Top News/Talk Stories of Past Week (2/3-7)
These were the most discussed stories this past week (2/3-7) on news/talk radio and related talk media according to TALKERS research:
Stories/Topics
1. Trump Gaza Plan / Israel-Hamas War
2. Musk USAID-DOGE Activities
3. Trump Nomination Hearings
4. ICE Migrant Deportation Crackdown / FBI-DOJ Issues
5. AA Crash Aftermath- Airline Safety / Trump DEI Remarks and Policies
6. Tariff War / U.S. Foreign Policy
7. The Economy / Healthcare-Bird Flu
8. Big Tech / Russia-Ukraine War
9. LGBTQ Issues-Transgender Women in Sports
10. Super Bowl Buzz
People
1. Donald Trump
2. Elon Musk
3. Benjamin Netanyahu
4. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr / Kash Patel
5. Marco Rubio / Pam Bondi
6. Joe Biden
7. Xi Jinping
8. Jeff Bezos / Mark Zuckerberg / Bill Gates
9. Vladimir Putin / Volodymyr Zelenskyy
10. JD Vance / Karoline Leavitt
Edison Research announces the Top 50 Podcasts in the U.S. based on reach for Q4 2024 among weekly podcast listeners age 13+. The list ranks podcasts based on total audience reach from 
Cumulus Media today (2/5) announced the promotion of Yancy McNair to senior vice president of engineering, effective April 1. McNair will oversee Engineering, Telecom, Real Estate, and Purchasing for the company, and will report to chief financial officer, Frank Lopez-Balboa. McNair, a 21-year veteran of Cumulus Media, rises from his role as VP of technical operations. He assumes leadership responsibilities from Conrad Trautmann, chief technology officer, who will retire at the end of March 2025 after a successful 25-year career with Cumulus Media.
pm on Saturday, March 8 in the heart of the iconic IBS gathering. It will feature an array of six sessions with 16+ luminary industry speakers (to be named shortly) including a keynote address, fireside chat, and four panel discussions that will tackle such topics as “Launching and Managing a Career in a Changing Media Industry,” “Old School, New School, Next School: Learning from Each Other,” “Radio’s Place in a Digital World,” “Finding and Delivering Truth in an Age of Misinformation,” and much more. TALKERS will also serve as the Presenting Sponsor of the entire IBSNYC 2025 event.
from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. In 2022, the Lutzes moved to the 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm slot to better accommodate their schedules. Bob Lutz is the founder and executive director of the League 42 baseball league that serves inner city and low-income youths, and Jeff Lutz is a full-time digital producer at KWCH-TV, Wichita. In late 2024, KFH notified the duo that it wanted to move the syndicated Jim Rome show into their time slot and move them to the 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm slot. The two tried to produce the show earlier in the day to air at 5:00 but Bob Lutz tells the Eagle that not speaking live with callers took the fun out of the show. 
The final opportunity to submit entries for the milestone 
Bonneville Phoenix announced 1/30 that longtime employee Erin Maloney has been named program director at Arizona Sports 98.7 (KMVP-FM) and ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM). “From starting as an intern in 2012 and growing into leadership roles throughout her career, no one is more passionate about our sports brands than Erin,” said Bonneville Phoenix SVP/MM Ryan Hatch. “She is so well respected by everyone in the market, and we are very excited for her to take this next step.” “I’m truly honored to step into the role of program director of Arizona Sports,” said Maloney.
“Working alongside the best in the business is not just a privilege, it’s a dream come true. I look forward to leading an exceptional team of talented individuals who consistently set the standard for excellence in the industry and taking Arizona Sports to new heights.” Maloney most recently served as APD and will replace programming veteran Brian Long who recently returned to Southern California to be with his family and program iHeart’s KFI AM 640, as well as KLAC-AM and KEIB-AM. Arizona Sports is the flagship station for the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona State University football and basketball.
SmileyAudioMedia, Inc. announced today (1/31) that its flagship Los Angeles-based radio station, KBLA Talk 1580, will launch year two of its Climate Justice work. This $2 million, 12-month campaign will link and combat the relationship between climate change and poor health outcomes for African Americans, other people of color, and the poor. The campaign was recently named a national semifinalist for the American Climate Leadership Awards 2025 by ecoAmerica. Climate inequities have taken a toll with multiple health triggers in the Black community, such as extreme heat and poor air quality, made worse by the recent wildfires.
optimize operations, and deliver even more value to advertisers and content creators alike. Additionally, by leveraging ART19’s advanced tools for dynamic ad insertion, PodcastOne can implement programmatic advertising and direct sponsorship integrations. PodcastOne president and co-founder Kit Gray states, “We’re not only ensuring the stability of our current monetization streams but unlocking new growth opportunities by leveraging ART19’s cutting-edge technology and advertising opportunities. This move underscores our commitment to innovation and delivering exceptional value to our talent, advertisers, listeners and shareholders.”
It says, “BIA will share radio ad forecasts to offer a clearer picture of what’s in store this year and which verticals are ready to spend in 2025. The advertising landscape keeps shifting, and we’re here to make sense of it all.” 
Spadea – morning drive host at WKXW-FM, Trenton “New Jersey 101.5” – and his employer Townsquare Media created an illegal “shadow campaign.” The complaint says Townsquare used radio, social media and public events to promote Spadea’s campaign thereby providing him with “hundreds of thousands of dollars” worth of advertising. Ciattarelli is asking the Commission to deny Spadea’s campaign access to matching public funds and to fine Townsquare for the campaign violations. Spadea’s campaign says the complaint is baseless and that it has complied with election law throughout his campaign. 
African Americans across U.S. history and society. Red Apple Audio Networks air personalities Dominic Carter and James Golden, a.k.a Bo Snerdley anchor the stories about notable black figures from activists and civil rights pioneers to entertainers, politicians, scientists, and athletes who broke through racial barriers including: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Martin Luther King Jr,Malcom X, Rosa Parks, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Portier, Muddy Waters, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson,Kobe Bryant, Clifton Wharton, and more. The RAAN Black History Month Vignettes are available to radio stations for download upon request by contacting the network 
show tonight (1/29) at 9:00 pm ET. The interview was recorded at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and FNC says it “will cover the first 100 days of the Trump-Vance administration and other news of the day.”
Audacy. Before he was chairman, Carr had argued that the FCC should not allow a “Soros shortcut” but must follow FCC procedure. In June of last year Carr said the FCC had never previously used the “Soros-shortcut” procedure to approve licenses to a firm with significant foreign ownership. But Audacy argued in its opposition to the Petition to Deny (filed last summer) that there is nothing unique about this request, saying that the FCC “granting a limited waiver deferring its foreign ownership review to facilitate a licensee’s prompt emergence from bankruptcy is consistent with the Communications Act.” Audacy added that the notion that the limited waiver is new “completely ignores longstanding precedent establishing the Commission-approved special warrant process used in a number of prior transactions to allow licensees to emerge from bankruptcy promptly, while affording the Commission sufficient opportunity to review foreign ownership issues post-emergence.”
from 27% in 2021; 2) the top podcast genres of 2024 were News (25% of downloads), True Crime (19%), and Comedy (13%). Of True Crime podcast listeners, 67% were female, of Comedy podcast listeners, 61% were male, and of News podcast listeners, 56% were male; 3) NPR News Now (NPR) remained the top podcast in 2024; and 4) “Bongino Report Early Edition with Evita” had the #1 debut in 2024. Triton SVP measurement products & strategy Daryl Battaglia says, “2024 marked another year of remarkable growth for the podcast industry, with listenership broadening across demographics and becoming more mainstream than ever. As new audiences dive into podcasts and spend more time listening, fueling deeper engagement, genres like True Crime, Kids & Family, and History drive the highest back catalog consumption, creating untapped opportunities for programmatic advertising. At Triton Digital, we remain dedicated to providing deep insights into listener behavior and platform preferences as this dynamic medium continues to evolve.”