AC KRWN continues a four-month growth trend 4.2-5.6-6.1-7.3
Classic Rock KZOK flat at 6.6-6.7
Rock KISW is down 5.1-4.7
#12 Miami/Ft. Lauderdale
Urban WHQT sits atop the market despite being off 9.9-8.7
AC WFEZ up 5.4-6.2
AC WLYF 5.0-5.3
#13 Phoenix
Christmas Magic for AC KESZ up to double digits 8.3-12.3
Classic Rock KSLX off 6.4-5.9
Country KNIX up 3.7-4.3
#14 Detroit
Huge jump for AC WNIC 8.8-13.1
Classic Hits WOMC up a share 6.2-7.1
Top 40 WKQI drops 6.6-6.0
#15 Minneapolis/St. Paul
Classic Hits KQQL up 6.8-10.7
Hot AC KSTP-FM flat 7.1-6.9
Minnesota Public Radio’s AAA KCMP up 4.2-5.4
#17 Tampa/St. Petersburg
Cox Media Group holds the top three spots
AC WDUV leads the way 9.4-9.3
Urban WTBV 6.7-8.5
Classic Hits WXGL up 5.4-6.0
#18 Denver
AC KOSI gets the Christmas bump 7.1-9.3
Classic Hits KXKL up 6.2-6.5
Classic Rock KQMT off 5.1-4.6
#19 San Diego
Classic Hits KXSN off slightly 7.3-7.1 and leads the market
AC KYXY up 4.8-6.6
Country KSON up 4.6-4.8
#23 Baltimore
AC WLIF 6.8-7.7
Rocker WIYY up 6.6-6.9
Urban WWIN loses nearly a share 7.5-6.7
#24 St. Louis
HUGE Christmas month for AC KEZK 5.5-9.6
Classic Hits KLOU drops 8.8-7.9
Adult Hits WARH off 7.4-7.1
You can dive deeper into each market on Barrett Media’s ratings page. Powered by Harker Bos Group.
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.
Stephen A. Smith, featured commentator and executive producer of First Take on ESPN, is currently in contract negotiations with the company ahead of the expiration of his existing deal on June 30, 2025. There had been reports pertaining to his deal being worth $120 million; however, Smith denied that monetary figure during a recent appearance on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. While speaking with ESPN and First Take colleague Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo on Mad Dog Unleashed, Smith explained that the discussions have been “constructive and beneficial” but there has not currently been an agreement reached.
Smith has stated on multiple occasions that he does not discuss his contract matters in public, but he provided some context during the recent radio appearance. In addition to First Take, Smith also works as an analyst for NBA Countdown and has his own company, Straight Shooter Productions, that produces his eponymous podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, and other projects. Russo exclaimed that if Smith left, he would leave as well, and subsequently implored him to sign the contract.
“The money does matter, but the money is there,” Smith said. “That’s not the issue. ESPN and I don’t have an issue with the money. For me personally, there are a lot of other things that I want to do, and I want the freedom to do it. We live in a different world, and being able to diversify your portfolio and do things outside of that one job that you may have is incredibly important to me, and so because that is of importance to me, that’s the kind of thing that we have to work out.”
In the report from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic of Smith’s deal being for $120 million, it states that most of the deal would be paid by ESPN but would have smaller components from Disney Entertainment and a gambling company. The deal could include first-look provisions for any projects that could be developed. Smith has also expressed a desire to contribute to Monday Night Football and potentially host late-night programming, previously filling in as host of an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and previously hosting a late-night style show on ESPN+, titled Stephen A’s World.
“They’ve been receptive to what I’ve had to say,” Smith explained. “I’m receptive to what they have to say. Hopefully we’ll reach an accord and I’ll be there for years to come, and if it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out.”
Smith started his second stint with ESPN in 2011 where he hosted a local show on ESPN Radio in New York, and he also had a local program in Los Angeles for one year as well. In 2012, he joined First Take where he debated sports topics opposite Skip Bayless for four years as the show boosted in the ratings and became more popular. Smith worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for 16 years where he was a general sports columnist, and he is a graduate of Winston-Salem State University. Smith also formerly hosted a radio show on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio for several years before it moved to the ESPN SiriusXM channel and was later simulcast on television.
Rubber City Radio Group’s Classic Rock 97.5 WONE-FMAkron will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Wednesday, January 1.
In celebration of the milestone, current morning show hosts Matt Spatz and Amanda Casey will present a special broadcast at noon. The program will begin with the station’s original sign-on and feature a countdown of the 40 favorite songs as voted by listeners, marking the station’s first 40 years.
The countdown will showcase highlights and memories from current and former staff members and tributes to artists from Northeast Ohio.
WAEZ-FM, which was easy listening, transitioned to a Rock format, and WONE-FM at 6 AM on January 1, 1985.
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.
Don Imus, a staple of morning drive for WFAN for nearly two decades, passed away five years ago today at the age of 79. Imus, who had a broadcasting career spanning more than 50 years, brought his irreverent and oftentimes controversial style to the New York City airwaves and is widely seen as a key contributor to the growth of the sports talk-formatted radio station.
One year after the launch of WFAN in 1987, Imus joined the radio station and brought his signature program, Imus in the Morning, to the sports outlet. Although the offering included elements of sports talk, including updates, the format centered more on news, entertainment and politics. Imus brought the audience he had built over two stints with WNBC as the station signed off the 660 AM frequency and concluded its 66-year run. WFAN moved to the 660 AM frequency in October 1988 after it had launched on 1050 AM during the previous July, and it quickly established a schedule featuring Imus in morning drive and the duo of Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo in afternoons.
Imus was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989, and his show achieved massive popularity throughout its years on WFAN. After making racist and sexist comments about the Rutgers women’s college basketball team in 2007, Imus was fired by CBS Radio effective immediately. Imus joined WABC a few months later and continued broadcasting until March 2018, leaving early when Cumulus Media was in the midst of a restructuring under Ch. 11 bankruptcy. Imus passed away on Dec. 27, 2019 in College Station, Texas after he had been hospitalized a few days earlier.
Barrett Media recently asked about Imus’ legacy and his impact on WFAN with several executives who have or currently work at the sports talk radio station. Please note that answers are edited for length and clarity.
How important was Don Imus to the rise and growth of WFAN?
Jeff Smulyan – Chief Executive Officer, Emmis Communications
“Absolutely critical. I don’t think a lot of people realize that, and a lot of things came together all at once. Moving it to 660, [and] shortly after that, Mike and the Mad Dog, but Don really — I’ve always said Don was really the key because Don brought in a different audience and he was the darling of Wall Street, and he brought in a lot of male decision makers who sort of didn’t know they liked sports, but discovered it because they were listening to Don.”
Rick Cummings – Former President of Radio Programming, Emmis Communications
“EVERYTHING is the simple answer. He taught us the key to successful ‘sports talk’ was ENTERTAINMENT, not an endless stream of information and drivel.”
Mark Chernoff – Former Program Director, WFAN
“Imus just made [a] huge difference at the radio station because FAN, being an all-sports station, Imus is not all sports. Yes, he did sports, and we had Mike Breen doing sports on his show, but the priority was Imus to be Imus, and he brought people the radio station in the morning and allowed the station to grow immensely.”
Chris Oliviero – New York Market President, Audacy
“Imus was like the big free agent signing that an expansion team might make to bring instant star power to the club and send a message to the marketplace that they are serious about competing. That was Don in 1988.”
What did Don Imus do that specifically helped the brand elevate to a different level?
Jeff Smulyan:
“I think he gave it credibility. I always said one of my favorite bits of all time was his sign off, where he said, ‘This ends the entertainment portion of today’s programming. For the next 24 hours, you’re going to hear mindless drivel from morons about sports. Tune back in tomorrow morning for more entertainment,’ but everybody rallied around it. Everybody knew that he brought something the station didn’t have. He took his listeners and got them interested in FAN. The combination of the better frequency and Imus, and then the growth of Mike and the Mad Dog just put it over the top.”
Rick Cummings:
“His brand of irreverence and his humorous means of calling BS on all manner of things widened our appeal dramatically. You no longer had to be a Mets fan steeped in player stats to love FAN. NON sports fanatics loved the station too. Don taught us the formula, which we spread to other dayparts like Mike and the Mad Dog (more sports-centric but with that leading edge of entertainment).”
Chris Oliviero:
“First Imus bought WFAN much needed time and breathing room in the early days to figure out exactly what the rest of the 19.5 hours of the broadcast day should sound like for this new uncharted format of sports radio. And second, he helped make stars of his new teammates by shining a light on them to his audience, most famously Mike & The Mad Dog. In wrestling parlance, he put them over.”
Mark Chernoff:
“Before I got there, he did a switch with the Connecticut governor, Lowell Weicker, where Imus was governor for a day in Connecticut, and I think that set him up to understand and have politics becoming a part of his show. And in, I guess it was ’92 when Bill Clinton ran for president, Bill Clinton back then would even say Imus made a huge difference in his campaign. It humanized Bill Clinton, and Imus became an important person in the world of politics, and I believe it was in TIME magazine that Imus was voted one of the 25 most influential people in America, and a lot of it had to do with getting Bill Clinton on his show and making a name for himself in the world of politics. He started having guests from that world, besides the world of entertainment [and] an occasional sports guest.
“When Boomer Esiason came over, he was on with Imus back then as the Jets quarterback, but they could talk more than sports. But Imus became an important player, not just being a shock jock anymore, which is what many people thought of. ‘Oh yeah, Imus is a shock jock.’ Well, it’s not that he didn’t do comedy. He did, and he could be outrageous some of the time, but he also now had a different kind of a following or an additional kind of a following because he was so wrapped up in what was going on in the world as well.”
Looking back five years after Don’s passing, how should his legacy and connection to WFAN be remembered?
Jeff Smulyan:
“Don — and the way things ended, and of course, [that] was long after my tenure — but Don was an American original, and I thought the world of him. He was challenging. We always had a great relationship, but he was challenging to manage. I always kidded Randy Bongarten. Randy managed Howard Stern and Don, and he said, ‘Howard could do whatever he did on the air and cause you all sorts of problems, and at 10:00 in the morning, he could clinically discuss what he had done.’ He said, ‘Don was Don 24 hours a day. Sometimes good, sometimes challenging.’
“I was an Imus fan long before I owned that radio station, and I told the story when we were buying NBC and I met with Mike Lynn, who was his agent, and we laughed and I said, ‘Mike, let me see if I get this right. We’re talking about putting Don on the air, so we’re going to have a radio station which is losing record amounts of money, we’ve got an anchor of a baseball team that has more drug problems than you could imagine, and we got a guy who’s just come out of rehab, and we’re going to put them all together. What could possibly go wrong?,’ but it all worked, and I always thought that in any Hall of Fame of broadcasting, Imus is right at the top.”
Rick Cummings:
“Imus was supposed to be one of the original ‘shock jocks.’ But he morphed into the ultimate power broker in the tri-state area. When Bill Clinton campaigned, Imus was a mandatory stop. Every major banker and Wall Street decision-maker not only listened, they insisted on buying commercials (at very high rates mind you) in his show. If you wanted to be seen or heard, you HAD to have Imus.”
Mark Chernoff:
“He was a game-changer — very much a game-changer for the radio station. Even Mike Francesa and Chris Russo will say that without Imus, the station may not have grown to where it grew. Imus talked up Mike and Chris — he made fun of them some of the time and had fun with them some of the time — but by certainly introducing them, because they both had done sports on his show, not together, but he really helped them out because he had such a big audience back in those days, and he brought a lot of other people to the table. It also helped that we had the Mets, but much more important was how much Imus meant for the radio station.”
Chris Oliviero:
“You cannot write the history of WFAN without Don Imus. He was the foundational cornerstone that all the future decades of success was built upon. He also made WFAN a national brand from the cover of TIME Magazine to MSNBC to making his studio a must visit for the nation’s biggest political heavyweights. But you also must write the whole WFAN story, the beginning, the middle and the end, which of course was sad and painful for so many. Though not at WFAN, Imus did go on to try to rewrite a new ending of amends. Simply, I would say his legacy is complicated that needs to be studied in totality.”
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.
Some of you may know I have been in the podcasting space for several years. What started out as a side hustle grew into more than 20 shows, some of which were sports focused, some comedy shows and even an entertainment show with Melissa Joan Hart (aka Sabrina, the Teenage Witch). However, what we specialize in is pro wrestling nostalgia. Who knew this would be a major category in the podcast space?
When you think about it, however, a big part of podcasting is storytelling and if you can mix that with behind-the-scenes information that gives your listeners or viewers a peek behind the curtain, you have the makings of some strong content. Pro wrestlers told stories for a living, so they are trained in how to keep the audience engaged and also how to tease things that could be coming next.
I am saying this to segue into my topic for this column, which is that I am not sure who the MVP of sports broadcasting was this year, or the Comeback Sportscaster of the Year, but I can tell you who wins Rookie of the Year, in fact, it is a tie – the co-Rookie of the Year awards go to Nick Saban and Bill Belichick.
Let’s go back a year, to when everyone was making predictions and wondering what the media careers of the two might look like. I think most people believed Saban would be pretty good, however, several wondered if he would have the personality to go along with the knowledge. I thought it became pretty obvious from the get-go that Saban was a star in the making.
Many of the great coaches are terrific orators but sometimes when it comes to talking about the game of football, they can’t simplify it. They just cannot talk about it in a way that makes a lot of sense to the average fan.
With Saban, you also realize part of what made him such a great coach is that publicly he said very little. Saban’s old school and he is looking for every advantage he can possibly find and that includes not giving away any information you don’t have to give up. Now that the shackles are off and he doesn’t have a team to protect, he can talk freely about the game, and he is really good at it.
Additionally, we really didn’t know, nor could we have known how Saban would mesh with the team on College GameDay. I think anyone who has seen the show knows it has been better than anyone could have hoped. Pat McAfee brought some new energy to the show last year and Saban has brought another dimension this year, which is on pace to be the show’s best year ever.
Belichick was a little bit of a different story. There was concern about his personality, too, but it was more about if he actually had any. Lo and behold, turns out Bill Belichick can relax and have a really good conversation about football and even mix in a little fun every now and then. As far as I’m concerned, everything I’ve seen Belichick do has been above expectations.
Everyone had an opinion, and some were educated opinions from people who had spent time around Belichick. But when Tom Brady spoke on the subject at the beginning of the season and said that one of the things that made Belichick so special as a head coach was that he simplified things. Brady said while other coaches were known to make everything incredibly complicated, Belichick would make things about stopping the other team’s best players and laying out a very direct game plan which everyone knew very well.
You see that whenever Belichick is on with Pat McAfee, the Mannings or any of his other regular appearances where he really hones in on a few particular things and nothing he says is every really over complicated. This man knows more about the game of football than anyone alive and he has the ability to communicate it to the public – a terrific combination in the roles Belichick has had.
Sadly, for football fans outside of North Carolina, Belichick is headed back to the sidelines to coach in college for the UNC Tar Heels. I wrote about this after that announcement was made, but now we wait for Belichick to get the coaching out of his system, with the knowledge of how good he can be as an analyst. Belichick also knows there will be people lining up for his broadcasting services when he is ready to come back, so we will see what happens, but I predict we see Belichick back as an analyst sooner than later.
Regardless, for 2024, these two are (by far) the top newcomers in the broadcasting game. Saban and Belichick have exceeded expectations all around early in their broadcasting careers and it has been an incredible year learning from two of the brightest minds in the game’s history.
The Best/Worst Thing I’ve Heard/Watched/Read Recently
Like many of you, I spent a lot of Christmas Day with Netflix. Not just watching the games, but also taking note of the personalities used, the sets, the graphics and whether or not I kept a strong connection and didn’t spend the day with the system buffering like for the Tyson-Paul fight.
Fortunately, all went well on my end as far as the technology. I also liked the mix of talent used and was especially impressed by Kay Adams. Leading a desk of analysts is not an easy task for someone who doesn’t do it on a regular basis. I thought she handled it well and did a great job bringing the energy.
I met Kay when she was first starting out in the business and had recently graduated from Mizzou (MIZ!). Even then, in her early 20’s, you could tell she was going to make something of herself in this crazy business. She was determined and even at such a young age, you could see the ‘It Factor’ with her.
Well, fast forward about 15 years and she is starring on one of the biggest moments in modern day broadcasting, with the NFL debuting on Netflix. Congrats to her on all of the success she has had to this point, and I am certain she is just getting started.
You can check out Kay Adams each weekday at 11 a.m. ET on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams from FanDuel TV by clicking here.
I usually try and point out something written by one of my colleagues in this space, but this week I am going to promote something I wrote for the site. I am not doing so because I wrote the story, I am doing it so you don’t miss out on reading what Infinity Sports Network’s JR SportBrief is doing with AI.
While others in our space are trying to hide from AI, thinking it will eventually replace humans needed to do our jobs, JR SportBrief is looking for ways to embrace it. The truth is, most of what AI will be able to do in our industry is enhance it, add things we may not otherwise be able to have because it calls for an additional body and salary.
JR Jackson, aka JR SportBrief has partnered Morgan State University and Google on a project which will allow his voice and personality to be used, virtually, for things like a postgame wrap up of a sporting event.
“I knew Morgan State had a journalism program that I was fond of, and I knew they just started a brand-new AI Program,” he said “I reached out and I told them what I was doing. I wondered if there was a way we could work together on this where I could work with an HBCU, give back and have this be beneficial for everybody. After talking for a few months, the answer was yes. I reached out to Google, and they paid for the completion of this project.”
Super cool story happening I hope people will read about and you can do so by clicking here.
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.
Day One of Nielsen PPM Markets arrived on December 23. If those trends indicate things to come, and they typically do, it will be a win for stations that went all Christmas.
Among the highlights, iHeartMedia’s flagship AC WLTW New York jumped 7.8-9.7, with the company’s WLIT Chicago nearly doubling its share month over month 5.5-9.8.
KOST Los Angeles was up 4.7-8.3
In Dallas Ft. Worth, KDGE jumped 3.9-7.1.
In San Francisco, KOIT was up 5.4-7.2.
I had expected and written that my feeling was that, coming off a highly contested election with an extremely divided country, Christmas music would provide a safe listening space and perform well.
It did. But is it as strong as ever, and did it live up to expectations?
Looking at the above stations year over year, the trend is developing.
WLTW posted an 11.3 in December 2023, the station’s highest December number, eclipsing its previous high of 9.7. This year’s 9.7 is off 1.6 year over year.
WLIT scored 12.3 in 2023; this year’s 9.8 share leaves them 2.5 shares off year over year.
KOST posted a 10.1 in 2023, and this year’s 8.3, leaving them nearly two shares off the previous year.
KDGE jumped over two monthly shares when they posted an 8.6 in 2023, off this year 1.5 shares from the previous year.
KOIT was double digits last year 10.1, and this year’s 7.2 is off nearly three shares.
Looking narrowly at Day One PPMs, it appears Christmas Music is still a winning formula, but the peak may have been reached.
As the remainder of the PPMs continue…Watch This Space.
Community Connections:
Z102.9 KZIA, Cedar Rapids, IA, afternoon hosts Destiny Loney, and Taylor Martensen wrapped up their second annual “Stuff the Waggin'” campaign to support the Cedar Valley Humane Society. Over five weeks, the pair broadcast their Monday shows live from the back of their station vehicle, actively encouraging listeners to contribute to the care of local animals in need.
98.5 KTIS Minneapolis marked the third anniversary of its Christmas Blessing initiative, a program aimed at providing hope and support to individuals and families in need during the holiday season.
This year, the initiative awarded grants to 11 deserving recipients throughout the Twin Cities, each navigating their unique challenges, including health crises and the struggles of single parenting.
NEW 102.7 WNEW in New York exceeded its goal for the annual “Karen Carson’s 10,000 Toys for Girls & Boys” campaign, collecting 11,017 toys this holiday season. This charitable initiative supports Children’s Aid NYC and is dedicated to spreading holiday joy to foster children throughout New York City.
Hot 98.3 FM WGCO Savannah, GA, recently hosted its 4th Annual “Jared and Katie’s Breaking and Entering Christmas” event to uplift a family facing challenges in Southeast Georgia. Since the beginning of November, Hot 98.3 has been encouraging listeners to nominate families influenced by recent storms or other significant life events.
This year’s initiative garnered a record number of nominations. Morning hosts Jared Pike and Katie Tesh carefully reviewed each submission, ultimately choosing a family of five from Hinesville who suffered the loss of their five-year-old daughter earlier this year.
Industry Happenings:
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that new rules regarding the limited use of FM booster stations to deliver geotargeted content will take effect on January 13.
These updated regulations include new or modified information collection requirements still awaiting approval from the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The effective date for these changes will be communicated in a future notice. Additionally, the FCC’s Media Bureau plans to issue a Public Notice to confirm the implementation of the remaining rule changes at that time.
Add ons:
Media Monitors list of top ten advertisers for the week of December 16-22.
Lowes
Verizon Wireless
Progressive
Skyrizi (prescription medication)
T-Mobile
PayPal
Vicks
eBay
Kohls
Viome
Bit Of The Week:
In future weeks, The Pulse will include the “Bit Of The Week.” If you want to be featured, please send me an mp3 of your best, most recent bit to jeff@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.
Amid conversations and concerns about declining ratings for the NBA, the league and The Walt Disney Company delivered a record-setting performance with the most-watched Christmas Day slate of NBA games in five years. Fast national data from Nielsen Media Research demonstrates an 84% year-over-year increase in viewership of the five-game schedule, averaging 5.25 million viewers per matchup in the United States across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+. The thrilling victory by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers over Stephen Curry Golden State Warriors led the way averaging 7.76 million viewers in prime time, the most-watched NBA regular season and Christmas Day game in five years.
The Lakers-Warriors game, which aired on ABC, ESPN, Disney+ and ESPN+, featured play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, analysts Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson and reporter Lisa Salters on the airwaves. This matchup attained a 499% year-over-year increase from the comparable game last year between the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat. Viewership for this game peaked with an audience of 8.32 million at 10:30 p.m. EST as the game was coming down to the final possessions.
Shortly thereafter, the Phoenix Suns started play against the Denver Nuggets, a Western Conference matchup that averaged 3.84 million viewers. This marks the largest audience for a late-Christmas window in history, achieving a 161% year-over-year rise from last year’s matchup between the Suns and Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks faced the Minnesota Timberwolves this year in the second game of the day, averaging 4.38 million viewers and up 6% year-over-year.
Preceding the prime time matchup, the Philadelphia 76ers reigned victorious over the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in a game that averaged 5.16 million viewers. The final audience for this game will increase when viewership information from the Boston designated market area becomes available. For now, the matchup is up 3% year-over-year from the Celtics’ matchup against the Lakers last year.
Christmas Day action started from Madison Square Garden where Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks hosted Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. The Noon EST tip-off averaged 4.91 million viewers, marking the most-watched opening game on Christmas Day since 2011. Viewership for the game, which includes the animated Dunk the Halls alternate presentation on ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+, was up 98% year-over-year from when the Knicks hosted the Bucks in this window last season.
The NBA attained more than 500 million video views across social media platforms on Christmas Day, marking an all-time record. These games also accounted for the most-viewed Christmas Day in the history of NBA League Pass, and matchups were distributed in 214 countries and territories across 60 languages. With its performance on Christmas Day included, the league has generated a record 11 billion views on its social and digital channels for the season to date.
Viewership of the NBA on ESPN platforms is up 4% year-over-year, while overall NBA viewership on ABC, ESPN and TNT is down 4% for the season. Leading up to Christmas Day, NBA viewership on these networks increased every week in December by an average of 7% per week. Emirates NBA Cup games on ESPN and TNT were up 6% compared to non-NBA Cup matchups during the same timeframe as well.
The Walt Disney Company will commence the first season of a new 11-year media rights deal with the NBA, reportedly paying an average of $2.62 billion annually. Warner Bros. Discovery is in its final season with live NBA game broadcasts in the United States, although it will still retain a digital package and international rights as part of a settlement for an investor lawsuit. Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Amazon’s Prime Video will begin broadcasting NBA games under the new 11-year media rights term next year, which, when combined with Disney, is worth a total of $77 billion.
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.
Netflix presented a doubleheader of NFL games on Christmas Day with playoff implications to a record-setting unduplicated audience of nearly 65 million viewers in the United States. The streaming company, operating in the first year of a three-season deal with the league, broke the records for the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history, according to Nielsen Media Research. Both matchups were produced by CBS Sports, while NFL Media produced the pregame, postgame and studio halftime programming. Netflix NFL Christmas Gameday was executive produced by EverWonder Studio.
The opening game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers attained an average minute audience of 24.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data. This represents a year-over-year decline of 18% compared to the early Christmas Day game last year featuring the Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders on CBS.
The second game of the doubleheader with the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans attained an average minute audience of 24.3 million viewers, the most-streamed NFL game in history. Compared to the FOX late-afternoon Christmas Day matchup between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, this year’s comparable game was down 16%. Adults 18-34 accounted for 5.1 million U.S. viewers, the most-watched Christmas Day game on record within the demographic, according to Nielsen records dating back to 2001. Viewership for the doubleheader peaked at 27 million during the halftime performance from Beyoncé.
Both games surpassed the average of 23 million viewers attained by NBCUniversal when it presented an exclusive NFL Wild Card Game on Peacock between the Chiefs and Miami Dolphins. The Chiefs, featuring superstars in quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, are seeking to attain three consecutive Super Bowl victories for the first time in league history and have now been part of two of the three most-streamed NFL games. The broadcast also attained engagement on social media, with Netflix occupying 10 of the top 12 trending topics on X in the United States following Beyoncé’s halftime performance.
“Bringing our members this record-breaking day of two NFL games was the best Christmas gift we could have delivered,” Bela Bajaria, chief content officer of Netflix, said in a statement. “We’re thankful for our partnership with the NFL, all of our wonderful on-air talent, and let’s please not forget the electrifying Beyoncé and the brilliant Mariah Carey.”
Average minute audience viewership comes from Fast National Live + Same Day data from Nielsen Media Research, which encompasses viewing from the CBS-affiliated stations that broadcast the game in local marketplaces. The metric also contains mobile and web data from Netflix, mobile viewing from the league’s NFL+ streaming product and out-of-home viewing.
The Ravens-Texans and Chiefs-Steelers Christmas Day matchups rank ninth and 10th among the most-watched NFL games on the holiday since 1989, according to data from Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. Lewis also adds that the average of over 24 million viewers is the second-highest for the NFL on Christmas Day since 1995.
According to its latest quarterly earnings report, Netflix has approximately 282.7 million global paid subscribers, with its advertising tier reaching 70 million global users two years after its launch. Additional global ratings and U.S. insights pertaining to the NFL Christmas Day doubleheader will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
“We’re thrilled with our first Christmas Gameday on Netflix with NFL games being streamed to a global audience,” Hans Schroeder, executive vice president of media distribution for the National Football League, said in a statement. “Fans in all 50 states and over 200 countries around the world watched some of the league’s brightest stars along with a dazzling performance by Beyoncé in a historic day for the NFL.”
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 Lamont half of the former “Lamont & Tonelli Show” is returning to KSAN, 107.7 The Bone, San Francisco on January 6th.
Posting on the “Lamont & Tonelli” Facebook page, Lamont wrote, “Major Announcement! I have signed a contract with The Bone..1st show JAN 6TH !!”
The post unveiled a new show logo. 107.7 The Bone Program Director “Chasta Lynn” Michaelis and Assistant Program Director Danny “Baby Huey” Delmore will continue to join the lineup. The duo had been holding down the morning slot following Lamont and Tonelli’s departure.
The Lamont & Tonelli Show” ended on November 15. The duo had been on air together for 35 years. At that time, sources conflicted as to whether or not both hosts were not renewed, laid off, or ending the show due to one host retiring. (BMM 11/15)
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.
According to a report in Forbes, more than one-third of Spotify’s top audio podcasts were also aired as video podcasts. This figure is an increase of almost 20% year-over-year. In 2023, less than 15% of the top podcasts on Spotify had a video component. The data used in the report was provided to Forbes by Spotify.
Included in the list of podcasts which air in video format are two of the most popular podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience and Call Her Daddy. In fact, according to the report, Spotify reported a 140% increase in the number of video podcasts in its top 50 U.S. podcasts list in 2024 compared to 2023.
Spotify added some information it had collected from its users such as reporting more than 250 million Spotify users have streamed a video podcast and that two-thirds of their podcast users say they prefer video over just audio.
Edison Research had recently shown data that said 30% of podcast listeners in the first 9 months of 2024 said YouTube was their preferred platform for podcast streaming, beating out Spotify which was preferred by 29% of those who responded.
Spotify CEO David Elk recently told the Wall Street Journal, “It’s becoming all about video.” Elk said in order to compete, Spotify will pay podcasters whose video content reaches a certain view threshold. Spotify also plans to offer its premium subscribers a way to watch some video podcasts without ads.
Edison also provided a list of the top podcasts for 2024, with data from January through September. More than 15,000 weekly podcast consumers were polled and top shows included:
