band which made a mark this weekend was The All-American Rejects. AAR showed up at the Savannah Bananas game at Fenway Park playing a short set. The clips on social were popping up everywhere, which coincidentally is what AAR does these days. Very cool.
I watched Colin Cowherd‘s July 4th video and thought it was awesome. We most certainly are living in the greatest time as sports fans. Sometimes we forget that due to the nature of how sports media works.
Kirk Herbstreitshared an awesome story on the Net Positive Podcast, which has since gone viral. Herbie explained that ESPN budget cuts were about to affect multiple crews and Pat McAfee heard about it, and said he’d absorb the costs to avoid having key people lost. Management caught wind of Pat’s plans and decided to adjust. That’s what leadership is all about. Well done, Pat.
Whoever came up with the idea to insert WWE superstar Seth Rollins into the All My Friendsvideo for A Day to Remember, give them a raise. The band, song, and Rollins are a perfect match.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
The headline on the press release read, “95.5 KLOS Makes Ratings History!” In the May PPM ratings, KLOS hit a 4.1 share 6+, the station’s highest since 1991. While the morning show, “Heidi and Frank,” were number one in adults 25-54 and number two in total audience.
We’ve all seen stations get lucky with meters, but these numbers were not a fluke. The previous three months had all been in the high threes, and that called for further investigation. I spoke with Pio Ferro, VP of Programming, about what has been driving KLOS’s ratings explosion.
What I learned was interesting, mostly because there really is no secret sauce or special ingredient that led to the recent growth. Little of what we discussed isn’t available to most stations in markets of any size. The success isn’t a Los Angeles thing; it’s a radio thing.
It’s also a team thing. Throughout our conversation, Ferro was quick to point out that he was not the sole architect of the success. He credits both Programming, Research, Analytics, and Measurement expert Keith Cunningham, as well as the station’s consultant, Dave Beasing, and Jacent Jackson, who manages music scheduling duties.
He gushed about the imaging work of Stew Herrera and Andrew Berger, and of course, the top-notch airstaff. More on them later. While I realize not all stations have this many resources available. It’s a good reminder that maximizing your station means getting the most out of every member of your team.
Stew Herrea Photo Courtesy 95.5 KLOS
With that in mind, let’s break down the success into its component parts and examine what Ferro and his team did.
The Music
This is where it all starts, and the changes they made shouldn’t come as a big surprise. “What really made a difference was doing a tighter playlist and hyper-focusing on very strong songs,” says Ferro.
Previously, the station may have been diving too deeply into its Rock roots. An understandable move for a brand as storied as KLOS. Playing too many tracks that appeal to listeners Ferro describes as connoisseurs instead of mass appeal songs that bring in a broader audience was likely part of the ratings malaise. “I came in, said, ‘no, we gotta be the sellout. We gotta play the hits.”
Part of being able to focus only on massive hits is taking full advantage of the station’s history of being a Rock station as much as a Classic Rocker. The KLOS playlist is wider from an era standpoint than some stations in the format, dipping into the early 2000s for titles from artists like Linkin Park. Which Ferro says has a specific purpose, “it plays a huge role to try and attract the KROQ fan base from that era.”
The Imaging
Taking a more mainstream approach to the music led to a different vibe in the production as well. Listening to Ferro describe the changes, it sounds like the overall approach went from traditional black T-shirt to more of a Southern California house party vibe. All about having fun. While the station’s official slogan is still Southern California’s Rock Station, the imaging is focused on a simpler message. KLOS Rocks, which Ferro says listeners are now starting to adopt.
The friendlier sound doesn’t mean there isn’t still a little bit of an edge. KLOS is more than willing to poke some fun at the competition. There are pieces that mention KROQ, and an even more common target is Jack-FM. A series of liners spoof the Jack-FM voice, leaving messages for KLOS, saying things like “Hey, it’s Jack. Our computer is stuck on George Michael again… and wow, it sounds great!”
The other adjustment to the imaging was doubling down on recycling the Heidi & Frank morning show. Choosing to take a slightly different approach, Ferro says they have purposely steered away from any sort of “if you missed Heidi & Frank this morning” type of promos.
Instead, it is likened to being more like a movie trailer. He has collected tightly edited pieces of the morning show from their funniest moments to run over the intro to records. Now, Ferro says you can’t go more than ten or fifteen minutes without hearing something funny from the show, and that has really paid off.
Mornings
Recycling alone wasn’t what led to huge numbers for the morning show. Ferro says it started with making sure the team understood where they were on the ranker. He feels it’s important for talent to have a good understanding of the numbers they are generating and what it means for the radio station.
That discussion led to the show tightening up on some execution issues that may have been holding down their ratings. Things as simple as hitting benchmarks at the right time, so listeners know when to tune in. And ending their breaks in a timely manner. “If they find an exit ramp, they will take it and not stay on the road longer than they need to.”
The Airstaff
Beyond mornings, the station added Nik Carter to afternoon drive in February of this year. Bringing a combination of anecdotes from his lengthy career in Rock radio and audience interaction, Nik keeps afternoons tight and entertaining. The station also has Greg Beharrell’s dry wit in the evening. And Alice Cooper’s syndicated show is running overnight, adding a bona fide rock star to the lineup.
Nik Carter Photo Courtesy 95.5 KLOS
However, the station does not have a traditional midday host. After Merulo Media decided not to invest in talent for that daypart, Ferro’s team accepted the challenge and created the KLOS Workforce. A set of specialized production and occasional contests directed at people working and listening to KLOS throughout the day. It keeps the daypart entertaining despite the lack of a live host.
Creativity
The last element Ferro and I discussed was a willingness to color outside the lines if it added to the fun vibe of the radio station. On April Fool’s Day, the station went all Yacht Rock, including a midday host who called himself Captain Stu Bing, which will only mean something to those people old enough to remember The Love Boat. They are also working on the return of the 5 O’clock Funnies, a long-standing KLOS tradition that Ferro is excited to revive.
And that overall focus on having fun is likely the part of the transition Ferro is most proud of, “It’s just much friendlier. It’s like, hey, come in. We’re having a great time.”
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.
While our nation took a collective extended Independence Day holiday weekend, many in sports media shared their appreciation for those who consume their product. Thank-you tweets, celebratory graphics, Happy 4th of July videos, and appreciation posts flooded my timeline. Many thanked the consumer for allowing them to continue doing what they do for a living. Colin Cowherd was no different.
The FOX Sports Radio host recorded a three-minute “thank you note” to sports for being as “noble a profession as it remains.” He compared the nobility of sports to his disappointment in politicians, Ivy League schools, and mainstream media for continuing to sensationalize every little conflict as though the world is “unraveling all the time.”
While I agree with most of what Cowherd states in his over three-minute “thank you note,” his call-out of mainstream media is outright absurd.
Where Colin Cowherd Was Right
Nothing in life or business is perfect. While trust in mainstream media is at an all-time low, there are reasons for it. I’m not going to shy away from the fact that every traditional cable news channel has blurred the line between fact and opinion for over a quarter-century.
Mainstream media does make the smallest detail into the largest mountain in the news media ecosystem. Every news network is guilty of this—from FOX News to CNN, MSNBC, and nearly every single podcast and independent creator with a slant. They’re just following the model for what they’ve witnessed over time.
If we haven’t figured this out yet, here is the truth. Ratings and clicks matter more than trustworthiness. We live in an attention-driven media economy, and most have cashed in ever since. Attention drives cash. Cash leads to ability. Ability leads to creativity. Creativity leads to opportunity to create more attention. In the words of Eric Bischoff, controversy equals cash.
The irony is, Colin Cowherd is no different from those he’s “disappointed” in.
Where Colin Cowherd Was Wrong
The same person who spent over three minutes on a holiday weekend saying he’s disappointed in how mainstream media oversells and overreacts has done the exact same thing throughout his entire sports radio career. This isn’t political, this isn’t spin. This is fact.
Sure, it’s tough to compare news coverage of war in the Middle East to coverage of LeBron James’ legacy. What isn’t deniable is that, in the end, it’s all content—content that the consumer continues to have an unending appetite for. And the more sensational, the more controversy, the better.
Speaking of sensation, let’s revisit some questions regarding Cowherd’s own personal opinions on sports to see if these meet the criteria of his personal “disappointment.”
Is Ben Simmons a top-five player in the NBA and more fun to watch than LeBron James? That seems to be a reach and embellished for attention.
Is Brock Purdy not a franchise quarterback because he sometimes wears his hat backward while speaking at the podium?
Would Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors be a terrible move for their franchise? Cowherd thought so—and yet, it led to back-to-back NBA titles.
How about ranking Sam Darnold as the best NFL Draft selection for the New York Jets and calling him a home-run pick?
Would these “takes” be considered exaggeration? Are they sensationalizing moments and athletes of those moments that Cowherd gets paid to opine on?
I know Cowherd is still waiting for “tariffs to ruin the economy,” much like I’m waiting for LeBron James not to win a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers and blow up the organization—something Cowherd once predicted and spent many days sensationalizing.
Losing Sight of the Lanes You’ve Play In
In the same tenor that Cowherd says he’s disappointed in mainstream media for how little he trusts it and how it makes the world feel like it’s unraveling—can the same not be said of how Colin sensationalizes some of his “takes” on sports radio?
I’m a big fan of Cowherd and have been for many years. I’ve always valued his skill in tying real-time sports conversations into everyday life. Often duplicated, never replicated. He’s one of the more unique sports radio talents out there, providing depth of knowledge with relatable perspective to the common consumer.
He’s also the same person who believes it doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong, as long as you’re entertaining. He’s referenced that when describing his own content approach and how he scouts new talent for The Volume.
Cowherd has played in the lane of hyperbole and overemphasis for his entire career in sports media. However, Cowherd’s comments—as a performer and entertainer—fit the bill of what he now says he’s “disappointed” in.
Congrats to Joey Chestnut on his return to the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest as he won his 17th mustard belt after devouring 70 1/2 hot dogs in ten minutes. It’s fascinating to see how many Americans tune in for an annual event which celebrates gluttony, while in the same breath say it’s disgusting to watch yet they can’t stop watching.
I saw a new study by Performance Research and Full Circle Research revealing that sports fans are adapting to the new streaming environment for sports content. The study showed that 9 out of 10 sports fans are using streaming services to watch sports. The question I left with is what the hell is that one lone sports fan watching?
This weekend was a massive weekend for fans of British bands. Oasis reunited for the first time in 16 years for an epic performance at Cardiff. Also, Black Sabbath officially said goodbye with an amazing lineup for a tribute show honoring their final performance together. Both events reenforced the fact that I’m now 44 years old, and modern rock music has simply no life or legacy to look forward to. The digital age of modern music has truly ruined how special the art is and unfortunately I don’t see it ever returning.
I experienced for the first time what a Mochinut donut is this weekend. For those unaware, a Mochi donut is a donut that originated from Hawaii which is a combination of American doughnuts and Japanese mochi. The taste and texture was wildly different from a traditional American donut. However, the experience walking into the establishment was very unique. Think donuts meets ramen noodles meets corndogs meets coffee stand. Very cool and an uncommon experience.
Major League Baseball’s viewership and attendance are up, and not only up but way up. Many have credited the superstars of the league for their performance so far this year and attention they’ve created from it. I personally would like to credit Jomboy Media and the Savannah Bananas for their role in baseball’s overall attention spur. Jomboy Media has made baseball fun again using moments to create viral and entertaining engagement around the game. The Bananas have sold out stadiums presenting a different spin on the national past time that’s more affordable and digestible for new fans to latch onto. MLB was wise to officially partner with Jomboy Media last month. They’d be even more wise to find more ways to partner with the Bananas moving forward.
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Gregg Swedberg is a bit of a radio unicorn. The Twin Cities native has spent the entirety of his career in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Minneapolis and the Program Director of Country K102, which is today’s featured brand.
When K102 launched, there was still Country on AM radio in Minneapolis, and only one FM Country Station. The landscape changed when K102 arrived in 1983
“K102 flipped to Country in ‘83 and had a pretty aggressive marketing campaign to get people to know that Country was really on FM, even though it already was. And it took off pretty good and built its way up through the ‘80s and was sneaky good. I don’t think anybody really kind of realized how well it was going. Then, when Country boomed in the early ‘90s, everybody realized how good it was, and it has been dominant all the way through.
“When the Country boom of the 90s hit, we had two competitors and took them both out and have been doing Country since.
“Chris Carr & Company” hosts the station’s morning show, which remains local despite growing syndication.
“There are reasons why stations use national programming. Sometimes, it’s financial; sometimes, it’s because what they’re doing just isn’t working. I also think the good part about working for iHeart is that iHeart’s not going to ever blow up all their morning shows. Maybe someday Bobby wants to be the governor of Arkansas or something.”
“We’re not a national brand like Bobby is. For all stations that don’t have the national brand, I think we have most streams inside iHeart Country, and we’re doing really well. Some of it is just this commitment.”
“I’m pretty stubborn. I want everybody in Minneapolis. It doesn’t matter what station you’re on, I want personalities. I want someone that someone’s going to care about because that’s the only way radio stations or brands are going to survive.”
Chris Carr And Sam Sansevere Photo K102 Webpage
”If everybody can play Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs, then you better be something other than playing Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs. You’d better have a personality.”
“Something that’s bigger. Otherwise, when the time comes, you’re just going to be left behind. I try to do that with all the radio stations. Another thing is that it’s something people can sell. Endorsements are a big part of our strategy in Minneapolis, and you can’t do endorsements if you don’t have the people.”
How important is being on the street and brand activations to K102?
”It’s essential. It’s so funny because there aren’t as many people in radio as there were before. And we’ve tried to get clients to do more digital sorts of remotes and more things digitally. But I don’t think the clients have necessarily gotten that memo, and they still want people to show up at their place.”
“We do a bit on Fridays, ever since Mike came back, where the morning show goes out to sometimes a hot zip. Sometimes it’s just a zip where there are a lot of meters that we’re not getting or that we’d like to get. Where the listeners are, and we’ll do a ticket giveaway.’
“Even with the possibility that you’ll win tickets, not like we’re giving tickets to everyone that shows up. And we get lines around the block. And lines up and down the highway. When people see that they can say, Hey, radio works. I can gather a crowd of a couple of hundred people at your location at six thirty in the morning.”
“That proves it works. You have to be there and be a part of the community.”
While discussing the K102’s music mix, I asked about the significance of currents and gold, especially ‘90s Country.
“ It’s always tricky. Because you can’t really specialize in anything. You just have to combine songs that we know people want to hear. With WOW moments that will keep them coming back.”
“I’ve always been a proponent of the two things I want to hear. A song I haven’t heard in a while. Or a new song that somebody tells me is really good, maybe by one of my favorite artists. Those things are super important. The other stuff is there to keep people from tuning out. You’ve got to balance it all.”
“We might be a little bit more aggressive than other stations and markets our size. But if you spend 30 years training your audience to like new music, then maybe we can get away with a little more than other people do.”
“That’s what’s great about what ‘The Highway’ has done on SiriusXM. They’ve made listening to new music like a virtue.”
“You are smarter than everybody else because you like new music. Yeah, that’s right. I’m smarter than everybody. They’ve done a masterful job of taking something that a lot of programmers view as a scary liability and turning it into like the number one thing for them.”
So, how tight does Swedberg feel the artist separation should be on an artist like Morgan Wallen?
”I’m a little different than other people. I don’t think you should do it too much. This format, when I got into it, was the ’90s boom. Then you played a lot of Garth Brooks and George Strait. We played a lot of Brooks and Dunn and Reba. They could easily sell out arenas here.”
“We’d get calls from listeners saying, hey, you’re not being fair to this artist. You’re only playing Garth Brooks. And this was when you played him every hour and a half. This is the only format where there’s this egalitarian sort of thing for the listeners.”
“There’s this belief that everybody deserves a chance. Yeah, you should play a lot of Morgan Wallen because he’s hot. I think that you should play a lot of everything. That’s the one thing about Country. If you ask them, Hey, do you want more new music? Yeah. You want more old music? Yeah. You want more female artists? Yeah. They literally will tell you yes to everything, and then it’s up to you to balance it.”
Swedberg is a member of the class of 2025 inductees into the Country Radio Hall of Fame. He credits the people he has worked with for his success.
“I’ll say thank you. That’s kind of where I’m at. I’m not comfortable with it. It’s so funny because I have to write this speech. I get about a paragraph in. I say, I don’t even like talking about myself this much. I can’t imagine talking about myself. I think mostly it’s just a reflection of all the people I’ve worked with.”
“Everybody’s a byproduct of the people they’ve worked with, and I’ve been really lucky to work with good people.
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You may not expect WJR 760 host Paul W. Smith to be a major policy strategist for the Ford Motor Company.
But, in at least one instance, you’d be wrong.
In April 2023, Ford sent shockwaves through the broadcasting and automotive communities when it announced that it would remove AM Radio from “most new and updated 2024 models”, including all of its electric vehicles and the overwhelming majority of its gas-powered models.
Six weeks later, however, the company reversed course. Ford Motor Company President & CEO Jim Farley announced that the company would keep the band in its 2024 models — and has kept it there in 2025 and 2026 models, too — noting that it had heard about the importance and prominence of the service after announcing its plans.
One of those prominent figures who lobbied for the inclusion of AM Radio? 760 WJR host Paul W. Smith.
In a meeting with Farley, Smith advocated for AM Radio.
“I had my opportunity. I’m sitting there with him — I know him very well, and I knew it wasn’t going to piss him off, so I turned it in kind of into a kind of a self serving joke,” Smith said of the angling to Farley.
Smith added that his approach to interviewing was a major factor in the ability to stump for something he’s passionate about, while simultaneously respecting his interview subject.
“I’m sure people have thought in the past, I’m a softball thrower with questions. What they aren’t doing is really listening and paying attention,” he said. “I ask in a nice way. It was some newspaper many years ago that said I had mastered the art of disagreeing without being disagreeable. And I loved that.
“I have always worked under the assumption that I’d be doing this job a long time, and I want to get the good guests every time, so I’ve never tried to stick anybody or catch them or trip them up or trick them,” he continued.
“When I ask somebody a question and they don’t answer it, and then I ask them that question again, and they don’t answer it, my listeners are smart enough to know that that person isn’t answering the question. I don’t have to beat them up and say, ‘Hey, you’re not answering this thing.’ I don’t need to do that. I’ve always respected the intelligence of my listeners. They are the best and brightest listeners in all of radio.”
That discussion, first with Jim Farley, and then later with William Clay Ford Jr — the current Chairman of the Board and great-grandson of Ford Motor Company founder, Henry Ford I — undeniably worked.
While the automaker originally decided to remove the AM band, it reversed course after the conversation with Smith, with Farley crediting the WJR 760 host with sparking the decision in discussion with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Additionally, the AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act was originally introduced before Ford Motor Company changed its decision, which could also indirectly be attributed to Smith. While the bill has yet to be passed into law, many members of the United States Congress and broadcasting communities — like the National Association of Broadcasters — remain optimistic that it will eventually be adopted.
Paul W. Smith noted that it wasn’t a leap of courage to lobby for the industry with top executives from Ford due to the relationships he’s cultivated with those leaders over the course of his nearly three decades working at WJR 760 in Detroit.
“I spent years building that kind of relationship with the top, top, top people,” Smith shared. “I used to go around the world to every auto show — Geneva, Paris, Japan, China, Frankfurt, I used to go around the world broadcasting. So they all got to know me pretty well and I got to know them well. We had mutual respect.”
In a recent on-air discussion with William Clay Ford Jr., Smith lobbied for a longer-term commitment from the automaker to ensure that AM Radio remains an important part of the infotainment system in new models from the manufacturer.
“I said, ‘This is self-serving, but I’m going to say it anyway: Can I get you to continue to keep AM Radio in your vehicles?’ And he said, ‘Well, let me put it this way, Paul: As long as you’re on the air, we’ll keep AM Radios in the car.’ Which was fun to hear,” Smith said, until joking, “And then I thought, ‘Well, maybe he knows something I don’t.”
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Not everybody is paying attention, not everybody cares, and not everybody is spending their days doomscrolling, listening to news/talk radio, or tuning into Fox News.
We in America are, of course, going through some things, and however you want to justify any of it, it’s looking very bad. The very idea that I can drive about an hour and be at the entrance to what fulfills the definition of a concentration camp is mind-boggling, as is the glee with which some people — including the leaders of government — are behaving.
Even if you think it’s okay to round up people without a trial and due process and deport them, “Alligator Alcatraz” is a particularly cruel idea. It’s here, a quick drive down the Turnpike.
Also, a slightly quicker quick drive down the Turnpike is the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which some of you will recognize as the “Guitar Hotel,” with a tower shaped like a guitar that lights up with animation and beams of light forming the neck at night. Fly into Fort Lauderdale and you’ll see it up close out the right side windows. Saturday evening, for my birthday (thanks to all who sent their greetings), Fran decided to take me there for a special dinner at Council Oak, which was excellent and highly recommended.
The rest of the place, well, imagine a junior version of a Vegas casino populated by a youngish Broward County crowd (think “Jersey Shore”). The longest queue was for the nightclub, and everyone in the line had drinks already in hand. Party!
Walking around the place, I couldn’t help but notice that everybody was grinning and goofing around (and dressed as if they do not have access to a mirror, but that’s another story). The news of the weekend – the severe budget cuts to practically every good part of the federal government, the floods in Texas, Alligator Alcatraz – wasn’t reflected by the demeanor of the crowds.
Elsewhere, people gathered to watch ball games, fireworks, movies, and drone shows, eat some barbecue, visit family…in other words, a normal holiday weekend. It’s as if the bad stuff isn’t happening. Put a perfectly grilled New York strip in front of me and I, too, can forget for at least a meal that the world seems to have gone off the rails.
This isn’t new. Books and movies have depicted how for some people in Germany, life went on even as the Nazis rose to power and neighbors were disappearing. Life has to go on, right? There’s work to be done, bills to pay, mouths to feed. The average citizen can’t do anything about the bad stuff anyway, or at least they think they’re powerless. (A general strike might prove otherwise, but getting that together would be quite a task.)
Some even welcome the evil. And they all ignore what’s right in front of them until it affects them directly. Those direct effects are starting to show up now, but at least in the interim, the party is still going on at the guitar-shaped casino.
What does this have to do with the radio, or the media, or news? It means that there’s a huge audience that doesn’t want to hear about the latest from Washington or Tehran or Gaza. How are they even getting news? ARE they getting news, and is a lack of communication why they don’t worry about what’s happening? In 2025, news is filtered through TikTok and delivered by influencers. People can easily be led to believe that no news is real, that science is a sham, that violating human rights is a good thing.
In that light, there’s a place for truth-tellers and trusted sources of information to counter the lies. Can you reach those people wandering through the casino in bathing suits with frozen novelty cocktails in both hands? Maybe. Can you do it with radio (or TV, or print, or even older social media like Xitter or Facebook? Probably not. Podcasts? Mmmmmaybe. TikTok and Reels? Also maybe.
That’s going to take a fundamental change in how traditional media does its job(s), just as losing a chunk of the music audience to Spotify and Apple Music means music radio has to reevaluate its business model. Like them or not, the people at the casino are the latest generation to reach adulthood, and they are not listening to you. It’s how people in high positions get away with what they do: too many people are not paying attention, or as the late Neil Postman wrote, “amusing themselves to death.” Or they’re led to fixate on one issue (Immigration! Abortion! The Middle East! The budget!) and ignore anything else.
Telling the truth and having people pay attention has gotten harder, but it’s necessary. It’s time to measure whether you’re up to the task.
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Late last month, as bombs were traded between Israel and Iran, I was struck by how well CNN stalwart Anderson Cooper handled being in the midst of potential chaos. I couldn’t help but think that it showed the host at his absolute best. But that setting is wildly different from his usual job of anchoring Anderson Cooper 360 in the network’s primetime block.
Thinking about that juxtaposition — between being on a rooftop in Tel Aviv at 3 AM local time with alerts telling you that missiles were incoming in the next 10 minutes and sitting inside your comfortable studio — led me to watch a recent episode of Anderson Cooper 360 to get a feel for how a regular, run-of-the-mill evening looks for the longtime star.
For this exercise, I tried to find the most boring (sorry if that’s an offensive term) story for Cooper to cover during his primetime program. Because I wanted to see how two stories at the complete opposite ends of the spectrum were covered by Cooper.
So, while digging through his episodes for the week, I found a conversation about a former administrator for USAID discussing the repercussions of slashing funding for the agency. Not exactly the world’s most riveting topic, frankly. Especially when you’re a week removed from being in the Middle East rushing away from a vulnerable position as bombs were headed your way.
I watched the conversation with Samantha Power and immediately felt a sense of information over opinion from Cooper. He didn’t necessarily give a stance on how he felt about the cuts being made at USAID as much as he shared data from studies that showed millions of deaths globally could be attributed to the cuts should they continue to be enacted. Now, one could deduce how the longtime CNN host truly felt about those cuts based on the information he shared and the network for which he works, but he didn’t expressly state it. He was still in “Big J Journalist” mode and simply sharing facts in advance of his conversation with Power.
Also, before getting to the discussion, Cooper did something that I think more cable news hosts could admit to: that the interview wasn’t live. It was pre-recorded. I think admitting this adds to your credibility — not detracts — due to the honesty. It would have been insanely easy to edit the interview to make it appear live, and viewers would have been none the wiser. But that admission adds to the honesty, in my view. I appreciated being told that it wasn’t live, despite nothing really being gained by that admission.
While I thought Anderson Cooper was at his best when the proverbial you know what hit the fan, I found him authoritative and understanding of the matters at hand from his studio during this “boring” topic. His first question to Power essentially hinged on getting Power to back up her stance — which was shared by the likes of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama — that the previous strategy from the organization was in the best interests of the United States.
A cynic could view that question as a thinly veiled “Why is President Trump wrong?” query. But I didn’t take it that way. The initial question is an important one because it lays out why in the world anyone should care what this former administrator has to say. If she agrees that the funding needs to be cut, we don’t need to hear from her. She agrees with the Trump administration. Cool. Next.
But, because she’s a dissenting voice, it’s important to hear right off the bat why she feels the way she does. So Cooper set her up perfectly to execute that.
As the discussion, and the episode as a whole, continued, I felt as if the show might be a bit too intellectual for me. Which, make no mistake about it, is a good thing. Lots of folks can sit down and do a “Everything stinks, I hate everything, and you should to” cable news show. We could use some more intellectualism in the cable news ecosystem.
There was a balance, of course, too. I didn’t get the sense that Cooper stepped into the studio and thought, “Let’s do a show that goes over the tops of the heads of the overwhelming majority of Americans.”
But some of the boring topics were…boring. I don’t know what that says about Cooper’s ability. Does that make him a good host because he doesn’t overanalyze or sensationalize the news? You could certainly make that case. Could you also argue that there not being a high entertainment value and rather a rationale, nuanced discussion about the day’s top stories as reason why CNN has slumped behind Fox News and MSNBC in the primetime ratings? Certainly.
However, I don’t know that Anderson Cooper fits the bill of a modern — for lack of a better term — primetime cable news host. He isn’t bombastic. He isn’t a partisan firebrand. He’s just Anderson. And there is a place for that in cable news. At least, for his, CNN, and the country’s sake, I hope there is.
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