Top News/Talk Media Stories for Week of January 29 – February 2
The U.S. migrant crisis combined with the House’s Articles of Impeachment against Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was the most-talked-about story in news/talk media this week, landing atop the Talkers TenTM. At #2 this week was the military tensions between the U.S. and Iran, tied with the Houthi rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea, followed by the Israel-Hamas war at #3. The Talkers TenTM is a weekly chart of the top stories and people discussed in news/talk media during the week and is the result of ongoing research from TALKERS magazine. It is published every Friday at Talkers.com. See this week’s complete chart here.
talk KILT-AM “SportsRadio 610.” McClain’s role with the station included appearing on the station’s programs, writing stories for its website and co-hosting a podcast with station personality Sean Pendergast. The 72-year-old McClain tells the Chronicle that he’s not ready to leave the Houston radio market, adding, “I’ll see if people are interested. I’m a free agent now.” 
states, “We are excited to air ‘The Other Side of Midnight with Frank Morano.’ We were looking for a live, informative, interactive and entertaining show that will rekindle the joy of overnight radio.” Morano comments, “I’m excited to join the KMOX lineup and bring live programming to overnights in St. Louis. St. Louis is a terrific market and KMOX is a legendary talk station, with an incredible audience and history that goes back nearly a century. I’m looking forward to being a big part of their history when the chapter on their next century is written. We’re going to have a blast.”
network across both total day and primetime with total viewers and the 25-54 demographic. FNC continued its ratings dominance for the month of January and grew its primetime audience in total viewers versus January 2023. Additionally, FNC was the only cable news network to show year-over-year growth in the younger 18-34 demo, growing 18% in total day and 25% in primetime, while MSNBC and CNN are experiencing double-digit declines.” FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott comments, “Marking another historic feat is a true reflection of the unwavering dedication and outstanding talent that we have throughout the entire organization of FOX News Channel.”
appointed to the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Board of Directors by Radio Board chair Collin Jones. Berge started her career in the broadcast industry in 2011 as an account executive for iHeartMedia in Eau Claire. She was named SVP of sales in 2018, before assuming her current role as market president. Berge assumes the board seat of Joel McCrae.
Other notable findings: 1) Older Americans and women are listening to podcasts at a faster rate, with a 22% increase in listeners over the age of 55 and a 19% increase in female listeners 18+ over the past two years; 2) Top podcast genres of 2023 were News (22% of downloads), True Crime (18%), and Comedy (15%). Of True Crime podcast listeners, 67% were female, of Comedy podcast listeners 62% were male, and of News podcast listeners 58% were male; 3) The top sales networks of 2023 in the Triton U.S. Podcast Ranker were SiriusXM Podcast Network at #1, NPR at #2, and Wondery at #3. The top podcast of the year was “NPR News Now.” Triton Digital SVP measurement products & strategy Daryl Battaglia says, “2023 was another year of significant growth for the podcast industry, and with increasing female and over 55+ audiences, we can expect more content production to serve those groups in the coming year. As podcast listenership continues to rise and reach new audiences, we’ll continue to provide our customers with in-depth insights around podcast consumption and listener habits in the coming year.” 
back episodes published before they subscribed. Since many if not most of those were never listened to, the data about listening habits was inaccurate. As the blog notes, podcasts that publish frequently will be most affected. “This is a crucial reset for the podcast industry, a much-needed rightsizing of audience data. This is a defining moment advertisers and podcast creators should both welcome. As hosts look at their downloads and reach for the Advil, they should know Apple is putting the podcast industry on the road to more accurate data. Better audience data inspires more confidence among advertisers and agencies.” Another new feature in iOS 17 is that users who haven’t listened to five downloaded episodes over the past two weeks will stop getting automatically downloaded podcasts. 
February 5. In this role, Tatar will work closely with Houston SVP and market manager Sarah Frazier. She says, “I have admired Bill’s work in the Houston market for the past 15 years, so I am very excited about him joining our team. He has deep relationships in the market, a tremendous work ethic, and a creative mind that will help take our brands to the next level for both our consumers and partners.” Tatar has served with Cox Media Group in the Houston market since 2002.
available, ‘The Adam Carolla Podcast’ has remained one of the most popular podcasts on the planet for well over a decade. Fans grew to love the pairing of Adam Carolla & Dr. Drew Pinsky that originated on the world famous KROQ radio and became a cultural touchstone and in 2012 they reunited the partnership for ‘The Adam and Dr. Drew Show.’ In each episode Adam and Dr. Drew take uncensored, nothing-off-limits, calls about sex, drugs, medical and relationship issues. Dr. Drew brings the medicine while Adam’s comedic rants are the spoonful of sugar to make it go down.” PodcastOne president and co-founder Kit Gray adds, “Adam Carolla’s contributions to the medium of digital audio entertainment are immeasurable. From his devoted audience of listeners and advertisers, Adam has inspired legions of loyal fans who tune in daily to hear his comedic take on a wide array of topics. His camaraderie with Dr. Drew is the stuff of legends. This is a podcasting duo that will go down in history as one of the greatest partnerships. As we have grown as a network, so have Adam and Drew and we are thrilled to keep the momentum growing.”
monumental five-volume Bible commentary, The Rational Bible, as well as three other books.” Salem adds that each hour of Prager’s show will contain six more minutes of talk than at present and that third-hour affiliates are being offered the opportunity to take an hour of the Charlie Kirk show, which airs at the same time as Prager’s program. Additionally, Prager will do a monthly virtual “hangout” with subscribers to his Pragertopia +. Salem SVP of spoken word Phil Boyce comments, “Dennis Prager is a true talk radio icon and has been for the last 42 years since he first began on the radio at KABC in Los Angeles hosting the original ‘Religion on the Line.’ Millions of listeners spend the day with Dennis, enjoying his wit, wisdom, and knowledge. He is one of the most viral talk hosts on the air today, and we wanted him to remain on the Salem Radio Network for years to come.”
One’s WFNI, Indianapolis “The Fan.” After leaving “The Fan,” Dakich began hosting a late morning program streamed on the Outkick Network. Cumulus Indianapolis VP and market manager Darlene Park says, “Indiana’s very own Dan Dakich returns to the airwaves as opinionated as ever and ready to break down all things sports on ‘Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 AM’ every weekday from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm. He is an Indiana sports legend, and we are so excited he is bringing his game to our team.” Dakich comments, “Couldn’t be more thrilled to join the fantastic team at ‘Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 AM.’ The state of Indiana and I have had a lifetime love affair that extends way beyond sports and sharing that daily is going to, once again, be a blast! Can’t wait to get started as we build ‘Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 AM’ into Indy’s go-to home for all things sports.”
He’s been co-hosting the weekend “Mark and Kichen Show” with Ben Kichen at WEEI. Dondero says, “Obviously I’ve learned a ton from him (Kichen), about the radio business, talking in general. And I’ll say this: Ben Kichen is a star and an underrated talent in this business, whether you’ve heard of him or not. And it has been an absolute joy and pleasure to work with him on the air for almost seven years.” 
Scott will lead a discussion with analysts, financial planning experts, real estate specialists, and college planners. He adds, “So many New Jersey residents fear they will never be able to afford to retire. This program will help New Jersey residents make smart decisions and ask the right questions as they plan for their future.” The station will broadcast online streamed live available for embedding at facebook.com/nj1015/live as well as via nj1015.com, the New Jersey 101.5 YouTube channel, or the New Jersey 101.5 app.
Broadcasters Foundation, whose sole mission is to provide aid to radio and television professionals in acute need. O’Brien first hosted the Golden Mic gala last year. She says, “The Broadcasters Foundation has an incredible impact on the people in our business who face serious illness or catastrophe and need help. I’m honored to lend my support as the host of their fundraising gala and to pay tribute to this year’s award recipients.” She currently hosts the nationally syndicated “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien” program produced by Hearst Television.
compliance reports to the Bureau through the remainder of the current license terms of the two stations, and pay a Civil Penalty to the United States Treasury in the total amount of $500,000.” The violations in question center on a program that aired on Townsquare’s news/talk outlets KIDO-AM, Boise and KLIX-AM, Idaho Falls from October 2021 through March 2023 in which they “broadcast a one-hour episode of, and 30-second advertisements promoting, the Program. The format of each episode nominally resembled a news interview/public affairs program produced and presented by the Stations. In fact, however, all episodes of the Program were paid political presentations. Townsquare was paid to broadcast episodes of the Program and related advertisements initially by and on behalf of the Idaho Republican Party, and later by Tom Luna on behalf of a company doing business as Tom Luna and Associates. The hosts of each episode (Tom Luna and Victor Miller, chairman of the Ada County (Idaho) Republican Party) were solely responsible for producing the Program, including selecting guests and determining program content. Neither station provided any on-air Sponsorship ID announcements for the vast majority of the episodes or promotional advertisements that they aired revealing to listeners the true nature of the broadcasts and the identity of those who paid for them. In addition, multiple episodes of the Program contained appearances that constituted uses by legally qualified candidates for public office and communicated messages relating to political matters of national importance. Neither station uploaded records of any such candidate uses or messages to their respective online political files.”
become synonymous with insightful, spirited broadcasting. This contract is more than an agreement; it’s a promise of continued excellence and engagement with our beloved San Antonio community and the great state of Texas.” Pags’ program is nationally syndicated and is heard on more than 170 stations. He comments, “It has been an absolute honor to be on WOAI for 18 years now and I’m so thankful to continue talking with the great people of San Antonio and beyond for years to come! Growing with this community and with iHeart has been an incredible ride. Being on this station has given me the opportunity to reach the kind of national audiences I only dreamed would happen one day. I remain driven and motivated to produce the best show I can every day – and am thrilled it will continue from WOAI!”
Acknowledging that this publication is fiercely non-partisan and that I – in my role as a broadcaster – am basically the same, I offer the following, not as a political opinion piece, but rather a personal observation based on experience that might shed light on the deeper nature of a large segment of the American population prone to listen to talk radio.
Yellowtec, will be discussing new developments and TALKERS founder Michael Harrison will be chatting about the forthcoming United Nations’ 
Radio Network. This is a significant step up for us, and we are ready to help more people! By airing our radio show weekly on JFRN, we will be able to help more great Americans and their loved ones.” John Fredericks comments, “Adding an informative investing and retirement planning show to our growing radio network was important to us. We want to provide important information to help people better protect and grow their hard-earned money during this difficult time in our country, politically and economically. Ford’s show is at the next level. He shares important information as a licensed financial advisor that Americans can apply to their retirement plans every week.”
collection migration. NPR’s “NPR News Now” is back in the #1 spot, followed by NBCUniversal News Group’s “Dateline NBC” at #2, audiochuck’s “Crime Junkie” at #3, and NPR’s “Up First” at #4. Other radio-related podcasts in the top 25 include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” at #7 (down three places), Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” at #18 (down six spots), and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Mark Levin Show” at #25 (down nine places).