Radio Broadcasting
St. Louis Sell-Off: Audacy Media announced Monday it has agreed to sell its entire St. Louis cluster of radio stations to Hoffmann Media Group, a move that transfers ownership of the market’s iconic outlets — including the legendary KMOX — to a local media powerhouse already controlling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
iHM Feedback: iHeartMedia executed significant layoffs (~dozens to ~100 positions) last week, primarily targeting on-air talent, program directors, and programming staff across 30+ markets. Some stations lost most or all local voices. This is part of a $50 million annualized cost-saving restructuring (part of $150 million total) focused on tech-driven programming efficiencies, following earlier cuts.
Valued Time: Afternoons are emerging as radio’s most valuable daypart, according to Crowd React Media’s State of the Media 2026 report.
Media Industry
Analyst Opine: Financial analysts have largely welcomed Comcast’s June 29, 2026, announcement to spin off NBCUniversal (including Universal Pictures, NBC, Telemundo, Peacock, theme parks, and Bravo) and Sky into a separate publicly traded company via a tax-free spinoff expected to close in about a year.
FIFI Ratings: The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States (June 11–July 19), has delivered record-breaking television viewership across major markets, especially in North America
Retro TV: Streaming platforms are leaning heavily on back-catalog classics to retain viewers in 2026, as nostalgia-driven Retro Revival trends dominate entertainment consumption.
U-S News
HOT HOT HOT: A prolonged, dangerous heat wave will intensify across most of the central to eastern United States this week, the National Weather Service said on the morning of June 29. As part of the wave, some all-time high temperature records could be set later this week, NOAA's Weather Prediction Center said.
Extreme Heat: In all, some 90 million Americans live where an extreme heat watch or extreme heat warning is in effect, the weather service said. In addition, tens of millions more are under the slightly less severe "heat advisory" alert. In fact, at the height of the heat wave later this week, "at least 230 million people in the U.S. — about two-thirds of the U.S. population — could be exposed to extreme heat that could lead to health issues," Weather.com said.
Ballot Defeat: President Trump’s wide-reaching campaign to change election laws suffered another setback on Monday, when the Supreme Court blocked a crucial pathway to restricting mail-in voting practices that he has long blamed, without evidence, as central to his defeat in 2020.