Jeff “JR” Ramsey is joining Top 40 Q97.9 Portland, ME, as afternoon host and regional Production Director.
Ramsey is returning to Portland, where his career began. He had most recently hosted afternoons at iHeartMedia’s Top 40 Hits 95.7 Denver. He was downsized from that role on August 8, 2024. (BMM 8/8/24)
“From the day I left Portland, Maine, I’ve dreamed of coming back to host afternoon drive on WJBQ. I’m incredibly grateful for the journey — from Portland to Nashville to Denver — and now, coming full circle back home. The warm welcome from my fellow Mainers has been overwhelming, and I’m beyond thankful for the opportunity to reconnect with the community that first sparked my passion for radio,” said Ramsey.
Sarah Dobbins, Market President of Townsquare Portland and Augusta, said, “When you can boomerang a talent back to Maine, you do it! The drive home in Portland just got a whole lot more fun! Welcome home, JR!”
Ramsey also spent four years in Nashville at Top 40 Hot 106.7.
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Dan Le Batard wanted to clear the air this morning on The Dan Le Batard Show following some comments he made on Monday regarding fellow Meadowlark Media host Pablo Torre. The Meadowlark Media founder was asked Monday about Torre being upset with the Le Batard program since they made it public that they did not watch Torre’s episode surrounding Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962.
On Monday, Le Batard was critical of Torre, saying he disagreed with producer Jessica Smetana’s opinion that the Le Batard Show staff failed their friend. Furthermore, he went on to say Torre “needs to do his job and not complain about what we’re doing around here.”
However, following Torre’s nomination for a Peabody Award on Tuesday afternoon, Torre joined The Dan Le Batard Show on Wednesday morning. At that point, Le Batard was determined to clear the air from his comments two days prior.
“I am going to have to knock (David) Sampson out of the way here to tell you about one of the most embarrassing, personal and professional moments of my career,” stated Le Batard on Wednesday. “Beyond being the person who married me and my wife, I am just extraordinarily proud of him for a number of different reasons, the work that he’s doing, the awards that he’s winning, the things that he’s doing on MSNBC.”
Subsequently, Torre joined the program from the MSNBC studios in New York City to discuss the Peabody nomination but also to address the situation that Le Batard wanted to apologize for. Le Batard noted that Mina Kimes had reached out about the comments made on Monday, while co-host Jonathan Zaslow also questioned him about the remarks after reading about them on Barrett Media.
“The way that I did something on air this week made Mina Kimes asked me if me and Pablo were okay,” said Le Batard. “If she asks me that I did something very wrong.”
In response, Torre added that both Mina Kimes and himself advised Le Batard not to apologize on air in the way he was planning. Nevertheless, Le Batard insisted on issuing the apology and giving credit to the work Torre is doing for the Meadowlark Media brand.
“A lot of people thought this because of something that happened on air this week, and it’s just totally my bad that that’s how that came out,” Le Batard noted. “I’m not kidding you when I say professionally and personally, wildly embarrassing to me that any of that would land on Pablo because the work that he’s doing is singular and it’s extraordinary.”
Finally, it’s worth noting that Pablo Torre’s podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out was nominated for a 2024 Peabody Award for its feature “Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row.”
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Approaching The Summit is a series of special interviews created in partnership with Point to Point Marketing featuring speakers at the upcoming 2025 BSM Summit in Chicago, IL. Follow along with this series as prominent names surrounding the event coming up on May 8-9 at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) inside the Edlis Neeson Theater and share their insights and expectations for what’s to come in the Windy City.
Andy Roth is the Director of Programming of Sports Radio 680 The Fan in Atlanta, GA. He joined Dickey Broadcasting in October of 2024 after serving 13 years with Audacy in the Cleveland/Akron market. Roth began his career with Infinity Broadcasting in 1993, and his career has taken him to stops in Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City, Buffalo, Cleveland, and now based in Atlanta.
This is Roth’s second time attending the BSM Summit and will be his first time speaking at the event. He sat down with Barrett Media from his offices in Atlanta, GA.
*Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.*
BSM Staff: What are you looking forward to the most with the BSM Summit?
Andy Roth: There are two things. First, its connecting with people all across the country and seeing what they’re doing with their radio stations, websites and apps. The second thing is the last conference I went to was right before Covid in 2020. Back then Jason Barrett had a seminar about how important social media was and specifically video.
I want to see face-to-face with people I know what they’re doing not only video wise but how they’re repurposing shows. I think the bite-size clips is the way that our audience takes stuff in if they don’t listen to it live.
BSM Staff: Since you have attended previously, what do you see as the value of the BSM summit for industry professionals and attendees? Plus, with your personal experience with the Summit, how important is it to get outside the office and share in that in person attendance with the event?
Andy Roth: Zoom meetings are great and wonderful to get a top line idea of what the presentation is all about. When you’re actually in the audience, you get a different perspective because you’re seeing it face-to-face and then can go to those people afterwards and follow up. Especially because there’s going to be so many little points that are brought up during these times. I think it’s really important to get clarity when you really want to know something and you can’t do that on Zoom.
BSM Staff: Entering this year’s Summit, what do you feel are the biggest opportunities or challenges that the industry faces today that you’d like to see discussed at the Summit?
Andy Roth: I would say the future of finding talent and then coaching them up. We are not seeing the opportunities that radio stations and websites once had.
If there are ways of grabbing people while they’re in college or while they’re growing in the business, I think it’s important that they should be at the Summit.
BSM Staff: The BSM Summit has a lot of different subsets of sports media. It caters to sports radio, sports television, sports media, and digital publishing. There’s CEOs and brand managers as well.
How do you feel the subsets of sports media for business can continue to foster more synergy and working together to cultivate growth for everybody?
Andy Roth: That’s another reason why I’m going. I think that with Rick Scott’s conference way back in 2000s, I learned a lot at those events, and it wasn’t just talking to people. It was seeing where people had gone and where they want to go. I think that as we have different radio stations trying different things with different companies. I don’t think enough people talk to each other.
This is going to be a great chance to see everybody in one spot and hear people talk to each other on the stage about what they’re doing and what they’re really proud of.
BSM Staff: What’s one specific item that you would like to see coming out of this summit that you could take back to your local market in Atlanta?
Andy Roth: It used to be promotion stuff that I want to see. How are people doing unique things. I really want to see how people are focusing now on mixing digital with the over the air product. I want to see not just best practices, but what people want to do.
I don’t think that right now people even are able to do it effectively, but I think we’re coming more closer to the way that people should be taking in our products because of the advancements in apps. Specifically sharing stuff across social media. I want to see how people and radio stations are adapting even now as technology grows quicker and quicker.
Purchase your tickets to the 2025 BSM Summit here, and for more information BSMSummit.com
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Civic Media has announced a new lineup across its liberal news/talk network across the state of Wisconsin.
Beginning on Wednesday, April 23rd, Civic Media will move UpNorth News Radio — hosted by Pat Kreitlow — from its previous 6-8 AM timeslot to 6-9 AM with a new name, Mornings with Pat Kreitlow. The show will air on nine of the 11 stations owned by the company. The program will not air in Madison or Green Bay, as the already established shows in those markets will continue.
In middays, current hosts Jane Matenaer and Greg Bach will move from 10 AM to Noon to 9-11 AM to facilitate the addition of the nationally syndicated Thom Hartmann Show from 11 AM-2 PM.
The shows currently airing in that timeslot — The Todd Allbaugh Show and The Maggie Daun Show — will each move back two hours to 2-4 PM and 4-6 PM, respectively. With Daun moving to the 4-6 PM window, Dom Salvia exits the statewide network. He had previously hosted The Devil’s Advocates alongside the company’s co-founder, Mike Crute, until he departed last year. Salvia hosted the program solo until earlier this month.
The network’s evening program, hosted by Pete Schwaba, will continue to air from 6-8 PM.
“This exciting realignment of our weekday programming will bring a renewed local focus to the Civic NewsTalk network,” said the company’s Vice President of News/Talk Operations Kory Hartman.
“We are excited to bring a more robust and flexible morning show to the state, and to reposition our best shows to serve our uniquely Wisconsin audience,” added Civic Media CEO Sage Weil. “This new approach will provide the flexibility to spotlight our local voices that focus on what is happening in our local communities, from Earl Ingram in Milwaukee to Chad Holmes in Wausau, and to share that content both on and off the air.”
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Major League Pickleball has signed new local media partnerships with Gray Media that will result in the matches being broadcast over the air in four markets across the United States. The deal applies to the upcoming 2025 season, which begins later this month with an event taking place from the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. The teams included within the partnerships and expanded event distribution consist of the Atlanta Bouncers, Carolina Hogs, St. Louis Shock and Columbus Sliders, and games will be televised both in home and surrounding marketplaces on different regional channels. These outlets include the Peachtree Sports Network (Atlanta), Palmetto Entertainment and Sports Network (Carolina), Matrix Midwest (St. Louis) and Rock Entertainment Sports Network (St. Louis).
“Growth in pickleball has been incredible over the past few years with the sport now being played by over 20 million people,” Samin Odhwani, chief strategy officer of the United Pickleball Association, said in a statement. “We are excited to continue serving that audience and others by bringing Major League Pickleball to the masses and working with an incredible partner like Gray Media to serve fan bases in our local MLP team markets.”
The 2025 MLP season spans from April to August, and it is going to include 10 regular-season events, a Mid-Season Tournament and two-week playoff, but the MLP Cup will be a standalone event in November. Information surrounding match scheduling and distribution will be revealed about 30 days before each event, and it will also be covered in full on Pickleballtv and the Pickleballtv App.
“Gray is constantly adding new options to our free, over-the-air broadcast sports networks and we are excited to bring this coverage to the passionate and fast-growing Major League Pickleball fan base,” Sandy Breland, chief operating officer of Gray Media, said in a statement.
This new deal further bolsters the Gray Media portfolio, which renewed all ABC station affiliate agreements towards the end of last year and has also engaged in select local simulcasts of New Orleans Pelicans, Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks NBA games. In addition to these presentations, which also includes the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Twins and St. Louis Cardinals under deals with these teams, Gray Media rebranded to its current name after it had previously been known as Gray Television.
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Earlier this year, Chuck Todd departed NBC News after nearly 20 years with the television network. He’s now shedding some light on what he is embracing after that departure.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss his new, independent media endeavor. While mentioning that he’s still finding the “cadence” of producing a podcast — including how frequently or infrequently he should be producing content.
However, one aspect of the operation he isn’t questioning is how to promote or discuss his work.
“I’m certainly enjoying not asking permission,” said Todd. “That’s probably the most liberating feeling. I didn’t have to ask permission to talk with you. NBC always worried about ‘What’s he gonna say?’ That is probably the most liberating feeling, and it’s still a habit. Should I say it this way? It’s just about me now. What am I worried about?”
Chuck Todd joined NBC News in 2007. He served as the outlet’s political director, chief White House correspondent, and served as moderator of Meet the Press from 2014 through September 2023 before handing the reins to current host Kristen Welker.
Earlier this month, he released the first episode of The Chuck Toddcast. Todd was able to hang on to the intellectual property related to his podcast when he exited NBC News in January after 18 years.
Todd added that there was a reason for why there were several months between his departure from NBC News and the launch of his independent media endeavor.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what I was going to do next for a while now, this is even before I left Meet the Press in that I knew I was closer to the end than closer to the middle, if that makes sense,” he said. “This was sort of right after the ’22 midterms.
“The ambition I had at that time was to run a news organization. I sort of felt like, ‘Okay, I know how to make content, but I think this is a poorly run business right now,’ and when I say this, this was not specific to my news organization. I mean generally, I think there’s a lot of weak leadership right now in the traditional media space, and part of it is because the parent companies are running for cover. It looks like a failing business. It’s time to concentrate on other businesses.”
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Last night’s Tampa Bay Rays game against the Boston Red Sox was delayed for a most unusual reason that caught not only the eyes of everyone in attendance but also everyone watching on television and listening on the radio. During the bottom of the seventh inning, with Boston up 3-1, a very loud and high-pitched noise began to ring through the speaker systems at George Steinbrenner Stadium in Tampa.
Suddenly, the sound—which echoed for nearly a full minute—was so bad that the umpires delayed the game until the buzz was removed. Meanwhile, fans were seen on television plugging their ears in pain as the noise continued. The game was in a short delay, and the action was called by Rays television play-by-play announcer DeWayne Staats on FanDuel Sports Network.
“There’s a little buzz in the ballpark, and it’s not the fans,” Staats said. “They’ve halted play trying to figure out if that buzz will subside.”
Eventually, following the delay, the game continued as the Tampa Bay Rays fell to Boston in the second game of their three-game series.
As for what caused the high-pitched noise—which sounded like a fire alarm throughout the stadium—it was never identified. In fact, officials were unable to determine what triggered the disruption. Fortunately, the tone did not return for the remainder of the contest.
Currently, the Tampa Bay Rays are playing at Steinbrenner Field for the 2025 MLB season due to their home ballpark, Tropicana Field, being damaged during last year’s Hurricane Milton. The storm rocked the west coast of Florida, particularly St. Petersburg, where the Rays typically play. Consequently, the city of St. Petersburg has approved funding to repair the roof of Tropicana Field, with hopes that the Rays will return to play there in 2026.
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Fox News Digital has continually topped other news competitors in a variety of categories. That continued during the first quarter of 2025.
During the first three months of the year, Fox News Digital saw its multi-platform views rise by 30% compared to the same window in 2024. In total, it earned 6.3 billion views across a variety of platforms, according to Comscore. The New York Times saw a 6% increase, up to 4.7 billion views.
With more than 6 billion views, it bested television news competitors like CNN (3.2 billion), CBS News (1.3 billion), NBC News (890 million), and ABC News (290 million).
It wasn’t the only metric in which Fox News saw an increase during January, February, and March. On average, the network featured nearly 124 million unique multi-platform visitors during the window. That represents a 12% increase year-over-year.
Additionally, the outlet featured a 35% increase in multi-platform minutes as it grew to 13.2 billion minutes consumed. It marked the 16th straight quarter as the leading entity in multiplatform minutes The month of March was the fifth time since 2021 that the network had surpassed 4 billion multiplatform minutes in a month.
On social media, Fox News saw 144 million interactions on Facebook, which is a 725% increase compared to the same time period last year. Its Instagram interactions rose 82% to 84.5 million, and its interactions on X were up 68% to 10.8 million.
The network also reported 1.2 billion views on YouTube during the first quarter.
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NFL on FOX analyst Michael Strahan’s journey in his post-football career has been one filled with opportunities in sports media and media in general. Strahan joined FOX Sports in 2008 and was instantly placed on the FOX NFL Sunday pre-game show alongside Curt Menefee, Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long, and Terry Bradshaw. Since his debut on FOX, Strahan has held positions with Live! With Kelly Ripa, Good Morning America, as well as a number of other media opportunities and commercials.
Recently, Strahan was a guest on 7pm in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, featuring the soon-to-be basketball Hall of Famer and co-host Monica McNutt from ESPN. During the appearance, he talked about his advice to younger athletes regarding chasing the post-football career too fast while still playing the game.
“I look at guys now and I think so many are so focused on the next chapter of life when they’re not getting the most out of this chapter,” said Strahan. “That’s what freaks me out. So when I played football, my teammates will tell you I was all in.”
A former New York Giants team captain, Strahan talked about how he always approached his job when playing in the NFL with the utmost effort because of his role as a team leader. Moreover, he noted that he found it vital to the success of his teammates that he sunk all his energy into playing the game instead of focusing on other things.
“I was 36-years-old when I retired, I didn’t take days off,” said Strahan. “If we’re going to win, I need to show them how we’re going to win. So, every day for me was important, but now that I don’t do that anymore now, I can transfer that energy over to what I’m doing now.”
The Pro Football Hall of Famer said that he has no issues with current athletes attempting to build their own brand while still playing in the league. However, he also believes there are consequences that come with it.
“If you are comfortable enough with doing it (podcasting), then you should do it,” Strahan noted. “The only problem is if something goes wrong, you’re not playing well and the team is losing, you still have to show up and do it. I guarantee you, they’re going to blame you and doing something like this away from football as your focus is not on the game. Personally for me, it wasn’t worth it.”
Strahan’s personal brand has exploded following his NFL career as a media personality, commercial pitchman, author, and through so many more opportunities. Nevertheless, he says that wasn’t at all his focus while playing in the NFL.
“I look at all these guys now, and respect to you it’s a different world, it’s a different game,” said Strahan. “If you can get a podcast in this new generation, do your thing. I don’t hate on any of them. But you better make sure you don’t mess up your primary worrying about something that’s your secondary. I see so many that are worrying about a secondary job and building a brand. I wasn’t worried about building a damn brand.”
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Upon an offer from Warner Bros. Discovery to exercise a matching rights provision to match a bid for a package of National Basketball Association games reportedly going to Amazon’s Prime Video, the company sued the league for breach of contract. The two sides eventually settled the lawsuit in November that gives the media conglomerate rights to show NBA content on Bleacher Report and House of Highlights in addition to some overseas distribution rights. In a separate transaction, the company agreed to license the award-winning studio program Inside the NBA to air on ESPN and ABC surrounding high-profile live events. Charles Barkley, who has worked for TNT Sports for the last 25 years, recently divulged how he learned about this seminal transaction.
During a recent appearance on the SI Media Podcast, Barkley told host Jimmy Traina that he was sitting at his home and started receiving text messages from Elle Duncan, Brian Windhorst, Scott Van Pelt and Bob Myers welcoming him to the family. In addition, he received calls from ESPN executives echoing a similar sentiment before receiving the news of the deal from TNT Sports themselves.
“That’s how unprofessional TNT has been throughout this entire process,” Barkley said. “I learned from ESPN that I was going to work for ESPN for ESPN people. TNT did not even have the common courtesy to tell us that we were going to work for ESPN.”
Barkley recalled another story where he was playing golf with two of his best friends and remembers reading articles on the internet about what was going on with the media rights negotiations. There were differing reports surrounding the situation, and Barkley recalled that three articles said it was over while another three said TNT Sports was going to make a “last-ditch bid.”
In the end though, Barkley was perturbed about how it was handled and later added that the ESPN deal was made without Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Shaquille O’Neal being under new contracts. By the time he spoke to TNT Sports about the ESPN transaction, he explained that the company said the article got out, and he still remains perplexed about the additional new show he is slated to take part in with Warner Bros. Discovery.
“Dude, we talk every week,” Barkley said. “Everybody’s confused about what we’re going to do, and I will tell you this. I told you we’re taping the pilot this week – I think we’re doing it Friday. We cannot wait. Everybody’s like, ‘Well at least we’ll see what they’re going to try to do,’ which is going to be fascinating, but all four of us are really confused.”
Earlier in the podcast, Barkley explained that he has been going back and forth with TNT Sports about how much longer he can appear on television. While Barkley has explained that he thinks he can give two more years on television, he divulged that the company has been asking him to do three years. In response, Barkley has told them that while he wants it to work for everybody, he does not need to continue working “just for the hell of it.”
Barkley and TNT Sports revealed a continued long-term commitment over the summer, although he later conveyed that he received a firm offer from NBC that would have utilized him on other programming and had him on the air three nights per week after football season ended. Moreover, he conveyed a similar sentiment with his work at ESPN, which he called an “honor and a privilege,” but he elucidated that he will not appear on programming such as First Take, Get Up, SportsCenter and The Pat McAfee Show.
“I just turned 62,” Barkley said. “If there’s an old person out there watching this show, this podcast and says, ‘I want to work harder when I get older,’ they’re a damn idiot. Anybody that says that, they’re an idiot.”
Heading into next season, Barkley seems to be concerned about balancing the show licensed to ESPN/ABC with the additional venture from TNT Sports. Traina proposed a scenario where Barkley would work on Saturday night coverage on ABC while also appearing on a one-hour weekly show talking about the NBA. Barkley responded that he would be okay with that but followed up by articulating that he was not going to do both and questioning how the new show would do if it aired against other NBA games.
“There’s going to be a game on every day going forward, and the general public is not going to say, ‘Hey, let’s go watch these four dummies talk about something else,’” Barkley said. “That makes zero sense to me whatsoever.”
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