Industry News

Top News/Talk Media Stories This Past Week (January 12-16, 2026)

Here are the most-talked-about stories of the past week (1/12-16) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS:

Stories

  1. ICE Activities and Protests
  2. Iran Protests and Turmoil
  3. U.S. Policy on Venezuela
  4. Trump’s Greenland Ambitions
  5. Economy / Inflation / Interest Rates/ Tariffs
  6. Russia-Ukraine War
  7. Israel-Gaza Tensions
  8. Boeing Crash Investigation Findings
  9. NFL Playoffs / NCAA Betting Scandal
  10. Epstein Files

People

  1. Donald Trump
  2. Renee Nicole Good / Kristi Noem / Tim Walz
  3. Nicolás Maduro / Maria Corina Machado
  4. Masoud Pezeshkian / Ali Khamenei
  5. Marco Rubio / JD Vance
  6. Jens-Frederik Nielsen / Mette Frederiksen
  7. Mike Johnson / Pete Hegseth / Pam Bondi
  8. Vladimir Putin / Volodymyr Zelenskyy
  9. Benjamin Netanyahu
  10. Jeffrey Epstein

To see the full TALKERS Stories, Topics, and People Charts, please click HERE.

Industry News

Audacy Adds Full-Market FM to The Score in Chicago

Audacy is dropping the classic hip hop on WBMX and adding the 104.3 FM frequency to sports talk WSCR-AM “670 The Score,” beginningimg February 2. Audacy Chicago SVP and market manager Kevin Cassidy states, “Chicago fans are the best in the world, and they deserve coverage that matches their passion. Our roster features the best talent in the city with unmatched dedication to delivering the latest sports news and insight. We’re excited to expand The Score’s reach through this FM simulcast, bringing our premier sports content to an even wider audience so they can join the conversation and stay connected to their favorite Chicago teams.”

Industry News

Salem Promotes Cassidy to VP/Regional GM

Salem Media today promotes Carolyn Cassidy to vice president & regional general manager in which she’ll continue to oversee Salem’s operations in Columbus, Tampa, Orlando, and Miami, while expandingimg her leadership role as part of the company’s Senior Leadership Team. Salem says, “Cassidy has been an integral part of Salem for many years, beginning with her leadership in Columbus, where she cultivated a strong culture of teamwork, community involvement, and business growth. She later took on management of Salem’s Tampa market, followed by oversight of Orlando and, most recently, Miami.” Salem president of broadcast media Allen Power adds “Carolyn has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, market insight, and a deep commitment to Salem’s mission. Her ability to lead multiple large and diverse markets with both strategic focus and personal care makes her an outstanding addition to our VP ranks.”

Industry News

WTOP Names Wordock Business Reporter

WTOP names veteran journalist John Wordock business reporter, effective January 26. Wordock, who was heard on WTOP in the past when he handled business report duties for MarketWatch Radio, most recentlyimg served as a media consultant. He states, “WTOP is setting the pace for the radio industry in our digital world. It’s a leader both in Washington and in the country. I look forward to joining its award-winning newsroom and evolving business reporting in the age of social video, YouTube, podcasts, and whatever comes next.” WTOP says it will expand the scope of its business reporting under Wordock’s leadership, including by Wordock producing original video content and written articles for WTOP.com and the station’s social media channels. WTOP director of news and programming Julia Ziegler comments, “Evolution is more important than ever in the news industry. We need to meet our consumers where they are and bring them the stories they need in the formats they want. John brings a wealth of multi-platform experience and business expertise to WTOP, and we can’t wait for news consumers in the DMV to be reintroduced to him.”

Industry News

Gregg Henson Named WHO, Des Moines Program Director

Programming pro Gregg Henson is named program director for iHeartMedia’s “NewsRadio 1040” WHO, Des Moines. iHeartMedia EVP of programming Steve Geofferies says “NewsRadio 1040 WHO is one of the most respected news talk stations in Iowa, built on a strong foundation of trusted voices and programming. Gregg’s experience and leadershipimg will support our strong team and help WHO continue delivering the high-quality programming listeners rely on every day.” Henson most recently served with Cumulus Media as PD and morning host at classic rock WLAV-FM and country WTNR-FM in Grand Rapids, Michigan. During his career he’s programmed news/talk outlets including WRVA, Richmond; WPGB-FM, Pittsburgh; and WOWO, Fort Wayne. Henson comments, “I’m incredibly excited to return to iHeartMedia and work with the legendary staff at NewsRadio 1040 WHO. WHO’s legacy of trusted news and strong local voices is unmatched, and I’m focused on building on that foundation and continuing to deliver relevant, impactful programming for listeners across Iowa.”

Industry News

Tim Allen to Host Brewers Hot Stove Show on “105.7 The Fan”

Audacy sports talk WSSP-AM/W289CB “105.7 The Fan” in Milwaukee brings Tim Allen back to its airwaves to host the new “Brewers Hot Stove Show,” airing weekdays at 5:00 pm ET, starting January 14 and runningimg through March 25. Allen will also host a post-game show, adding to the station’s 2026 Brewers coverage, which also includes Tommy Wortz’s “Lead Off Show.” Audacy Wisconsin SVP and market manager Jason Bjorson says, “If you’re going to be the number one sports radio station in Milwaukee, then you have to have the best coverage of the Brewers. Tim Allen is the definitive voice of the franchise’s fanbase, and his presence solidifies our commitment to local listeners.” Allen states, “I’m very appreciative to have my post-game show back on ‘The Fan’ in Milwaukee and now on the Wisconsin Sports Radio Network. We started this post-game show on ‘The Fan’ 21 years ago, and to have it continue with them is a pretty special feeling.”

Industry News

Judge Judy to Receive BFOA’s Lifetime Achievement Award

The Broadcasters Foundation of America announces that Judge Judy Sheindlin will receive the Edward F. McLaughlin Lifetime Achievement Award during the BFOA Gala on Monday, March 9 at the Plaza Hotel inimg New York City. The Edward F. McLaughlin Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has made invaluable contributions to the broadcast industry. BFOA president Tim McCarthy comments, “Judy’s no-nonsense approach to legal disputes has provided riveting television entertainment to millions of viewers across America. We are proud to recognize her many accomplishments and contributions to broadcasting.” For more information about the Broadcasters Foundation, visit www.broadcastersfoundation.org.

Industry News

Report: Townsquare Wins Suit for Unpaid Ad Bills

According to a report by Bill Heltzel in WestfairOnline, Townsquare Media has won a suit against furniture dealer Regency Management for unpaid advertising bills that totaled $1.15 million. In 2022, Heltzel writes that U.S. District Court imgJudge Kenneth M. Karas concluded Townsquare failed to establish monetary damages on most of the contracts and ordered Townsquare a partial award of about $115,000 but ruled in favor of Regency on most of the deals. Townsquare requested reconsideration, and in 2023 Judge Karas concluded that he had overlooked evidence on 10 advertising contracts. After holding a bench trial last June, Karas on December 12, 2025, ordered Regency “to pay $114,936 that remained unsatisfied from his 2022 partial decision for Townsquare; $694,328 on the contracts he reconsidered, and $344,833 in interest, for a total of $1,154,097.” See the WestfairOnline story here. 

Industry News

John Terrett to Host Red Apple Market Reports

Red Apple Media announces that John Terrett is the host of the twice-daily Red Apple AM/PM Market Reports. CEO John Catsimatidis says, “More than ever before, listeners need clarity on what’s happening on Wall Street. John has been a guest on my Sunday program, ‘The Cats Roundtable,’ many times, and his exceptional understanding of the financial world arms listeners with the knowledge they need to make smart financial decisions.”

Industry News

Top News/Talk Media Stories This Past Week (January 5-9, 2026)

Here are the most talked about stories of the past week (1/5-9) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS:

Stories

  1. Maduro Captured and Arraigned
  2. Venezuelan Oil / “Donroe” Doctrine
  3. Fatal Minneapolis ICE Shooting
  4. Trump Greenland Ambitions
  5. Iran Protests-Instability
  6. U.S. Exits 66 Treaties
  7. Social Services Money to Blue States Frozen
  8. RFK Jr’s Dietary Recommendations / CDC Vaccination Guidelines
  9. Dokoupil’s CBS News Debut
  10. U.S. Rep LaMalfa Dies

People

  1. Donald Trump
  2. Nicolás Maduro 
  3. Marco Rubio
  4. Mike Johnson
  5. JD Vance
  6. Renee Nicole Good / Jonathan Ross
  7. Pele Broberg
  8. Masoud Pezeshkian
  9. RFK Jr.
  10. Doug LaMalfa

To see the full TALKERS Stories, Topics, and People Charts, please click HERE.

Industry Views

CES2026: Is Your Elevator Speech Too Long?

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgWe sell advertisers the attention we earn, and earning it has never been tougher. When we design client stations’ billboards, we’re not “writing a 60” or “a 30,” or even “a 10.” It’s a one-second spot. At a glance, someone driving needs to understand what the station delivers, and why to listen.

Showcase events here are well-catered and open bar (Media Relations 101). So, as we roam exhibits, both hands are already full, a challenge for exhibitors hoping we’ll stop, take a tchotchke, and take-in what they’re rolling-out. So I’m struck by how well the large-font messages on their booth signage distills whassup. 

Examples: 

Komutr: “Finally, Earbuds Your Won’t Lose!”

Stelo by Dexcom: “Glucose tracking made easy”

“Too busy to cook? Let a robot do it,” 500 dishes Nosh can whip-up.

“So your days don’t end up on your face,” Baronbio offers “The 4-Day Slow-Aging Challenge.”

Eloquens: “Automated Email responses that feel human”

“Mist + Wind = Instant Cool” with Aecooly, “the world’s first high-speed cooling fan,” hand-held.

Narwal’s V50 Cube Cordless Vacuum is “light to hold” and will “deep-clean every surface.”

Yarbo’s Modular Yard Robot: not just a lawnmower. “All Seasons Solution” doubles as a snowblower.

Kamingo’s E-Bike Converter switches from bicycle to E-bike “in seconds.”

We have learned – and taught advertisers – to boil-it-down to the proverbial “elevator speech,” a pitch you could spit-out between floors. How quickly does yours convey value? 

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry News

Little Change at Top of Podtrac’s December Podcast Ranker

Podtrac releases its Top Podcasts ranker for December based on U.S. unique monthly audience for participating networks and the top threeimg places remain unchanged with NPR’s “NPR News Now” at #1, followed by The New York Times’ “The Daily” at #2 and NPR’s “Up First” at #3. Changes among news/talk shows include The Daily Wire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show’ up two places to #12, the Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Shawn Ryan Show” falls 11 spots to #15, and “The Tucker Carlson Show” dips two spots to #19. See the full ranker here. 

Industry News

WPHT’s Rich Zeoli Transitioning to Daily Podcast

Rich Zeoli, afternoon drive host at Audacy’s news/talk WPHT, Philadelphia, announces that he is leaving his role as the live afternoonimg drive host to launch a daily, one-hour podcast that will also air on WPHT from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Zeoli says in a Facebook announcement that, while radio isn’t going anywhere, he realizes that people want to consume content where and when they’d like and this move allows people to download the podcast and listen at their leisure or listen to the broadcast version at 6:00 pm. The podcast will launch on Monday (1/12). Audacy has not announced programming for the 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm daypart yet. 

Industry News

Dan Bongino Teases Return to Media

Dan Bongino, who left his Westwood One radio show and podcast to take on the deputy director position with the FBI, is teasing a return to media. Bongino, a veteran and former Secret Service agent before getting into talk media, announced late last year that he would be leaving the FBI, is expected to get back into media, posted the following to X: “Thanks forimg everything while we worked on cleaning up. Working in the administration was the experience of a lifetime. I’ll have some announcements coming up but I’m taking a couple of days to spend with the family. A couple of things: Thank you for your interest in the show and its return date. We will have something for you soon. The Trump team is not kidding around. It’s an otherworldly experience from the other side. He’s determined and focused. And having been around quite a few Presidents, this one broke the mold.  If we blocked you, it’s because we care so little about your bullsh*t that we deem it not worthy of even seeing. If you’re bitching and whining about it that means you can’t exist without seeing and commenting on ours. You’ll need to get over that. We do it because there’s nothing black-pillers and anti-Trumpers want more than to create division and drama. We’re about results, and we’ll talk about some of it soon.”  

Industry Views

SABO SEZ: The Myth of Mentorship

By Walter Sabo
a.k.a. Walter Sterling, Host
WPHT, Philadelphia, “Walter Sterling Every Damn Night”
TMN syndicated, “Sterling on Sunday”

imgAdvice columns blanketing sites like LinkedIn, the Skimm, and Forbes 2.0 – aimed at recent graduates – encourage their readers to seek and bond with an at-work mentor.  After years of skimming “5 bullet” articles, I have reached the tipping point and I’m not going to take it anymore: Seeking a mentor as a career strategy is horrible advice. Just horrible.

Here’s what I experienced. My first job out of Syracuse University was at RKO Radio in Manhattan. An FM. OMG. The job was promotional support and a weekend talk show. After that, NBC local, ABC network, NBC corporate, ABC corporate… all before I was 30. No mentor.

Seek-a-mentor articles are usually aimed at women. It is even worse advice for women. Here’s why:

1. No one wants to be your mentor out of kindness and heavenly points. They only want to be your mentor if you are wired to someone powerful. Someone you can tell how wonderful they are to you

2. Your mentor’s reputation becomes yours! If your mentor is thought a jerk or is fired out of general hatred, you will be fired pretty soon. At NBC, the perception was that NBC CEO Fred Silverman was my mentor. I was terminated about a week after Fred left the building. The reason I was given by my direct report was, “You were too closely associated with Fred.” Fact: I spoke to Fred once during my three-year NBC tenure. (Much later Fred and I became close friends and how lucky I was!)

3. The mentee’s expectations are always too broad. Each of us is good at one or two skills. “mentor” implies a much wider menu of advice than is realistic.

4. One day, the mentor will be proven wrong on a key issue and the mentee will be very confused.

Best advice ever: You have no friends at work. Co-workers, yes. Work-wife? Work-husband? No, no, no!

The greatest gift you can give a co-worker is a request for advice. Each co-worker has strengths. Identify those strengths and tap into those. One request of a colleague is flattering. Ten requests for help is a sign of weakness and you will be eaten.

In any business, especially “glamour” businesses, your goal is to not be eaten by people jealous of you.  You could be eaten for any reason because the jobs are sparse and security is mercurial.

Obviously, a job is a job. It is not a social club. Early in a person’s work life, it is tempting to make the workplace a surrogate family. That could get you eaten. Do your job. Go home.

Walter Sabo has been a C-Suite action partner for companies such as SiriusXM, Hearst, Press Broadcasting, Gannett, RKO General, and many other leading media outlets. His company, HITVIEWS, in 2007, was the first to identify and monetize video influencers. His nightly show “Walter Sterling Every Damn Night” is heard on WPHT, Philadelphia. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs 10:00 pm-1:00 am ET, and is now in its 10th year of success. He can be reached by email at sabowalter@gmail.com.

Industry News

ST Radio Flips to Sports in Bloomington, Indiana

Sarkes Tarzian’s ST Radio flips WGCL, Bloomington, Indiana from news/talk to sports talk with the new call letters WWZN and the brand “98-7 The Zone.” The station is also airing onimg FM via translator W245DP. The station will blend local talk shows with national content from Westwood One Sports. Local shows include Kent Sterling in the 9:00 am to 11:00 am slot, Jim Coyle from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and Mike Glasscot in the 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm daypart. The station will also serve as an affiliate for play-by-play for the Indianapolis Colts and the Indiana Pacers. Sterling, who will serve as the station’s program director, states, “Sports talk in Bloomington is long overdue, and I’m so pleased ST Radio is the company to make this happen. Bloomington is the Big Ten’s best sports town, and ’98-7 The Zone’ will be the Big Ten’s best sports station.”

Industry News

Brandon Tierney Transitions to Streaming Show

Former WFAN, New York sports talk host Brandon Tierney has launched his streamingimg sports talk show just a couple of weeks after being ousted from WFAN due to the return of Craig Carton to that station’s afternoon daypart. Tierney and co-host Sal Licata were let go on December 19. Tierney’s new show “BT Unleashed” is streamed on YouTube and other platforms. Tierney tells the Brooklyn Reporter, “I thought it was a pretty easy decision. I felt the iron was hot. I certainly felt a desire for more of my work and I wanted to get right back out there. People understand that it was an abrupt ending at the FAN and that this is a pretty dramatic transformation.” See the Brooklyn Reporter story here. 

Industry Views

CES2026: Potholes to Pizza Ovens

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgCutting edge technology is on display — and on wheels — this week here in Las Vegas.  

Your car could join The Pothole Patrol

General Motors is developing technology that collects data from navigation systems, cameras, accelerometers and all your car’s other sensors to spot roads that need repair.

And automakers are trying to keep cars themselves from roughing-up roads. Massive batteries can make an EV sedan weigh as much as a heavy-duty pickup truck. Cadillac’s electric Escalade weighs 3000 pounds more than its gas-tank version. Engineers are working on solid-state batteries that will be smaller, lighter, faster-charging and longer-range. 

And here’s a U-turn: Volkswagen is bringing-back…buttons! According to surveys, drivers don’t want to use touchscreens to turn-up the radio or turn-on the defroster. And studies show that scrolling can impair reaction time more than alcohol.

Artificial Intelligence stampede!

AI from AT&T will spare you from spam calls and save you from phone fraud. I’ve already set my iPhone to send calls from anyone not in my Contacts straight to voicemail, and that has spared me lots of interruptions. And we know not to say “yes” to callers who could be recording you, and use that as permission to make an unwanted purchase. This new system will interact with callers. Yes, your robot can talk-to — and reject — other robots…disconnecting spammers, or providing real-time transcriptions you can interrupt if you want to take the call. 

“Future-Ready” is a CES session about “Shaping the Workforce in the AI Era.” And we’re hearing bullish predictions about “future-proofing the next-gen workforce.” Chipmaker Intel is here forecasting breakthroughs for what it calls “efficient factories.” Radio is already, shall-we-say, dabbling, in these so-called efficiencies. And Hollywood is on-its-heels. Soon, your favorite actor could be an algorithm, as cinematic AI is approaching what some here are calling “its Citizen Kane moment.”

AI is being shoehorned into almost everything. Ooni’s Volt 2 is an all-electric indoor pizza oven. 850 degrees Fahrenheit, perfect pie in 90 seconds.

Help yourself to my 60-second CES reports

They’re updated daily, for air all this week. Simply download from HollandCooke.com. No charge, no paperwork, no spot.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn