What We Know: Garrett Haake will replace Peter Alexander in the role. Alexander left NBC News in March to join MS NOW. Before joining the White House team, Haake covered Capitol Hill for the network. Haake first joined NBC News in 2007 as a desk assistant. He later worked in local TV in Kansas City and Washington, D.C. before returning to the network in 2017.
What They Said: “Garrett has been an essential voice in our White House coverage, bringing sharp reporting, deep sourcing and an authoritative presence to some of the most consequential stories of our time … In his new role, he will lead our White House coverage while continuing to deliver the breaking news, exclusives and insight that define NBC News.” -NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Chloe Arensberg
What Remains Unclear: If NBC News will backfill Haake’s position as part of its White House team. The group is still robust if the network doesn’t. Currently, Yamiche Alcindor, Monica Alba, and Julie Tsirkin serve as White House correspondents. Meanwhile, Gabe Gutierrez continues to work as a senior White House correspondent.
What It Means: Haake has shown an ability to cultivate sources and relationships while working the White House beat. He’s also shown extreme dedication to the role. After the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, he ran from the Washington Hilton to the White House briefing room to be in person to ask questions of the President in the aftermath of the event.
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Nexstar Media Group unveiled its first-quarter financial results on Thursday. The news was overwhelmingly positive for the company.
What We Know: The first-quarter financial results come after a tumultuous beginning to 2026 for Nexstar Media Group. After the company received approval to complete its merger with TEGNA on March 19th, the company began the integration. However, it was later stopped by a federal judge, and the merger currently remains in limbo. In spite of the changes, Nexstar reported a record first quarter of net revenue.
What the Numbers Show:
Revenue Type
2026
2025
Change
Distribution
$837 million
$762 million
↑ 9.8%
Advertising
$548 million
$460 million
↑ 19.1%
Other
$11 million
$12 million
↓ 8.3%
Net Revenue
$1.396 billion
$1.234 billion
↑ 13.1%
The company’s Adjusted EBITDA rose to $470 million, a 23.4% increase. Furthermore, its net income also rose 64.9% to $160 million during January, February, and March.
What They Said: “As we have grown, the reach of Big Tech and legacy media conglomerates has expanded exponentially. Today, we still do not match their ubiquitous reach, and we operate with only a fraction of their resources, which directly impacts our ability to compete. Our acquisition of TEGNA is a critical step in solidifying our future and ensuring we can continue providing these essential services to the public. As we continue to advocate for this transaction, our primary focus remains on operational excellence – the historical hallmark of Nexstar. Our first-quarter performance underscores this commitment as we delivered record net revenue, surpassing consensus expectations.” -Perry Sook
What It Means: It’s easy to see the motivation behind why Nexstar Media Group wants to acquire TEGNA. Outside of Sook’s belief that eventually only two to three companies will control the local television space. The TEGNA financial results are included from March 19th-31st in the first-quarter numbers, and Nexstar reached record first-quarter net revenue.
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Young Americans consume the most audio daily according to the latest Share of Ear research by Edison. But every generation is spending meaningful time consuming audio content.
What We Know: Edison Research’s Q1 2026 Share of Ear data confirms audio remains a daily habit across all age groups. Adults 18+ averaged three hours and 54 minutes per day in Q4 2025. Moreover, 13–34 year-olds outpace that demographic by more than 30 minutes. A strong signal that younger audiences aren’t abandoning audio, just finding it in more places. Instead, they’re consuming more of it, likely driven by podcast growth and streaming platforms.
What The Numbers Show:(includes consumption of AM/FM Radio and radio streams, streaming music, music videos on YouTube, podcasts (including video podcasts), SiriusXM, owned music, audiobooks, and TV music channels per Edison)
What Remains Unclear: It’s still unknown whether the 13–34 demographic’s elevated consumption will sustain long-term or shift further toward on-demand platforms. Furthermore, the data doesn’t yet reveal whether podcast growth among younger listeners is pulling from AM/FM time or expanding overall audio consumption. That distinction matters greatly for broadcasters.
What It Means: Audio is still a desired medium among the younger demographics. Albeit the platforms younger generations are evolving to are video distribution platforms. Edison isn’t differentiating video from audio with these findings. Would you consider a podcast that’s video first as audio? Have music videos ever been considered audio? According to the research, YouTube music videos ranked at 14% amongst persons 18+. Should the be considered audio or video consumption? Or both? Judging from the research, Edison considers it audio first despite being on a visual platform. The positives are 33% of respondents 18+ says all their audio time in from AM/FM Radio. This means the car is still a vital piece of radio’s business model. AM/FM holds 54% of total in-car audio time and 83% of in-car ad-supported audio among persons 18+.
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30 years is a long time to do anything. For Blake Thompson, it’s been a career — and on July 1, 2026, exactly three decades after he first walked through the door, The Ramsey Network’s Executive Vice President will walk out for the last time after announcing his retirement.
Thompson joined Dave Ramsey’s operation on July 1, 1996, when the show was a single Nashville-based program broadcasting from a closet. What he’s leaving behind is a media company with more than 1,000 employees, 10 podcasts, national radio syndication, and a growing digital footprint that includes a significant YouTube presence.
The arc of that growth wasn’t something he could’ve predicted when he was 25 years old and just getting started.
“Dave and I started this thing together back in 1996 in a little closet, and always had the dream of getting the message out across the country on more than just one radio station,” Thompson said. “At the time, we were just on in Nashville. I had a vision of probably getting 10 times the size we were at the time. And Dave’s vision was always so much bigger: all the way to having 1,000 team members and the buildings we’re in today with our own studios. It’s just been a great ride.”
Succession Done Right
The decision to retire didn’t come suddenly. Thompson spent years preparing for this moment, and much of that preparation centered on developing Hank Fuerst, who will replace him as the leader of The Ramsey Network.
The approach mirrors the kind of deliberate planning Thompson learned from Ramsey himself.
“I’ve worked with guys like Hank, who reminds me of myself when we hired him years ago,” Thompson shared. “He’s just set himself up so well. He’s a hard worker, he cares about people, he’s got humility, and he’s very smart. It’s been cool to know that it’d be cool to walk away at 30 years, but instead of deciding that six months ago, I decided that years ago and was able to pour into him and make sure the team was where it needed to be, gradually letting go of more rope — learning that from Dave.”
Thompson sees the transition as something bigger than a personnel change. It’s a generational shift — one the company needs to stay relevant.
“It does feel like a changing of the guard in a sense — Dave and I to Daniel and Hank,” said Thompson. “That’s a good thing, a really good thing. If we want to keep the message going and capture the new generation, we need their voices. And their minds. And the way they think. It’s just been a great transition, but Hank’s going to do great. He’s a powerhouse in the industry. He can pick up the phone and talk to anyone at Spotify or YouTube. He’s got great relationships in the radio industry because that’s where he started. And he’s still got a big heart for that. I’m not concerned one bit, and that’s just because we’ve learned how to do succession right — to have a plan versus not having one.”
Radio, Digital, and What’s Next
Throughout his tenure, Thompson helped steer The Ramsey Network through one of the most disruptive periods in media history. He watched radio remain a dominant force while also helping push the company into podcasting, YouTube, and digital platforms — and he’s clear-eyed about what that balance has to look like going forward.
“Radio’s not going away,” Thompson stated. “I’m still blown away with how many people listen to radio, and how that’s a huge market and an important market of very smart people that we need to keep listening to and keep paying attention to. But the future — YouTube’s blowing me away. They’re talking about premiere movies, and maybe we can start doing some documentary-type stuff out of our own network on those in future plans — showing how to handle money right.”
The digital expansion wasn’t without friction early on. Thompson recalls pushback that turned out to be a useful filter.
“We learned early that the fear radio had of leaving radio — staying on radio and doing podcasts and YouTube — is that it’s generally a different audience,” the Ramsey Network executive shared. “You’ve got your radio people, and we’re always going to be radio people. We’re always going to do our best, to be the best we can on that. But there are other digital platforms that we’ve learned. And we’re going to do those too. At the end of the day, it’s all about how many people we can touch.”
The emotional weight of departure has settled in more as July approaches. Still, Thompson frames it the way he’s learned to frame most things — as an opportunity.
“It’s been bittersweet,” he said. “The emotional part of realizing this is really going away is starting to hit a little more now that we’re less than two months out. When you do this for longer than you haven’t done it in a lifetime, it’s a trip to go from ‘that’s not until a year away’ to looking up, and it’s six months. Then, very suddenly, it’s less than two months.”
Freeing Families in Pakistan
Thompson’s next chapter isn’t a quiet one. He’s been making trips to Pakistan for several years now as part of a group working to free families trapped in bonded labor. He’s helping end a debt-slavery cycle that can span generations. The work, he says, connects directly to what he’s spent 30 years teaching.
“I just got back from my sixth trip to Pakistan,” Thompson said. “We’re doing some really good work — a group of guys and me — freeing people from slavery. It’s kind of wild. It touches what we’ve taught for 30 years in a little different way. But it reminds me of the payday loan or cash advance problem we had in this country for so long. You have these struggling families in Pakistan that get into debt. They need money. Say $100 or $200 because their kid is sick. And they go to a lender who charges up to 70% interest. When they can’t pay it — which they can’t — they put them in the brick kilns and make them make bricks every day.”
The results have been concrete. In the past two years, Thompson’s group has freed 2,200 families from those kilns. He’s helped them secure housing, employment, and education for their children. He’s also spoken before Parliament in the United Kingdom about the bonded labor crisis.
On his most recent trip, Ramsey and the company’s board honored Thompson’s retirement. A brick-making machine was purchased to replace laborers on the site.
“I got to literally go see it get made, go onto the brick kiln site, free 22 families while we put a machine in, and see the machine replace the people,” Thompson shared. “That’s part of the work I’ll be doing. The beautiful thing is in the second half — I can walk away feeling good about what we’ve done.”
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Ted Turnerdied on Wednesday at the age of 87. Many consider him a visionary, pioneer, and one of the hardest-working, driven individuals in media. He single-handedly transformed how we watch cable television by taking a simple concept and making it his own: finding a way to turn a 24-minute newscast into a 24-hour news network.
However, Turner’s legacy has many different tentacles. Yes, he’s considered one of the greatest media moguls of the 20th century. He also was an avid sports fan. Over his lifetime, he became the owner of the Atlanta Braves, Hawks, and now-defunct Thrashers. In 1977, he placed his beloved Braves on national television, changing the way sports fans watched and followed teams on a national level. He also helped launch a competitor to the WWF at the time, understanding the surging appetite for professional wrestling from a national audience.
Without question, Turner’s media legacy teaches valuable lessons. It reminds executives and talent in a crowded media landscape about the keys to success. Like a legendary coach in sports, Ted Turner may be the single greatest example of belief in oneself meeting the showmanship necessary to achieve greatness.
What many people may not remember is that Turner’s media career began at his father’s struggling billboard company. Over time, he inherited the business, expanded it, and eventually sold it to earn enough money to buy his first television station in Atlanta. That same station would later become the WTBS “Super Station” during the early days of cable television.
Turner’s success story isn’t one everyone should attempt to replicate. However, there were key principles he consistently lived by that many people in sports media should remember from time to time.
Goals were the lifeblood of Turner’s success. Far too often, he set goals so ambitious they seemed impossible to accomplish. He turned an Atlanta-based television station into a national treasure. Turner constantly focused on expanding the reach of his content and brand. He conceptualized the cable news network, later known as CNN. Throughout his career, you could clearly see his vision, dedication, and passion for building something bigger.
That focus on goals is something every programmer and executive should share. How do you reach new audiences, adapt to emerging technology, and navigate growth in an increasingly crowded content landscape?
I’ve always likened Turner to Michael Jordan — brash, bold, and fully convinced that anything was achievable. How do you conquer your competition when there’s barely any competition to begin with? You create an enemy, whether real or imagined. Turner didn’t have many competitors operating at his scale during his early years, yet he remained motivated to keep building bigger. It wasn’t because he feared becoming satisfied. Instead, it was about staying ahead of the next competitor, even if one didn’t yet exist.
Many talents today should learn from that mindset. In some markets, sports radio personalities may not have a direct competitor and therefore lack motivation. Some sports network executives may feel the same way. Find the formula for success and never drift away from it once success arrives. Turner never accepted short-term success. Instead, he constantly searched for ways to build upon it because he believed another challenger was always lurking around the corner.
Bold Is Brash
Turner was often called the “Mouth of the South” in media circles because, whenever he stepped behind a microphone, he delivered. He was confident, cocky, and carried a distinct Southern charm. He also never shied away from critiquing the industry he worked in. In some cases, he even used competitors’ own airwaves against them.
Additionally, Turner took enormous risks throughout his career. He lost bids to buy CBS, but purchased sports franchises. Turner invested in networks such as Cartoon Network and believed there should be a legitimate competitor in the professional wrestling business. He also trusted his instincts when handing Monday nights on TNT to World Championship Wrestling. The results of that decision have never truly been replicated.
Ted Turner embodied an entrepreneurial spirit driven by creative ambition and a willingness to take risks. That’s something everyone in sports media, from executives to on-air talent, should find inspiring.
Ultimately, Ted Turner’s greatest contribution to media wasn’t simply creating CNN, turning the Braves into a national brand, or helping professional wrestling reach new heights. It was proving that bold ideas only matter if someone is willing to fight for them.
He refused to think small, even when others told him to. He trusted instinct over convention, embraced risk when others feared failure, and constantly searched for the next evolution of his business before the current one peaked.
That mindset is desperately needed in today’s sports media landscape.
“Early to Bed. Early to Rise. Work Like Hell, and Advertise”
Too many brands chase safety instead of originality. For too many executives protect what already exists instead of building what comes next. Too many personalities become comfortable once success arrives rather than pushing themselves toward a larger vision.
Turner never operated that way. He believed growth was constant, reinvention was necessary, and ambition should never have a ceiling.
Sports media doesn’t need another Ted Turner because there will never be another one. What it does need are more leaders, executives, and on-air talents willing to channel the same fearless spirit that made him successful: the willingness to innovate, the confidence to stand apart, and the courage to gamble on ideas others don’t yet understand.
Most importantly, the industry needs people who still believe changing it is possible if they’re bold enough to try.
That’s the true legacy Ted Turner leaves behind. Not just the networks, teams, and businesses he built, but the reminder that transformative success in media has always belonged to the people willing to think bigger than everyone else.
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Timing is everything in media, and Jeremy Boreing may have stumbled into the best possible moment to launch a show. When he debuted The Jeremy Boreing Show in March, he likely couldn’t have scripted what followed.
Fortune has smiled on him in ways that no marketing budget could replicate. Two of the biggest talking points in conservative media — Candace Owens and The Daily Wire — keep circling back to the one man who has more insight into both than almost anyone alive.
That’s leverage.
Conservative media runs on conflict, controversy, and characters. Boreing has a front-row seat to all three, and his audience knows it. He isn’t just another pundit offering hot takes from the outside looking in. He built the machine. He knows how the gears turn, and more importantly, he knows where they’ve seized up.
Owens Opens the Door
Candace Owens is one of those figures who generates conversation whether she seeks it or not. Her name trends, her opinions polarize, and her media presence remains a constant fixture in the conservative ecosystem — for better or worse. She’s talked about even when she’s not talking.
So when Boreing speaks about her, audiences listen differently. He didn’t just observe her rise from a distance. He helped engineer it during his tenure as co-CEO of The Daily Wire. That history gives him credibility no other conservative commentator can claim on the subject. It also gives him an audience eager to hear what he actually thinks.
Whatever Boreing says about Owens carries weight and intrigue, and right now, her name is never far from the conversation.
Daily Wire Drama Delivers an Audience
Then there’s The Daily Wire itself — and that situation handed Boreing another gift. Last week’s layoffs sent shockwaves through conservative media circles. The company he co-founded became the talk of the town, with commentators and insiders scrambling to weigh in on what it means for the outlet’s future.
Most of those voices are speculating from the outside. Boreing isn’t. He built The Daily Wire from the ground up, shaped its editorial culture, and navigated its growth through some of the most turbulent stretches in recent political media history.
Nobody can contextualize what’s happening there the way he can. That’s an asset that money genuinely can’t buy.
Moreover, an audience hungry for answers will naturally gravitate toward the person who seems most qualified to provide them.
Whether The Jeremy Boreing Show ultimately becomes a landmark in conservative podcasting remains an open question. Building a sustainable audience takes more than a fortunate news cycle or two. Still, the early conditions couldn’t be more favorable.
The two biggest stories dominating conservative media — the Owens saga and the Daily Wire turbulence — both run directly through Boreing’s biography. He doesn’t have to chase relevance. Relevance is chasing him.
Not every new show gets that kind of tailwind. Most launches fight for attention against an already saturated landscape. Boreing’s show, however, arrived at precisely the right moment with precisely the right resume. That’s a combination worth watching — even for those who might not agree with a single word he says.
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Rock radio has always been a culture before it was a format. It was a community stitched together by loud guitars, late-night concerts, and stations that felt like they were built for outsiders. Today, however, that culture is fighting for its footing. Streaming platforms, algorithmic playlists, and a fractured media landscape have forced the format to ask a hard question: does rock radio still matter?
James Kurdziel, Program Director at Chicago’s legendary Q101, believes it does. Furthermore, he believes that the people shouting loudest about radio’s death are misreading the story entirely.
“People still think that DSPs are targeted and narrow,” Kurdziel said during a recent conversation. “They know exactly who they’re getting. Meanwhile, they think radio is just throwing it all out there and hoping for the best.”
That assumption, he argues, is flat-out wrong. Radio stations now carry audience data, behavioral profiles, and usage patterns. They can program to specific people with specific intent. That reality, though, rarely gets credit.
“People miss how big radio still is,” Kurdziel said plainly. “Is it as big as it used to be? No. I don’t even think it should be in the landscape we’re in. But it’s still the biggest thing.”
Still the biggest thing. That framing matters. Too often, the industry measures itself against its own past glory instead of everything else competing for ears. The comparison is unfair and, ultimately, self-defeating
The Edge That Got Away
Beyond audience size, rock radio has also lost something less measurable. It used to feel dangerous. Morning shows pushed limits. Suspensions were practically a budget line item. Then the marketplace shifted.
“The expectation for free radio became that they wanted it a little safer,” Kurdziel said. “Great talent found a different way to do it. Other talent had to go away.”
Opie and Anthony went to satellite. The wild edges of morning radio moved to Barstool and similar outlets. The appetite for irreverent, unfiltered content never disappeared. It just found somewhere else to live.
“The perception that radio took that away is a little unfair,” Kurdziel admitted. “It’s the listeners who sort of moved away from it.”
That distinction is important. Radio didn’t kill its edge out of cowardice. It responded to a market that stopped rewarding risk. However, that doesn’t mean the format should stop examining the cost of playing it safe. Safety breeds sameness. And sameness is no way to hold an audience.
Breaking Records vs. Waiting for Data
One of the most pressing tensions in rock radio right now sits between discovery and validation. Are stations breaking new acts or waiting for Spotify and TikTok to signal what’s already working?
Kurdziel gave an answer that deserves to be heard by every programmer in the format.
“I think there are stations that did step out on Turnstile years ago,” he said. “But the industry didn’t.”
That gap between individual station courage and industry-wide inertia explains a lot. A band can play free park shows to thousands of devoted fans. They can earn a Grammy. Yet radio, as a collective, still wakes up late to the party. By the time the format embraces a band, the most passionate listeners have moved on.
Kurdziel doesn’t excuse radio from this pattern. But he also challenges the assumption that new music discovery is the only kind that counts.
“We forget about old music discovery,” he said. “My daughter’s in her 20s. She’ll say, ‘I’m not getting new music from you. But I know Third Eye Blind because of you. I know Oasis because of you.'”
That’s a genuine and undervalued service. The library remains a powerful tool. Not every listener wants to be on the bleeding edge. Many simply want to be introduced to something they missed. Radio can still do that better than any algorithm.
At Q101, Kurdziel has leaned into this idea deliberately. Two summers ago, the station made an intentional push into modern punk and new emo — particularly Chicago-based acts — playing them across all dayparts. The move worked. It also opened a natural doorway back into older bands that suddenly fit the new sonic identity. More My Chemical Romance songs. Better traction. A clearer station personality.
That’s programming, not playlist management.
The Analytics Trap
Data is a gift. It’s also a cage.
Kurdziel is candid about his own habits here. He admits to leaning on analytics “probably to a fault.” He contrasts himself with programmers like Jason Ginty, formerly in New Orleans, who would plant a flag on a record and simply make it work through sheer belief.
“I was always a little too afraid to do it in Chicago,” Kurdziel said. “But it’s more we pick our spots.”
There’s honesty in that. There’s also a warning for the format. When every station leans on the same data sets, they start to sound like each other. Algorithmic caution produces algorithmic radio. And algorithmic radio doesn’t build communities — it just feeds queues.
Moreover, Kurdziel is clear that the most important programming decisions at Q101 come from people, not platforms.
“It’s the people,” he said without hesitation. “That’s what I’m certain of.”
Community Is the Competitive Advantage
Here is where the conversation gets interesting. Rock radio can’t win on catalog alone. It can’t survive purely on data. What it can do — what nothing else can replicate — is build genuine community.
Q101 Chicago Instagram
“This entire format was launched on community,” Kurdziel said. “It was, ‘I saw you at this show, and then I saw you at this show. I guess we’re friends now.'”
Q101 still operates on that principle. The station is deliberate about which events it attaches its name to. It says no — not to money, but to things that don’t fit. Because showing up in the wrong place with the Q101 brand is worse than not showing up at all.
“You’ve got to keep it open to allow new people to come in,” he said. “The worst thing that can happen is something gets so cool that it becomes too cool. And suddenly it’s closed. That’s your brand over at that point.”
That instinct — protection through openness — reflects a sophisticated understanding of what makes a station iconic. In Chicago, Q101 and XRT coexist not as rivals fighting over the same listener, but as complementary forces strengthening the city’s overall radio culture.
“Nobody’s trying to take from other people,” Kurdziel said. “We all just want the marketplace to succeed.”
That collaborative spirit, frankly, is a model the broader industry should adopt more widely. Radio has long treated the station across the street as the enemy. In reality, the enemy is the thousand-point constellation of digital distractions pulling people away from the dial entirely.
The Fight Radio Should Actually Be In
The real competition isn’t other radio stations. It isn’t even Spotify. It’s the ease of programmatic advertising — the app that lets a small business buy 20 influencers with a single button click.
“That’s what we’re competing against,” Kurdziel said directly.
Against that backdrop, radio’s human element becomes its strongest asset. Local relevance. Trusted voices. Real community connections that no algorithm can fake. The industry just has to sell that story better — and stop competing with itself long enough to tell it.
Kurdziel sees the path forward clearly, even if the aircraft carrier turns slowly.
“We don’t have to be 100 percent of the market,” he said. “If we get to 70 percent of the market, we’re really successful. We just have to redefine that as success.”
That’s a vision, not a concession.
The Worst Advice He Ever Got:
Finally, when asked the toughest question of the conversation — the worst advice he ever received — Kurdziel didn’t hesitate for long.
“Being told that record labels are the enemy.”
Early in his career, that cynicism shaped how he engaged with the label community. He was standoffish. Suspicious. Eventually, he let that guard down. The results changed his career.
“Making myself available as a willing and effective partner has not only gotten more done,” he said. “It’s made me happier.”
He left with this: anybody running on cynicism doesn’t have a place in this industry anymore.
“You have to be a dreamer if you’re going to be in this. You have to be an optimist. Otherwise, what are we doing?”Rock radio’s future depends on people who still believe in it enough to fight for it. Kurdziel is clearly one of them.
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When it comes to understanding where the radio industry is actually heading, Fred Jacobs and the team at Jacobs Media are simply the best in the business. I’ve worked with them for years, and their annual Techsurvey isn’t just an industry report — it is a cheat code.
Why? Because it completely removes the boardroom guesswork, where people who haven’t been to a tailgate in a decade try to predict the future, and asks the audience exactly what they want.
I had a chance to connect with Fred, and he shared the Country-specific takeaways. Here is what the listeners are explicitly asking us to do, backed up by the math.
1. “Get Out of the Studio and Come See Us”
In my last article, we talked about the power of showing up to the micro-local events, i.e. – the firehouse breakfasts and the local fairs. Techsurvey 2026 proves this isn’t just a fun anecdote; it is a statistical mandate.
According to the data, Country and Rock fans are the most interested among all formats in seeing their favorite stations out and about. They explicitly agreed with the statement: “I would like to see the station be more visible in my community.” Fred’s insight here has always been spot-on: local visibility is radio’s ultimate moat against pure-play streamers. You can’t algorithm your way into a handshake.
The listeners are begging us to be part of their lives. Stop relying on sweepers to claim you are “local” and put boots on the ground.
And don’t make the mistake of thinking streaming companies will never do local events. They could. That’s why just “showing up” isn’t enough anymore. You have to show up, entertain, and engage.
2. “Give Us Something Good to Talk About”
Techsurvey tracks the Net Promoter Score (NPS) across formats. Simply put, this measures how likely a listener is to recommend your station to a friend. Outside of Christian radio, Country fans are the absolute best recommenders in commercial radio.
This is your most powerful marketing tool, and it costs exactly zero dollars. When you deliver an incredible, engaging local show, the Country P1 will advocate for your brand. They will tell their tailgate, their coworkers, and their family.
Conversely, if your station sounds like a terrestrial jukebox with zero human connection, you are wasting the best word-of-mouth engine in the business. Give them a story worth sharing.
3. “We Are Still in the Car, But We Are Also on Our Phones”
The doom-and-gloom crowd wants you to believe the dashboard is lost. It isn’t. Techsurvey 2026 shows that for Country listeners, AM/FM car radio still dominates in-car listening at 57%, compared to 41% for all other audio combined. We still own the commute.
However, we cannot get lazy, because the digital shift is accelerating fast. The overall P1 listening platform split for the Country format is now 59% broadcast and 39% digital. That digital number is up significantly from last year.
We also know that in many newer dashboards, our broadcast signal is becoming more difficult to find. If you haven’t watched Quu’s 2026 In-Vehicle Visuals Report webinar, it’s a must.
What does this mean for you? It means the AM/FM engine is still pulling the train, but digital is becoming a massive part of the fuel. If your station’s digital stream is an afterthought, or if you run terrible, repetitive filler audio on your app, you are delivering a subpar experience to nearly 40% of your core audience.
Treat your stream with the same respect you give your stick.
4. “Stop Trying to Go Viral on the Wrong App”
We constantly see stations spreading their talent incredibly thin by forcing them to chase shiny objects on new social platforms. The data provides a massive reality check.
When you look at the social media habits of the Country audience, Facebook absolutely dominates at 78% weekly use. Instagram sits at 42%. Meanwhile, TikTok is way down at 23%, and platforms like Threads and X are essentially ghost towns for this format.
Fish where the fish are. Stop making your exhausted morning show record TikTok dances if your core audience is living on Facebook and Instagram. Deploy your limited resources where they will actually make an impact.
The Takeaway
The beauty of Techsurvey is that it eliminates our excuses. We know exactly what the Country audience values: they want visibility, they want human connection, they want a seamless digital experience, and they want us to meet them where they actually hang out.
Fred Jacobs and his team gave us the map. Now we just have to be willing to do the work.
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When I had my first music director job in Detroit, I used to call the Harmony House record stores and get their top 20 selling singles and albums each week. After I built a relationship with one of the stores and they reported that the new Prince song was #1, I was told why it was a hit song.
Seems the Warner Bros. promotion guy gave the store “clean” or non-promotional copies of the single, so they would hype the report to the radio people who called. I was shocked… data manipulation.
When the Data Was Dirty From the Start
The story only got worse. When I confronted the Warner rep, he told me that the labels were even using people in their offices to call studio lines and request their latest releases.
So, for those of you programming gold off 80’s Billboard charts, just know some of those chart positions were dictated by what the record companies wanted. But yes, Prince was a real hit artist; he just needed a little help getting started.
Streaming Fraud: The New Version of an Old Game
Fast forward to today, when I’m reading about manipulation of streaming and social media data. One company even promoted that they could provide those services on their website.
Companies that promise guaranteed streams usually rely on things like bot networks, click farms, or incentivized listening loops. That directly violates the terms of the streaming platforms.
Over time, the fallout can include removal of fake streams and loss of royalties tied to those plays. However, in the short term, it can dupe a programmer looking for reliable data and a breakout hit.
Why Callout Research Is Only Part of the Answer
What we are left with is callout. For those who have it in their budget, you know that can sway from week to week even more than the Nielsen ratings. It’s all about the sample. A handful of respondents in a metro of millions is bound to produce wobbles.
Research companies are subjected to the same issues as Nielsen — finding people willing to participate. In a world where you get a survey every time you visit a restaurant or make a purchase, companies who provide sample for research vendors are struggling.
Callout is also an ongoing tribute to the established hits that are quickly recognizable with a short hook. Unfamiliar songs do not usually score well.
The Safest Way to Find a Hit Song
So how do you find new music? We all know playing a bad song is a bigger tune-out than playing commercials. The best strategy is to proceed with caution.
When in doubt, leave it out. You’re only going to get hurt in Nielsen by what you program; rarely will listeners miss a new song on your station. A handful of superstars are the only exception to that rule.
Let the Big Stations Do the Heavy Lifting
Monitor the biggest stations that have the most to lose by playing stiffs.
Take Z100 in New York or KIIS in LA — they are not going to play a bad song 100 times a week. Just because they add a new release doesn’t mean it’s a hit. A song with 20 spins a week may never get played when their listeners are awake. But for a song to make power on any highly rated top 5 market station, there is research involved.
If a song starts on WKSC in Chicago, moves to power, and gets added to WBBM and WTMX, you’ve got a hit.
Why Mediabase May Be Your Most Valuable Tool Right Now
While I hate to advocate for a barter product, Mediabase may end up being the most valuable tool in today’s environment. Certainly not for their charts, but for the data on the stations you should be monitoring. All of us want to be leaders.
But unless you have the resources of a station like Z100, it’s much safer to be a follower.
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NHL playoff hockey might just be the most exciting spectacle in sports. With ESPN’s Mike Monaco and Ray Ferraro in the booth, it becomes even more electrifying.
This is exactly what happened in Game 2 of the second-round matchup between Philadelphia and Carolina, with the Hurricanes holding a 1-0 edge in the series. The game remained tense and tight throughout, but the third period and overtime turned into a pressure cooker. Monaco and Ferraro served as the perfect narrators for this terrific contest as Philadelphia clung to a 2–1 edge when the third period began.
Monaco continues to place himself in that upper echelon of hockey broadcasters, alongside Sean McDonough and Kenny Albert. His strong voice, accurate calls, and pacing are second to none.
Ferraro has built a reputation as a magnificent ice-level reporter and analyst. But it was a real treat to have him in the booth, where viewers could hear more of his insights and intelligence. To me, Ferraro is the Mike “Doc” Emrick of color analysts. An unmistakable voice, wonderful turns of phrase, and deep analysis.
Monaco and Ferraro work extremely well together, with Rolex-level timing. By no means a small feat when broadcasting hockey.
Time And Flow
Unlike other sports, hockey leaves little space for the color analyst to comment on a given play. Most play-by-play announcers, including Monaco, call a game as if it is on radio. Narrating every play and each name that touches the puck.
There is no set time for the analyst to speak. In basketball, the analyst can comment after a bucket and before play crosses the center line. In football, there is ample space for analysis after each play. Baseball provides nothing but time.
Ferraro excels at delivering a great deal of information in a short window, while Monaco sets the scene and captures the emotion of playoff hockey. Although his voice seldom rises to a shriek, it carries a consistent power.
— x – Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 5, 2026
Monaco also does a good job of blending statistics with the action on ESPN.
As third-period play moved rapidly up and down the ice, he noted that Flyers goalie Dan Vladar had 16 saves in the second period, tying his season high for any period. Ferraro commented on the number of penalties in the game—ten in the first two periods. This is quite rare in playoff hockey, where officials usually allow athletes to play more freely.
Painting The Picture
ESPN’s production values enhanced Monaco and Ferraro’s words with terrific shots of both benches and the crowd. I especially liked the many close-up, ice-level shots of the players. We see the sweat, blood, glares, anger, and intensity of these competitors up close.
The graphics were also used wisely. When Philadelphia’s Porter Martone had a scoring opportunity, a graphic immediately noted that the right winger had zero points in the previous four games following a nine-game point streak.
Hockey announcers tend to develop their own lingo, and Monaco is no exception.
I love some of his descriptions, such as saying a player is “lurking along the blue line.” He also does a nice job of revisiting key points of the game while the action continues. It takes skill to mix in data, personality, and even humor while still tracking the live play. Monaco does this expertly without falling into the traps of self-promotion or frivolity.
As the third period moved past the halfway point with Philadelphia still leading 2-1, a graphic revealed that this was the first postseason game this year in which Carolina had trailed. It also noted that the Hurricanes recorded 23 comeback wins during the regular season. Sure enough, with 8:39 remaining, Carolina’s Seth Jarvis tied the game with a blistering shot past Dan Vladar.
Monaco’s voice rose to meet the moment. He then laid back and allowed the rabid Carolina crowd to take over, creating a marvelous playoff atmosphere. On the replay, Ferraro pinpointed that the Flyers were beaten in the middle of the ice and highlighted the slick assist by Carolina’s Nikolaj Ehlers.
Penalties continued to influence the game as the teams went 4 on 4 with a little more than five minutes remaining in the third period. Carolina and Philadelphia battled through the final minutes, leading to the ultimate in NHL playoff hockey. Overtime.
Free Hockey For All
The brisk, physical play carried into the extra period. Monaco and Ferraro matched the intensity, going back and forth with the action. In perfect synergy. Monaco told us what was happening, and Ferraro explained why it was happening.
From a visual standpoint, some of my favorite moments came from the close-up shots of both head coaches on ESPN. Carolina’s Rob Brind’Amour and Philadelphia’s Rick Tocchet, former Flyer teammates, were two of the most intense NHL players ever. That same intensity remains evident. You could tell both coaches would trade their coats and ties for jerseys and sticks without hesitation.
Adding to their nerves were the many scoring chances each team generated in overtime. Monaco and Ferraro shared a collective excitement as they described the action. With 6:45 to play in overtime, Carolina’s Eric Robinson nearly ended the game on a wraparound shot. Shortly after, Philadelphia center Luke Glendening had a similarly golden opportunity from the left faceoff circle.
As the tension mounted, Ferraro astutely noted that many players get too excited and “trigger-happy” in these moments. Often leading to costly offside calls.
With 3:30 left in overtime, Monaco offered another strong nugget, noting that Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen had made 31 consecutive saves. At one point, Monaco stepped outside his traditional role and sounded like a fan, exclaiming, “How good is playoff hockey?”
Just when a second overtime seemed inevitable, Taylor Hall ended the contest with a nifty goal, giving Carolina a 3-2 win and a 2-0 series lead. Monaco was all over the call, bellowing, “Taylor Hall wins it in Game 2!”
His call was sharp and accurate, but in truth, anyone who watched this game joined the Hurricanes in the winners’ circle. It was the conclusion of rhythmic announcing, telling statistics, and compelling camera work.
Monaco, Ferraro, and the ESPN crew brought viewers into the arena and onto the ice to experience the full power and passion of playoff hockey.
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