UFC 329 produced another celebrity graphics blunder. CEO Dana White wasn’t laughing this time in his post-event comments.
What We Know: Shakur Stevenson, newly signed to Zuffa Boxing, appeared cageside during the UFC 329 broadcast on Paramount+. The graphic misidentified him as Thunder guard Jalen Williams instead. This isn’t the first time that the UFC has made a graphics error when showcasing the celebrity at their events. However, UFC CEO Dana White addressed the error unprompted at the post-fight press conference on Saturday night.
What They Said: Dana White criticizes his own production team for an error made during the UFC 329 broadcast on Paramount+: “I just paid Shakur Stevenson a sh**load of money, and for some reason we can’t figure this celebrity s**t out. They [UFC production team] put him up as a fu**ing OKC NBA player. Are you fu**ing kidding me? I mean, It’s absolutely crazy. We are the absolute worst to ever do the celebrity thing. When we put celebrities up, we are the worst. I just had this fu**ing debate in the back with my guys while I was screaming at everybody back there. They said, ‘No, soccer’s worse. Soccer shows the people, and they don’t-they don’t put up any graphics.’ Oh no, we put up fu**ing graphics and put the wrong guy’s name on it. We win. We’re the worst ever to fu**ing do it.”
What Remains Unclear: The exact cause of the graphics mis-step is unknown.
What It Means: UFC CEO Dana White is an overachiever. Little things matter just as much as the big things when you’re putting on big events. For White, he’s in the middle of a new seven year media rights agreement with Paramount which means pressure to perform. Following a historic UFC Freedom 250 event held at the White House, Connor McGregor’s return was hyped to be just as big. However, the continued issues with UFC production and identifying celebrity in house continues after much success. While you can aim for an errorless broadcast, you can tell that White is watching and observing everything with the telecasts. Even during events from cageside.
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Dave Portnoy is standing behind Dan Patrick. The Barstool Sports founder says Commissioner Cathy Engelbert owes fans real answers following skipping out on her appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.
What We Know: Engelbert agreed to appear on The Dan Patrick Show Thursday, July 9, during the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe. Patrick’s crew waited nearly two hours before learning WNBA PR staff had told her not to do it. On Monday’s Wake Up Barstool, Portnoy defended Patrick’s account and criticized Engelbert’s excuse directly. He argued PR staff work for the commissioner, not the other way around.
Dave Portnoy on Dan Patrick’s transparency in explaining WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s absence from his program: “Dan Patrick to me had every right to do this. I hate when people cancel, a pet peeve of mine. You hear it across everything. I especially heard it when I was doing my BFF show, where we’d ask people to come on the program, and they’d be like, “Oh, I’d love to, but my agent or my PR firm won’t let me. These people work for you. You’re the commissioner of the WNBA. What do you mean your PR people won’t let you go on? It’s your decision. You’re their boss. So that’s a total lie, total cop out. She’s a total coward, and she has mismanaged this league from the word go.”
Dave Portnoy on WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert shying away from tough questions about the league: “She doesn’t know how to answer questions. She always plays the defense of you want to ask this if I was a male to basic questions. She is a disaster.”
What Remains Unclear: The WNBA has not commented further on Engelbert’s non-appearance with The Dan Patrick Show. Whether or not she will appear in the future is unknown.
What It Means: For Portnoy, this reinforces a running critique of Engelbert’s leadership and communication style. Consequently, scrutiny builds around how she handles Clark-related controversies and league scrutiny overall. Meanwhile, Patrick’s account adds pressure toward greater transparency from WNBA leadership moving forward, especially with expansion talks ongoing.
.@stoolpresidente reacts to Cathy Engelbert canceling her appearance on Dan Patrick
"You're the commissioner of the WNBA… what do you mean your PR people won't let you go on? It's your decision. You're their boss… she's a total coward." https://t.co/KdVRTn6u4hpic.twitter.com/a2sdjPoGs0
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Tony Reali is stepping back into audio. His new podcast, Real Deal with Tony Reali, launches July 14 through iHeartPodcasts.
What We Know: Reali spent parts of three decades at ESPN, most notably as the longtime host of Around the Horn. Moreover, that show wrapped its historic run in last year after nearly 5,000 episodes. Now, Reali returns with a new weekly podcast under the iHeartPodcasts banner. Additionally, the project blends sports nostalgia with personal storytelling.
What They Said: Tony Reali on his new Real Deal podcast: “What I really love is the quirky stuff, the human stuff. There’s something unforgettable to me with all that. I got sports earworms banging around my head for decades. Locked and loaded in the group chat, ready to just send it once I see those three little dots coming. Because I know in sports there are moments that refuse to be muted or pardoned, and things that are never interrupted. The stories we keep sending each other, 10, 20, 30 years later. That’s real deal.”
Tony Reali on partnering with iHeartMedia on his new weekly podcast: “I’m excited. Then again, I was born excited. After 25 years in television, I’m thrilled to be partnering with iHeart to launch REAL DEAL. It’s more Tony, it’s still Tony, and it’s a new Tony, all at once. I can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve been building.”
What Remains Unclear: iHeart hasn’t detailed episode length or confirmed a full guest lineup yet. It’s also unclear how closely Real Deal will echo Around the Horn’s debate format versus a looser conversational style. Reali’s own description, calling it “more Tony… still Tony… and a new Tony,” suggests some blending either way.
What It Means: For Reali, the launch completes a full pivot from network television to on-demand audio. For iHeartPodcasts, adding a personality with a built-in national following strengthens its sports lineup.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death reverberated throughout talk radio on Sunday. Salem Radio Network Vice President of News & Talk Programming Tom Tradup says Graham leaves behind a lasting legacy.
What We Know: Sen. Lindsey Graham (D-SC) died unexpectedly Sunday at the age of 71. While the longtime senator was known for his work in Washington, he also became one of the most reliable guests. Graham’s passing closes the chapter on a political career that extended well beyond Capitol Hill. He became a recurring presence on radio and television, appearing regularly on national programs. That approach helped strengthen his profile with conservative audiences and kept him connected to listeners outside Washington. In a column for Townhall.com, Tom Tradup said talk radio will miss Lindsey Graham’s longstanding friendship with the medium.
What They Said: “Beyond the Beltway political drama, Lindsey Graham’s passing is a huge loss to talk radio. He was a ubiquitous presence for years. Unlike many of his timid Senate colleagues, the senator was always delighted to join local and national talk shows without being blocked by the annoying Praetorian Guard of Capitol Hill aides dragging their feet, demanding questions in advance, placing limits on topics to be discussed, and other myopic restrictions. Salem Radio Network host Mike Gallagher frequently welcomed Lindsey Graham on his nationally syndicated talk show. As did Salem’s Hugh Hewitt and others.” -Tom Tradup
What Remains Unclear: However, no one knows whether another sitting senator will match Graham’s reputation for accessibility. Instead, many lawmakers now embrace tightly controlled media strategies that discourage spontaneous interviews and limit direct conversations with hosts.
What It Means: Graham’s death leaves talk radio without one of its most dependable political guests. As a result, hosts will likely face greater challenges booking elected officials who welcome unscripted conversations instead of tightly managed appearances.
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Mary Lockrem has a new radio home. She joins 98.5 The Bull (KDES-FM) in Palm Springs as its midday host.
What We Know: Connoisseur Media Palm Springs slotted Lockrem into weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Moreover, she arrives with four years already on Coachella Valley airwaves. Listeners know her energetic style, country music passion, and genuine community focus. Now she carries that everyday connection straight into Bull Country. What They Said: Regional Vice President Sommer Frisk framed the hire as a deliberate strategy. “We’re intentionally building a team of difference-makers, and Mary is exactly that,” Frisk said. Additionally, Operations Manager Todd Violette called her a strong fit for the community. Both leaders praised her authentic voice and winning, service-minded spirit. What Remains Unclear: The station has not detailed Lockrem’s specific previous on-air role. Furthermore, it did not name who preceded her in the midday slot. Other programming shifts across the cluster also stay unannounced for now. Still, her hours, start date, and streaming home all hold firm. What It Means: Connoisseur keeps stacking familiar local talent across its 170-plus stations nationwide. Because Lockrem already connects with valley listeners, the handoff should feel seamless. Meanwhile, the move reinforces the company’s locally focused country music strategy. Ultimately, trusted voices help stations keep loyal audiences in crowded markets.
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To steal a line from Funk Flex at the 2026 Barrett Media Audio Summit, we’re going to have a real talk today. I want to explore a topic that we didn’t discuss at the Summit. It made no sense to do so at the conference because the people in that room valued being there. This is for those who weren’t there or who made a living in the radio industry and no longer do.
The radio business has many problems. Nobody is naive to that fact. But larger than the threat of AI, finding new talent and employment stability looms a larger issue: how radio is talked about by those who represent it.
Go on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc. and you’ll find radio employees bashing the industry every week. The second a local brand or company makes any kind of decision, employees reject it publicly, declare their industry dead, and point fingers to direct blame for what’s wrong with their business. Former employees are even worse.
There’s this constant need to trash the business from those who work in it, and I don’t understand why.
What’s Your Goal?
For those who do that, I’m curious, do you want the industry to vanish? Do you want more people out of work? Are you rooting for listeners and advertisers to have less options? How are you helping? Do you think company board members are going to make changes because you’re unhappy?
To be clear, I’m not talking about individuals who vent on social media after being laid off. That’s different. Losing a job hurts and creates fear. People have every right to sound off when they lose work especially if they were blindsided by their employer. Making a public statement about a job change also helps start the process to land the next opportunity.
I’m also not referring to print outlets who frame radio negatively. Many writers don’t work in the business. They latch on to popular headlines, usually about layoffs or something controversial It’s easy to write stories about failing industries failing or individual screw ups because attention follows. Algorithms use a similar approach to keep people engaged on their platforms.
I’m asking about the people who work in radio and frequently rip stations, bosses, talent, companies and the medium itself. The same goes for former bosses and talents who root for the industry to fail. Why are you trashing a business that helped make you relevant? What happened to you that was so bad that you feel the need to discourage others from pursuing a career you once enjoyed?
I rarely see TV professionals trashing their industry on social media. Thousands have lost jobs in advertising and marketing yet don’t flock to platforms to tell others how shitty their business is. Major League Baseball is having a strong year but has experienced a decline in interest since 1996 but baseball players aren’t out there encouraging people to play or watch other sports.
Radio for some reason earns its loudest criticisms from current and/or former employees. The messages don’t lead to larger conversations up top or more or less advertising being spent. They also don’t attract more or less listening. They’re simply social bitch sessions that earn agreement from others who are out of the business or working in it and miserable. Those who love what they do, don’t agree, and rarely say anything.
Celebrate, Educate and Challenge
At Barrett Media, we try to celebrate, educate and challenge the industry. I have no problem calling out shortcomings. If you’ve read my work over the years, you know I don’t fear taking on anyone or anything. I want the business to grow and those involved in it to thrive. But if I have to tackle tough issues and ruffle a few feathers, so be it.
Earning a person’s attention or an advertiser’s trust is harder than ever. Those who think playbooks from 1970-1990 are going to solve modern day problems are showing how out of touch they are. Hundreds of millions of people still consume content from radio stations each day. Advertisers depend on stations to boost profits. Employees pay mortgages, family vacations, college tuitions and monthly bills with the income earned from working in this field. Many do this type of work because it matters to them. They love their job, the connections they form and the personal and professional fulfillment that comes from it. It’s why many attended and have rewatched sessions from the Barrett Media Audio Summit.
For those that don’t, I have one question: why are you doing this job? If you’ve lost your joy and hate where the industry is headed, do something bolder than ranting on social media. Offer to take the place of someone else losing a gig the next time layoffs occur. The industry needs people with talent and passion who are focused on solutions, not individuals stealing paychecks, doing damage from the inside out.
Dan Patrick Was Right
I don’t like giving oxygen to people who don’t deserve attention. I’m making an exception this week for Jason Page. The second-tier talk show host took shots at Dan Patrick on X, leading many to fire back over his tone deaf remarks.
DP justifiably criticized WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert last week. Any other host in his shoes likely would have reacted the same way after waiting two hours for an interview, only for the PR team to inform him that the Commissioner had canceled it. Patrick made a valid point: the PR team works for the Commissioner, not the other way around. More importantly, the WNBA Commissioner’s continued unwillingness to address these issues leaves a black cloud over the league.
Dan Patrick on WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert cancelling her appearance on the show:
"If you want to be treated as a serious league, this is what happens! These are tough questions, but this is a fair outlet for you – a fair platform. I will treat you with respect." pic.twitter.com/15VOBZIxAd
Dan Patrick is a class act. He is a hall of fame broadcaster who hosts what many consider the industry’s top national sports show. His legacy in the business is cemented, and his record speaks for itself.
Trashing Dan Patrick is on par for what I expect from Jason Page. He likes to criticize people who own roles that he doesn’t and blame others for his shortcomings. I gave him a PT job in San Francisco years ago, which resulted in most of the staff refusing to work with him. When you create false narratives about others and take personal shots, it’s hard to gain trust and land legitimate jobs. Only smaller roles and lesser known situations have come his way since. Luckily for Page, X still exists and helped him stay relevant for a day.
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Couldn’t make the Barrett Media Audio Summit like me? Well, you’re in luck, because all of the panels have recently been added to YouTube. As a Hip Hop head myself, I was particularly interested in the “Straight Outta Hip Hop” panel and having worked firsthand with some of the panelists myself, I knew it would be a good one. Andre Yancey aka Dre Boogs of 94.7 The Block steered what I understand was one of the most unfiltered conversations and according to the big boss at Barrett, JB himself, “one of the best panels of the entire three days.”
The panel brought together Funk Flex, Angela Yee, Skip Dillard, Devin Steele, and Damion “Damizza” Young for a wide-ranging talk on Hip Hop radio’s past, present, and uncertain future. Here are five takeaways from a group of industry veterans wrestling honestly with change.
Passion Still Has to Pay the Bills
Funk Flex opened with a blunt point: stations were never really about culture first. He said a signal “was always about the commercials and what you can do in between to keep people interested,” and that the culture piece kept the audience — and the talent — engaged along the way. That distinction matters now more than ever. He pointed to owners who bought stations for hundreds of millions of dollars that are worth a fraction of that today, calling it “the biggest issue we have.”
Every panelist circled back to the same idea. Skip Dillard talked about scouting on-air talent through college radio, pointing to his own start at Hampton University, and argued stations need to “invest in community programs” since many young artists never had access to music education in public schools. Damizza credited his own start to mentors he met at 12 years old, saying, “mentorship is so important.” Angela Yee added that legacy isn’t just about your own run, it’s about “mentoring who’s going to be coming up behind you.”
Devin Steele made a sharp distinction between personalities and content creators, noting that “what cuts through are the personalities, the content creators that are sincere, because now people can see through” anything manufactured. He pointed to hosts like Ryan Cameron (of Majic 107.5/Atlanta), who brings real context and relationships to every artist interview, as the model worth replicating. That kind of credibility, he argued, can’t be faked or rushed.
Radio Still Needs Its Messengers
Funk Flex described his own role in strikingly humble terms: “I am really just a messenger… I try to bring it to my social and bring it to the radio.” He tied that mission directly to loyalty, saying that when he’s on air, “I’m fighting for people.” Angela Yee echoed it from a different angle, crediting her own connection with listeners to genuinely showing up in her Brooklyn neighborhood. She said “I still live in Brooklyn… walk everywhere. I go places… I feel really connected to what’s going on.”
Community Is the Format’s True Currency
Skip Dillard framed Hip Hop’s staying power as rooted in relationships, not just records. He describes his job as “continuing to build the artist community” and adapting to what each market’s audience actually needs. Damizza talked about championing unproven records like early Tupac and Dr. Dre material against the mainstream programming of the time. His closing advice to the next generation was simple: “Be passionate, love what you do.”
The Bottom Line
The panel didn’t shy away from radio’s financial pressures, corporate shakeups, or the disruption AI is bringing to newsrooms and studios alike. But the overwhelming message was one of resilience. Great talent, real community ties, and a genuine commitment to mentorship were the throughlines connecting every panelist’s story. As Damizza put it, “radio’s gonna come back, and it’s gonna slap back like a bitch when it does.”
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If you’ve worked in sports radio in any fashion, you’ve likely been stood up by a guest before. Whether it was a miscommunication or a scheduling mishap, the ability to lock in a guest and keep the appointment fails from time to time. That happened last week with The Dan Patrick Show and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
On Friday’s program, Patrick revealed that Engelbert agreed to join the show in a conversation with executive producer Todd Fritz. The agreement was between Engelbert and Patrick’s team specifically. It isn’t uncommon for personalities to agree to appearances without first running the opportunity past their representatives. That happens all the time. However, the explanation and transparency Patrick provided to his audience was something worth examining.
Make no mistake about it, having access to the top names in sports is what Dan Patrick’s program is built on. It is an interview-first program because Patrick is widely considered the best in the format at conducting conversations. Those who agree to appear on his program know questions are not provided in advance. The discussion will be tough, and softballs are rarely part of the equation.
However, every interview is more conversation than interrogation. When you join Dan Patrick, it’s not a testimony, but facts come out.
Engelbert has made national interview appearances on sports talk programs before, most recently on The Pat McAfee Show in April ahead of the current WNBA season. However, this season has been filled with incidents that demand answers, from possible expansion to recent moments involving Caitlin Clark and Alyssa Thomas.
Process Matters
From the start, the request wasn’t handled properly. Fritz did his job. Like any other intrepid producer, the goal is to secure the guest by any means necessary. According to Patrick, Engelbert made the agreement with Fritz specifically, not WNBA public relations, the league’s communications team, or any representative assigned to her at the American Century Invitational.
If that account is accurate, the people responsible for handling those arrangements were never involved. Fritz circumvented the system, which isn’t uncommon in sports media. When you build relationships with high profile people, you can gain access without the system in place being needed. Relationships are built on trust, something the Patrick program has yet to build with Engelbert.
However, those who were bypassed by the request are often the ones who ultimately hold the process to account.
Following a delay in Engelbert’s appearance, the program revealed that she explained her absence. She told the show that her communications team would “not allow her” to make the appearance.
Again, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence. Anyone who has worked in the media has experienced it. Myself included. However, Patrick’s level of transparency and his follow-through after the cancellation went a step too far.
Yes, the WNBA needs to provide answers to tough questions. The league also must do a better job of communicating statements from the commissioner when incidents warrant a response. Just three weeks ago, Patrick criticized the league for not responding to the show’s requests for comment on Caitlin Clark’s absence from a WNBA 30th anniversary poster.
“Just a note to the WNBA. Have somebody available,” said Patrick on June 26. “We were one of the few outlets that called looking for a quote. We couldn’t even get a quote out of anybody… Like, have somebody available. Alright? You have to answer tough questions sometimes. This is a time when you have to answer a tough question. But, have somebody available. That’s all.”
Professional To Personal
The error lies in the response. Following Engelbert’s no-show, Patrick made the situation more about Engelbert than the failures of the league’s communications team. Engelbert and the league employ people to shield and guide her through every issue the league faces. Their job is to grant access, provide clarification, and work with media outlets to find solutions.
It’s no different than any other league.
Are league commissioners required to answer tough questions from sports media outlets? Not necessarily. However, it is the communications staff’s job to create situations that put the commissioner in the best position possible to address those issues.
None of that happened when Engelbert was approached by the show’s production staff. Therefore, the outcome was something the program should have anticipated. Instead, Patrick made the situation more about Engelbert than the likely result of how the request was made in the first place.
“We’re just trying to be a journalist here, that’s all,” said Patrick on Friday. “Don’t say yes. Then all of a sudden, somebody probably said, in my opinion, ‘Oh. Maybe we shouldn’t do this.’ At some point, you have to do this. If you want to be treated as a serious league, this is what happens. These are tough questions. But this is a fair outlet for you, and I will treat you with respect.”
Patrick called Engelbert’s response “feeble” and insisted he would have understood if she had declined the invitation from the beginning. However, the mistake wasn’t the outcome. It began with an attempt to work around the system the league has in place.
Shifting The Spotlight
Patrick is right about one thing: The WNBA needs to become more comfortable answering difficult questions. That is part of growing into a mature sports property, and avoiding those conversations rarely serves the league well. But that’s a separate issue from what happened here.
Guests cancel. Public relations departments intervene. Interview requests that seem secure suddenly disappear because someone higher up decides the timing isn’t right. It happens in sports media every single day.
That’s why Patrick’s reaction felt so unusual. The lengthy explanation wasn’t really for the audience. It was for the host. Listeners don’t need a detailed accounting of every behind-the-scenes booking dispute because, frankly, they don’t care. They care about what comes next, not why an interview never happened.
Transparency has value, but so does perspective. In this case, Patrick devoted far more attention to a routine media occurrence than it deserved. The story wasn’t that a guest canceled. The story became Patrick’s response to it.
For a broadcaster with decades of experience, that should have been the most predictable part of the entire episode.
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The Five celebrates its 15th anniversary this month, and Fox News has every reason to celebrate right alongside it. The ensemble show debuted on July 11, 2011, stepping into the 5 p.m. ET slot Glenn Beck vacated after his contentious exit from the network. Not many people expected the panel to outlast Beck’s brand of appointment television, let alone become cable news’ most reliable ratings juggernaut.
Fox News took a real gamble on an unproven format back then. Executives could’ve easily plugged another solo host into the gap Beck left behind, but instead, they bet on a five-person roundtable built around rotating chemistry rather than a singular voice. That bet has paid off in ways almost nobody could’ve predicted at the time.
Look at Fox News’ primetime lineup today, and it becomes clear how much of an outlier The Five really is. Solo hosts dominate the 8 p.m., 9 p.m., and 10 p.m. hours, and each delivers extended monologues about the ills of the Democratic Party and the ways liberals are supposedly wrecking the country. The Five, meanwhile, plays by an entirely different set of rules.
A Different Kind of Chemistry
Sure, plenty of segments still cover how awful everything done by non-conservatives supposedly is. However, there’s a fantastic chemistry between the panelists that primetime rarely bothers to replicate, along with a shared understanding that the stakes aren’t quite as high as they’ll become a few hours later. Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, and their rotating castmates trade jabs, crack jokes, and occasionally even find common ground, and that mix keeps the show from feeling like just another outrage cycle.
It also features more liberal voices, like Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr., than virtually any other show on the network.
That formula hasn’t changed much over 15 years, and it’s arguably grown stronger. Producers have shuffled the cast plenty of times since 2011, yet the show’s core identity — a roundtable that takes news seriously without taking itself too seriously — has remained fully intact. Consistency, more than any single personality, is what’s carried the format this far.
Ratings That Speak for Themselves
Fox News deserves genuine praise for how The Five has performed, especially lately. The show extended its run as cable news’ most-watched program for 19 consecutive quarters, drawing an average total audience of 3.58 million viewers in the second quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, it had already topped the charts as the top non-primetime program in cable news for 18 straight quarters back in March, a streak that’s only continued to grow since.
You’d be hard-pressed to find another network with a 5 PM show as its most-watched program overall. Consequently, that achievement says something meaningful about the panelists, the producers, and the network as a whole. Additionally, it says something about Fox News’ willingness to let a genuine outlier stay an outlier instead of forcing it into a more conventional mold.
Ultimately, that’s the real lesson behind 15 years of The Five. Fox News caught lightning in a bottle back in the summer of 2011, and rather than tampering with the formula, the network let it grow on its own terms. Fifteen years later, that decision still looks like one of the smartest moves in the network’s history.
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In case you missed it, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got married. The two tied the knot in a high-profile affair at Madison Square Garden. You’ve probably encountered this news in some form recently, but let me point out a few notable details.
For starters, both Swift and Kelce are 36 years old, meaning they were born in 1989. That means in their formative years — when most people cement their taste in music — the sounds they likely ran into were pop acts like Britney Spears and *NSYNC, R&B and hip-hop like TLC and OutKast, or emo/pop punk like Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy.
When it comes to money, the newlyweds are definitely set. Taylor’s net worth is estimated at $2 billion, while Kelce’s is worth a mere $100 million. They certainly didn’t have to cut any corners at the wedding celebration and should be able to easily make a down payment on a house.
McCartney and Nicks Take the Stage
The reason I’m stating the obvious is that, as details about the wedding start to slowly trickle out, we’ve learned there were two musical performances at the couple’s reception: Paul McCartney and Stevie Nicks.
Well, would you look at that?
Two artists who are steadfast members of the Classic Rock/Hits universe performed at the wedding of the century. And while details are sparse so far — especially about what Nicks sang — reports indicate that McCartney’s performance included “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” a song he hasn’t performed live in almost sixty years. That’s a pretty special wedding gift.
It’s not like the pair couldn’t afford to have anyone they wanted play at the wedding. They weren’t on a tight entertainment budget. And while they are both in the target demo, they are certainly in the younger half of it — not who we generally consider to be core Classic Rock/Hits listeners.
Now, I realize some people will discount McCartney and Nicks performing at the wedding because Swift is known to be close friends with the former and has many times cited the latter as a major influence. But all that means is that the two Classic Rock superstars surely rated a highly coveted invite to the affair. It didn’t mean they had to perform. Ultimately, this was who the mid-thirties couple wanted to play at their wedding.
Classic Rock’s Cross-Generational Power
I bring this up to once again make the point that this body of music — the one Classic Rock/Hits stations live on — continues to be one of the strongest libraries with enormous cross-generational appeal.
Now, I realize that’s a recurring theme for me in this column.
Maybe I keep coming back to it because I carry some unrealized trauma from so many conversations about how the format is going to fall off the demographic cliff. Or maybe it’s due to the inevitable follow-up question about how much music from the nineties and two thousands we need to play when the core music continues to impact pop culture.
Maybe I keep returning to this theme because formats based on new music and discovery are having a harder and harder time. Just a couple of weeks ago, Matt Bailey noted in his Graphs About Songs newsletter that 2026 is looking to be the worst year for hits this decade. Between January and April, only eleven new songs reached the Billboard Top 10, when the average is more like nineteen.
And maybe I’m just a little jealous that so many other radio formats got so much timely, topical content from the wedding, while Classic Rock/Hits seemed left out — until I realized there is a natural tie-in for our stations to talk about this massive pop culture event.
Whatever the reason, the fact is that Classic Rock/Hits music and artists continue to have an outsized impact on popular culture across all demographics. We’re lucky our stations represent this music in our markets. It’s an amazing foundation — let’s keep building on it.
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