FOX Sports Radio broadcast live from last week’s American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. Both “The Dan Patrick Show” and “Stugotz and Company LIVE!” broadcast live on location, covering the 37th annual star-studded tournament. Pictured above is Dan Patrick (right) interviewing Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald.
The most discussed stories yesterday (7/14) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS research:
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rules in favor of Cumulus Media in this latest aspect of the company’s anti-trust suit against Nielsen. The ruling keeps the preliminary injunction preventing Nielsen from forcing national radio audience clients from having to buy local market data as well in effect while the case returns to district court. The appellate court held that constructive tying – where pricing effectively conditions the purchase of one product on another – can violate the Sherman 
Act. The ruling affirmed the district court’s findings regarding coercion, anticompetitive effects, irreparable harm, and the tailored injunction, and held that Cumulus’ current bankruptcy did not require a stay of the appeal. In 2024, Nielsen instituted a policy requiring national broadcasters to purchase its local data in every market where they operate in order to access the full national
report. This policy forced Cumulus’ Westwood One to choose between buying all local data from the firm or losing access to the essential national data product. Cumulus is suing Nielsen United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that the Nielsen’s policy constitutes an unlawful tying arrangement. The district court found that Nielsen used its monopoly power in the national data market to coerce customers into buying local data products, resulting in anticompetitive effects in local markets by excluding competitors.
The New York State Broadcasters Association appoints Heidi Raphael its next president and chief executive officer, succeeding longtime president and CEO David Donovan. Western New York native Raphael is currently chief communications officer for Beasley Media Group. She also served for 20 years in a similar 
role with Greater Media. NYSBA board chair Chris Musial says, “We are thrilled to welcome Heidi Raphael as the next president and CEO of the New York State Broadcasters Association. Heidi brings an exceptional combination of leadership experience, industry knowledge, and passion for broadcasting. We are confident she is the right leader to guide NYSBA into its next chapter while continuing the outstanding work David Donovan has led over the past decade and a half.”
The most discussed stories yesterday (7/13) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS research:
Bonneville Seattle begins a partnership with the Premier Media Group that will allow Bonneville’s local news destination MyNorthwest.com to share select content from Premier Media 
Group’s network of magazines. Bonneville Seattle SVP Cathy Cangiano says, “We’re excited to partner with Premier Media Group to bring compelling, high-quality content to our audiences across the Pacific Northwest. By combining the trusted brands of KIRO Newsradio and MyNorthwest.com with Premier Media Group’s exceptional storytelling, we’re creating new ways to inform, inspire, and engage our communities.”
Cumulus Media promotes John Lewis to regional vice president in which he’ll oversee the company’s stations in Fort Walton Beach and Pensacola, Florida (including news/talk WCOA-AM/FM) in 
addition to his current role overseeing the Huntsville and Chattanooga operations. Lewis comments, “I’m honored and excited to work with the Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach teams. Having spent a couple of years early in my career with Cumulus Pensacola, it’s especially meaningful to return. With outstanding teams, great brands, and a strong track record of success, I look forward to building on that momentum and helping both markets reach their full potential.”
In a piece written for Townhall.com, Salem Radio Network vice president Tom Tradup writes that talk radio will miss Graham: “But beyond the Beltway political drama, Lindsey Graham’s passing is a huge loss to talk radio, where 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.” Tradup goes on to note, “Salem Radio Network host Mike Gallagher frequently welcomed Lindsey Graham on his nationally syndicated talk show, as did Salem’s Hugh Hewitt and others. Graham was also a featured guest on Sean Hannity’s radio and FOX News Channel programs, as well as Salem’s ‘This Week on Capitol Hill’ with Tony Perkins and virtually every Sunday talk show.” Read his column here.
Citing personal reasons related to the death of her father, WPEN-FM, Philadelphia “97.5 The Fanatic” afternoon drive producer Sylvana Kelleher left the show and the station after Friday’s 
broadcast (7/10). She addressed the matter last Thursday on the “Unfiltered” show where she was on-air producer for the show hosted by Ricky Bo and Bill Colarulo. She told the program’s audience about she hasn’t felt the same passion for the job since her father passed. She posted to Instagram: “This was the hardest decision I’ve had to make, but it’s time I focus on my health. I love very single person that has listened, supported, texted, interacted with me. You guys have all shown me so much love, it’s hard or even comprehend.”
The most discussed stories over the weekend (7/11-12) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS research:
Cumulus Media’s sports talk WNML, Knoxville “The Sports Animal” brings Eric Cain (right) aboard as co-host of the afternoon drive 
program “Tyler & Cainer,” alongside Tyler Ivens (left) beginning Monday (7/13). Cain fills the spot vacated by Will West who is leaving the program for a digital sales manager position with the company. According to Knox News, Cain has been a regular contributor, producer and host on the station in addition to being host of the “Locked on Vols” podcast and a writer and podcast host for Volquest. See the Knox News story here.
Bonneville’s sports talk KIRO-AM “Seattle Sports” is the new Seattle home for Washington State University Athletics including Cougar Football and Men’s Basketball broadcasts. The Cougar Sports Network, managed by Playfly Sports, remains the official 
radio and digital broadcasting network for Washington State Athletics. “Seattle Sports” program director Kyle Brown says, “We’re thrilled to partner with Washington State University Athletics at such an exciting time, as the new Pac-12 takes shape and the Kirby Moore era begins. This renewed and expanded partnership allows us to deliver even more coverage for Cougar fans through enhanced on-air programming, original video content, and the Seattle Sports app.”
SiriusXM is offer subscribers coverage of Major League Baseball’s 2026 All-Star Week, with live broadcasts of the 96th All-Star Game, the Home Run Derby, the MLB Draft, and more special programming from Philadelphia. Coverage begins Saturday (7/11) at 1:00 pm ET on the MLB Network Radio channel.
Here are the most talked about stories of the past week (7/6-10) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS:
Stories
People
To see the full TALKERS Stories, Topics, and People Charts, please click HERE.
Since Urban One transitioned news/talk WBT, Charlotte from its primary broadcast frequency at 1110 AM to 107.9 FM back in December, radio history buffs have been wondering what will become of the AM transmitter property and, more importantly, its historic transmitter building that was retrofitted as a bomb shelter 
in the early 1960s. WCNC-TV reports that local radio fan Johnny Caudle has launched a Change.org petition to save some of the history. He tells WCNC-TV, “I heard the land was for sale and knowing the radio background industry the way I do, I know that that probably means the towers are going down and the place is going to be bulldozed and redeveloped. So, I started thinking we need to save something.” Caudle says he’s not trying to kill any deal that would see the land developed but just wants “to preserve something.” The story indicates the property has an assessed value of $3.5 million. Urban One has not made a public statement about the future of the property. See the WCNC-TV story here.
Cumulus Media promotes Mobile market manager Don Boyd to regional vice president overseeing the Baton Rouge, Lafayette, New Orleans, and Columbus-Starkville, Mississippi markets. He’ll 
continue to lead the Mobile market. Cumulus operations president Bob Walker comments, “We are excited to expand Don’s role in the region. He is an accomplished leader that helps markets focus on how to help clients grow their business with unique partnerships with our brands and our digital solutions. We are eager to see the impact he will have on the broader region.” Boyd’s new oversight will include sports talkers KKND-AM, New Orleans “The Ticket 106.7” and WXQW-AM, Mobile “Jox Mobile.”
TALKERS founder Michael Harrison was interviewed by guest host Lee Elci on multi-media talk star Wayne Allyn Root‘s nationally syndicated program “The WAR Zone” this past Tuesday (7/7). Elci, the daily morning host on WJJF, New London, CT, is an occasional guest host on the popular “WAR Zone” show. Harrison and Elci engaged in a candid examination of the state of politics and media in America at this drama-filled juncture in the nation’s history. Not to be missed. To see the uninterrupted excerpted dialogue, please click here.
The most discussed stories yesterday (7/8) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS research:
ABC states in the opening paragraphs of its filing with the FCC that the Commission’s targeting of “The View” over its guest bookings is not consistent and ultimately threatens talk radio as well. The petition states: “These Reply Comments arise from an unusual 
posture. ABC did not come to the Federal Communications Commission asking for anything. The Commission compelled ABC to file the Petition for Declaratory Ruling at issue here, directing the network to explain why the government. should not dictate which political candidates may appear on The View—even though the Commission itself resolved that very question in ABC’s favor more than two decades ago, ruling in 2002 that The View is a bona fide news program not subject to the equal opportunities requirement.
“Members of the public then submitted tens of thousands of comments in the proceeding, the overwhelming majority urging the Commission to respect the broadcaster’s editorial independence. These Reply Comments respond to that record. The commenters are right to be concerned. The First Amendment does not permit the government to sit in an editor’s chair. Yet that is the seat the Commission now proposes to take—deciding which broadcast programs qualify as legitimate news and, for those it finds wanting, compelling them to surrender their airtime to guests they never chose to feature.
“Today, the program in the Commission’s sights is The View. The principle in the balance is far larger: whether a federal regulator may override a broadcaster’s editorial judgment about whom to interview—a judgment the Constitution commits to broadcasters and their audiences, not to the state. Nothing about The View that the law cares about has changed since the Commission last answered that question more than two decades ago. The program remains regularly scheduled, remains under ABC’s control, and remains driven by the same lodestar—newsworthiness—that has long led it to interview the day’s most consequential figures, from Presidents and Senators to Supreme Court Justices. What has changed is not the program but the political climate around it.
“The Commission has trained its attention on daytime and late-night television—programs perceived as unfriendly to the current administration—while leaving untouched the vast landscape of talk radio, where candidates routinely appear without their opponents. A rule pressed against one set of speakers and quietly suspended for another, along lines that track the administration’s political preferences, is not evenhanded regulation. The record here reflects a widespread and well-founded concern that it is not.”
Weekend talk show host John Clay Wolfe expands his national profile via a new multiyear agreement with iHeartMedia that will, effective July 11, have the “John Clay Wolfe Show” on 116 iHeartMedia radio stations across the United States. The four-hour Saturday morning program will also continue its live, interactive simulcast on YouTube. In celebration of the rollout, the July 25 
edition of the show will emanate from Jay Leno’s Garage, with special guest, Jay Leno. Wolfe says, “For 20 years we’ve never tried to fit into a radio format. We’ve simply tried to make people laugh. The cars brought people to the show, but the stories, characters, the guests and the friendships are what kept them coming back every Saturday. We’re grateful to everyone who’s been part of the journey and excited to welcome a whole new audience.” iHeartMedia division president Eddie Martiny states, “John Clay Wolfe has built one of the most entertaining and engaging programs in radio, and we’re excited to expand his reach across our platform. Growing ‘The John Clay Wolfe Show’ to nearly 120 iHeart stations is a testament to the strength of the show and our shared commitment to delivering compelling, relevant programming to our listeners. We’re proud to partner with John and look forward to continuing this incredible growth together.”
Pictured above are KTSA, San Antonio morning drive talk hosts Trey Ware (right) and Sean Rima (left) broadcasting live from the Alamo Lounge in San Antonio on July 2 and part of the station’s celebration of America’s 250th birthday. KTSA says more than 150 guests attended the morning celebration that featured live performances by San Antonio’s own Rick Rice Band. The broadcast also recognized the successful conclusion of KTSA’s annual Operation Appreciation campaign, which runs each year from Memorial Day weekend through the Fourth of July weekend in which it raises funds for Soldiers’ Angels that sends care packages to American service members deployed around the world.
The New York State Broadcasters Association officially announces the 2026 inductees into the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place at the Rainbow Room in October. This year’s class includes WABC, New York 
morning drive host Sid Rosenberg. In addition to Rosenberg, this year’s class includes: Bill Ritter – journalist/ anchor – WABC-TV, New York; Rosanna Scotto – journalist/anchor – WNYW-TV (FOX 5), New York City; Dan Miner – station manager – WCKM-FM, WCQL-FM, WWSC-AM & FM, and WDKM-FM, Glens Falls; Pete Cloutier – morning co-host & sales – WCKM-FM, Glens Falls; Chuck Samuels – VP & general manager – WHAM-TV, Rochester (retired); and Bob Krummenacker – VP & General Manager – WBNG-TV, Binghamton (retired).
The most discussed stories yesterday (7/7) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS research:
In an insight piece titled, Attention is Heard to Earn: News/Talk Already Has It,” Audacy presents a strong argument for the value of the format to advertisers. Some of the key elements of the presentation include: 1) News/talk is now the No. 1 radio format across broadcast and streaming, accounting for 22% of all AM/FM 
station streaming, nearly 3x the next closest format; 2) One in four Americans now identifies as a “News Fanatic,” checking the news five or more times a day and actively seeking deeper context – not just headlines; 3) News/talk listeners are more loyal than sports fans. Fifty-four percent are primary listeners who spend most of their listening time with news/talk, compared with 41% for sports; 4) Trust remains news/talk’s biggest advantage. Local news radio is trusted by 84% of listeners – higher than broadcast TV, national news radio, or social media; 5) The audience has significant buying power. Median household income is approximately $95,000, with listeners over-indexing for net worth above $2 million; and 6) The advertising works. Among ad-exposed consumers, news/talk campaigns drive 56% awareness, 47% consideration, and 49% purchase/conversion, while Audacy campaigns generate an average 24% lift in website traffic, with some categories seeing increases as high as 67%. See more here.
Federal Communications Commission commissioner Anna M. Gomez is criticizing a summary dismissal of a Petition for Special Relief with the Commission seeking a repeal of the Commission’s news distortion policy filed last fall by a bipartisan group of former 
FCC officials. Gomez filed a petition for mandamus with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeking to compel action by the FCC on such petition. Instead, of responding to the mandamus petition, on June 22 the Commission filed its response and included a copy of an unpublished letter dismissing the News Distortion Petition that was signed by the Acting Chief of the Media Bureau on delegated authority.
Gomez writes, “The Commission has increasingly used its regulatory authority as a cudgel against broadcasters whose coverage it dislikes rather than as a neutral enforcement tool, and license renewals and merger approvals have been treated as leverage over editorial judgment rather than as the objective processes the Communications Act requires them to be. This is not an isolated tactic, and the Commission has repeatedly reached for rarely used or long dormant authority to discipline broadcasters it views as critical, including reviving a license renewal mechanism that had not been invoked in over half a century apparently to target a single company’s news coverage. This includes repeated reliance on the previously rarely invoked news distortion policy at issue here. That pressure has had a real effect, and station groups and local broadcasters across the country have asked my office what topics are now considered too risky to cover, a question that should never need to be asked in a country with a First Amendment. When a federal agency with the power to grant or revoke broadcast licenses starts weighing in on editorial content, the chilling effect reaches far beyond any single station or story, and it is compounded here by the Commission’s choice to resolve this particular petition through an unpublished staff letter rather than a public vote of the full Commission.
“The Commission regularly uses delegated authority to get the work of the Commission done, issuing licenses, seeking comment, granting rule waivers, etc. These are instances where the bureaus and offices of the agency take actions consistent with established Commission precedent. Delegated authority allows the Commission to operate efficiently.
“Delegated authority, however, can be abused to shield significant actions from judicial review as only final Commission actions can be appealed. That is what appears to be happening in this instance and the consequences for our democracy are serious. The Commission has repeatedly used the Media Bureau to take actions that are inconsistent with longstanding Commission precedent that violate both the Communications Act and the First Amendment.
“I am cognizant that my dissent on the substance will not change the outcome of the News Distortion Petition by the Commission. Not providing the Commissioners with an opportunity to vote on this important petition, however, shields the Commission’s actions from critical judicial review. Accordingly, I stand ready to vote on an order addressing the issues raised in the News Distortion Petition to facilitate the timely advancement of this matter to a final appealable order that will allow the appellate review process to move forward without unnecessary delay.”