Buffalo Radio: Talk Host Tom Bauerle Exits Audacy's WBEN

WBEN-AM talk show host Tom Bauerle was fired Friday, a week before his contract was set to expire.

Audacy, the station’s owner, confirmed the departure Sunday. A spokesperson said: “We thank him for his years of contributions and wish him the best in retirement. Nothing else to share at this time.”

Bauerle, 62, had been at the conservative talk station since 2002 and spent 45 years in radio, including brief stops in Tampa, Fla., and St. Louis. He initially declined comment, then posted a lengthy Facebook statement that included: “Thank you for a great 42 years combined at (WBEN and WGR). Your support and support of sponsors has been a great dream. This was the life I chose, and no matter how loyal ANYONE is to ANY employer, EVERY ONE gets popped eventually.” 

He added: “I love you all. I have had and continue to have a great life and am filled with gratitude to you.”

Tom Bauerle

The firing means Bauerle will not get an on-air goodbye, unlike former host Sandy Beach, who was allowed to bid farewell to listeners when he retired in 2021.

In a lengthy email, Bauerle’s wife, Richelle, described the events of recent months. She said Audacy had assured him for months that it wanted to keep him and praised his work. He was told in May that a new contract would be offered in July, but none arrived. He sought a five-year deal with no raise. 

He left on a station-sponsored trip to Italy with listeners this month and was told not to worry, only to be fired after his return.

“Originally Tom wanted to spin (it) as retirement but he actually couldn’t have lived with himself so he stopped that charade after a couple hours because he said his fans and sponsors deserved truth,” Richelle wrote. “For the only time in a 45-year legendary career he was FIRED. FYI, Tom has told me he is no different than anyone else who has been screwed in corporate or industry America.”

A year ago the station shortened Bauerle’s show by an hour, to 3-6 p.m. weekdays, to give younger fill-in host Joe Beamer a permanent 1-3 p.m. slot. Beamer appears a likely candidate to replace him or expand his shift. 

Stefan Mychajliw, a former WGRZ-TV reporter and Erie County comptroller who has filled in recently, is another possible successor.

Beyond the brief Audacy statement, the company would not address why its longstanding support ended with the abrupt firing or how he will be replaced.

Salary costs may have been a factor at a time when radio groups are cutting higher-paid employees amid industry pressures. 

Bauerle has also faced a 2024 lawsuit filed by siblings Richard Bauerle and Barbara Mattucci accusing him of taking advantage of their dying mother’s advanced illness to gain power of attorney and cut them out of nearly $1 million in estate assets. In 2014, Amherst police responded to his home after he claimed operatives of then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo were surveilling him; he later consented to a voluntary psychiatric evaluation. He later attributed the episode to alleged invisible surveillance by university students and others.

Progressive Considers Lawsuit vs. Brian Jennings, Salem Media

Hasan Piker is preparing a defamation lawsuit against conservative commentator Scott Jennings and Salem Media after Jennings falsely claimed the Twitch streamer called for Black voters to be lynched.

The 35-year-old progressive streamer told the media newsletter Status that he and his legal team view Jennings’ comments as defamatory and that filing suit “seems unavoidable.” 

Piker said the anticipated action may ultimately expand to include Fox News, where a prominent anchor discussed the same remarks.

The controversy stems from a segment last Tuesday on Jennings’ nationally syndicated Salem Media radio show. Jennings, a CNN commentator, played an edited compilation of clips from Piker as part of what he called an “exploration of the radical socialist streamer.” 

Hasan Piker

After the montage, Jennings leveled the accusation: “Now [Abdul] El-Sayed’s best friend is out there calling for Black voters to be lynched.” He added, “Beneath all the smiles and dancing videos, there’s nothing but hate and violence in the heart of these communists.” 

Jennings repeated the charge on social media, urging followers to “listen for yourself.” 

The reference was to Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democratic Senate nominee, whom Jennings linked to Piker.

A detailed review of the audio told a different story, according to Status. A Snopes investigation found that the clip was stitched together from multiple separate streams and stripped of key context. While the individual clips themselves were authentic, the claim built on top of them was not. Piker had been sarcastically riffing on a viewer’s chat message rather than issuing any genuine call for violence.

Piker has described the segment as a serious distortion of his words and is treating the matter as a legal priority.

Disney CEO: We Will Stand Up To Carr

Brendan Carr and Mickey

Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro on Friday reaffirmed the company’s firm opposition to the FCC’s investigations into ABC’s broadcast licenses and “The View,” declaring the network will not be dictated to by the regulator.

“Our position on this is clear. We’re very principled on this. We’re going to stand up to what we believe is journalistic integrity. And we’re not going to be told how to run that side of our business,” D’Amaro said in a CNBC interview at Disney’s D23 Expo. 

“Our filings, I think, speak for that. I like what we do. We tell incredible stories. I think we do it well. We do it around the world. And we’re going to stay committed to that.”

ABC has accused the FCC of attempting to punish and censor the network over its journalism in violation of the First Amendment and has sought dismissal of the “untimely and unwarranted” license renewal review. 

NAB: Removing Radio Ownership Caps: All About Survival

Local radio’s ownership rules must be modernized for survival—not expansion—as stations face steeper competitive pressure than television, which just received FCC relief, according to NAB Radio Board Chair and Beasley Media Group General Counsel Chris Ornelas.

Speaking on NAB’s Airtime podcast, Ornelas said ownership modernization “really isn’t about size for size’s sake. It’s about sustainability. It’s really about survival.” 

Local broadcasters compete daily with streaming platforms, digital advertising companies, and social media giants that reach nationwide audiences free of the regulatory constraints imposed on radio.

In 1996, stations mainly competed against other broadcasters. Today they face streaming audio services, podcasts, and satellite radio.

Updated rules would free resources for local investment, Ornelas said, including expanded news and community-affairs programming, new digital platforms, streaming products, podcast initiatives, enhanced local sports and community-event coverage, and modernized studios and infrastructure.

AI To Control Most Ad Spend

Independent measurement is becoming marketers’ strongest defense as AI-powered self-serve platforms are projected to control more than 80% of U.S. ad spend by 2028, according to Gartner research.

The same automation will influence more than 70% of global ad spend by that year. 

Gartner distinguishes this “back-office” AI—which determines who sees ads, what they cost, and how they are delivered—from the generative AI tools marketers use to create content.

Gartner advises CMOs to focus investment on the platforms most critical to reaching priority audiences, maintain a limited set of additional platforms for testing, and prioritize partners that offer transparency and allow outside evaluation.

50+ Percent of Streaming Revenue To Come From Ad Plans

More than half of all subscription revenue from over-the-top streaming services will come from ad-supported tiers by the end of 2026, according to The Streamable citing new data from Ampere Analysis.

In North America, the figure will reach 54 percent, generating $45.1 billion in total revenue from ad tiers—up sharply from $30.3 billion in 2024 and $12.2 billion in 2022. 

Pure advertising revenue (excluding subscription fees) is projected at $18 billion in the region, more than one-fifth of total subscription OTT revenues.

North America accounts for nearly 60 percent of global ad-supported subscription OTT revenue, driven by higher revenue per user and stronger ad rates. Amazon’s Prime Video leads the market; the service is expected to exceed $14 billion in ad revenue in 2026 after converting its entire customer base to an ad-supported model in 2024 and later doubling its ad load.“

Advertising has become a fundamental part of streamers’ business models, changing both how success is measured and the content they commission,” said Ampere research manager Rory Gooderick. “As subscriber growth slows in mature markets, the focus has shifted towards driving engagement and habitual viewing. The challenge now is to increase monetization without compromising the premium viewing experience that these streamers have spent years cultivating.”

The six largest global streaming services have doubled their first-run and renewal commissions for unscripted titles between 2020 and 2025. The shift favors content that produces more seasons and episodes, creating additional inventory for ads.

NBA To Televise, Stream More Games

The NBA will air 14% more games on broadcast television during the 2026-27 regular season, with ABC and NBC combining for 90 games, up from 79 the previous year. 

In total, the league will feature 247 national games across ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Prime Video—matching last season’s total while rising sharply from 172 two seasons ago. The increase on over-the-air networks continues the NBA’s push for broader free-to-air exposure under its media rights deals. 

Highlights include the first opening-day national tripleheader on NBC (with streaming on Peacock), a five-game Christmas Day slate on ABC/ESPN, and a landmark Jan. 30 quadrupleheader on ABC featuring the 76ers-Heat, Nuggets-Thunder, Spurs-Warriors and Lakers-Knicks. NBC Sports will also carry four games on Presidents’ Day, including a tripleheader on NBC plus an exclusive Peacock contest. 

The schedule deliberately avoids games on Election Day (Nov. 3), with all 30 teams instead playing the day before to support voting initiatives. These national windows form part of the second season of the league’s long-term agreements with Disney (ABC/ESPN), NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock) and Amazon (Prime Video). 

Every national game will also stream on the corresponding platforms (ESPN App, Peacock or Prime Video).

CBS Star's Past Resurfaces After Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman faces a sexual harassment lawsuit from former ABC News field producer Samira Said, who alleges he made inappropriate sexual remarks during two work assignments.

Said’s suit, filed Friday, claims the incidents occurred while she worked at ABC from 2021 to 2025. In one, Gutman allegedly initiated a discussion rating a female correspondent’s appearance and reducing her to a numerical score based on physical attributes while they waited on a public line; other male crew members joined and pressured Said to participate, which she refused, calling the talk inappropriate. In the second, during coverage of a movie-release press event, Gutman allegedly made a “sexualized insinuation” in front of coworkers that Said must have an after-hours date after they disagreed about leaving the site, comments she says demeaned her and reduced her professional judgment to a stereotype.

Rock: ‘The Radio Doesn’t Play Songs for Me Anymore’

Lincoln Financial Stadium, Philadelphia

Fans camping outside Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia last week said rock music has largely vanished from the radio, even as Foo Fighters delivered a nearly three-hour set that night proving the genre still draws tens of thousands, according to a story at Variety.

“The radio doesn’t play songs for me anymore,” said Bob, 54, seated in a lawn chair in the endless parking lot with a Marlboro Red in one hand and a Budweiser in the other. He was there with his 31-year-old son Albert and a group of buddies five hours before the show. “I’m the old fart of the group, so maybe there is stuff out there. But 20, 30 years ago you could turn on the radio and hear rock music. Now I just turn on a podcast on the way to work.”

“Radio sucks!” Albert yelled nearby. “Give us some rock.”

Inside the stadium, frontman Dave Grohl opened the second song, “The Pretender,” by shouting, “Do you want some rock ’n’ roll music? I know Philadelphia loves rock ’n’ roll!” The crowd roared in one of the night’s biggest responses. Grohl ran circles around the stage, screaming, riffing and soloing through more than 30 years of Foo Fighters hits as tens of thousands sang along to all but the deepest rarities.

BBC Seeks To Subpoena Trump Kin In Defamation Lawsuit

The BBC is seeking to subpoena President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner for testimony and records in Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit, arguing the three “without question have personal knowledge” of Trump’s intentions surrounding his Jan. 6, 2021, speech.

In a Friday filing in federal court in Miami, BBC lawyers asked a judge to authorize alternative methods for serving the subpoenas, saying Secret Service protection has blocked efforts to deliver them in person. “The Third Parties have personal knowledge and likely have possession, custody, or control of records relevant to multiple elements of Plaintiff’s claims against the BBC,” the broadcaster’s lawyers wrote.

Trump sued the BBC in December over a 2024 documentary that spliced together portions of his Jan. 6 speech delivered nearly an hour apart. He alleges the edit falsely implied he “incited” or “fomented” the attack on the Capitol. The BBC has apologized for the edit but denies defamation, contending that Trump’s intent is directly relevant to whether the documentary materially misrepresented his remarks.

ESPN's SAS Calls Out Black Journalists Organization

Stephen A Smith

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith vowed Sunday to confront the National Association of Black Journalists after the group awarded him a “Thumbs Down” at its Saturday night gala in Atlanta for what it called his repeated disparagement of prominent Black women.

The ESPN host and political commentator framed the award as the start of a broader dispute. “This is the epitome of Christmas arriving early. The @NABJ wants to call folks out, fine! You had your turn, now mine is coming. And make no mistake…..,I’m coming,” Smith posted on X. He added that he had stayed silent about the organization for years but would now scrutinize its record: “Remember
@NABJ, you asked for it. I’ve shut my mouth for years. Now y’all started something.”

NABJ announced the decision during its Salute to Excellence Awards Gala at the group’s annual convention. A video of the presentation, shared by Washington Association of Black Journalists President Phil Lewis, showed the organization also presenting the award to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, CBS News, Circle City Broadcasting and WISH-TV owner DuJuan McCoy, and The Washington Post.

R.I.P.: Barry Richards, Well-Known D-C Area Radio Personality

Barry Richards (1943-2026)

Barry Richards, the legendary Washington-area radio DJ, television host and concert promoter known as “The Boss with the Hot Sauce,” died peacefully Saturday following complications from a series of strokes. He was 83.

Richards helped shape the region’s music scene by introducing progressive rock, soul and heavy metal to listeners across Montgomery County and the broader Washington, D.C., area in the late 1960s and 1970s. 

He built a reputation for playing groundbreaking music before many mainstream stations would touch it, appearing on Gaithersburg-based WHMC, Rockville’s WINX and Bethesda’s progressive rock station WHFS.

Radio History: Aug 17

➦In 1900...Quincy Howe born (Died from cancer at age 76 – February 17, 1977). He was best known for his CBS radio broadcasts during World War II.  Howe served as director of the American Civil Liberties Union before the Second World War, and as chief editor at Simon & Schuster from 1935 to 1942.

Quincy Howe

He once said that life began for him in 1939, when he began to broadcast news and commentary on WQXR radio in New York City.

Howe joined CBS in June 1942, doing the opening news summary on the radio network's The World Today newscast. He left CBS in 1947 to join ABC. In the fall of 1955, he hosted four episodes of the 26-week prime time series Medical Horizons on ABC before he was replaced in that capacity by Don Goddard.

Howe moderated the fourth and final Kennedy/Nixon debate on October 21, 1960. Howe retired from broadcasting in 1974.

➦In 1943...writer Norman Corwin’s first success debuted on CBS radio. It was Passport for Adams, starring Robert Young who played a small-town newspaper editor. Norman Corwin earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the 1930s and 1940s.

Corwin was among the first producers to regularly use entertainment—even light entertainment—to tackle serious social issues. He also wrote and produced such radio classics as This is War, An American in England and We Hold These Truths.

➦In 1963...Ed Gardner died at age 62 (Born - June 29, 1901). He is best remembered as the creator and star of the radio's popular Duffy's Tavern comedy series.

In the early 1940s, Gardner worked as a director, writer, and producer for radio programs. In 1941, he created a character for This Is New York, a program that he was producing. The character, which Gardner played, became Archie of Duffy's Tavern.

The successful radio program aired on CBS from 1941 to 1942, on the NBC Blue Network from 1942 to 1944, and on NBC from 1944 to 1951. Speaking in a nasal Brooklyn accent, and sounding like just about every working class New Yorker his creator had ever known, Gardner as Archie invariably began each week's show by answering the telephone and saying, "Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat, Archie the manager speaking, Duffy ain't here—oh, hello, Duffy."

Duffy the owner never appeared, but Archie did, with Gardner assuming the role himself after he could not find the right actor to play the role.

➦In 1969…It was the third and final day the Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel, NY.  Performing were Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Ten Years After, John Sebastian, Sha Na Na, Joe Cocker, Country Joe and the Fish, the Band, Ten Years After, Johnny Winter and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.