During FLA Rally: Trump Rips Into Fox News Channel

President Donald Trump sharply criticized Fox News on Friday for what he called disproportionate airtime given to Democrats, specifically targeting Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) as a frequent guest he labeled a “total dope” and declaring that he was “not happy” with the network’s coverage.

Speaking at a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, held to boost Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) in her reelection race against Democrat Angie Nixon and Republican gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds against Democrat David Jolly, Trump tied his complaint to his intensive campaign schedule ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections. He said he has been traveling the country for Republican candidates only to return and see their opponents featured on the network.

Trump rips Fox News: "Fox is giving Democrats more time than they give Republicans. I'm working my ass off. I'm doing rallies. And I come back and watch the opponent of the person I did the rally for." https://t.co/0xeRVFw4vW

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 31, 2026

“I watched this total dope — Ro Khanna — Fox puts him on all the time,” Trump told the crowd. “You know, Fox is giving Democrats more time than they give Republicans. I don’t know what the hell’s—” He continued, “I’m working my a** off. I’m doing rallies, and I come back, and I watch the opponent of the person I did the rally for. I’m not happy.”

Earlier Friday, Khanna had appeared on Fox & Friends with co-host Ainsley Earhardt. The two discussed the war in Iran, potential impeachment proceedings against Trump, progressive policy priorities, and allegations involving Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). The exchange stayed cordial; Khanna opened by congratulating Earhardt on her recent marriage to fellow Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Buck-Aikman: It's Not Only About The Money

Troy Aikman’s personality and clashes with Joe Buck, not only money, are driving tensions that could end their Monday Night Football partnership, according to a Friday report by The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.

ESPN executives have observed friction between the longtime duo over the past four years. Aikman, described as aloof and verbally abusive toward staff, has contributed to the turnover of five producers and directors before the current team of Steve Ackles and Artie Kempner settled in. Sources said Aikman’s demands for specific replays created untenable conditions for the production crew.

The strain surfaced in a heated argument before the Oct. 12 Bills-Rams game. Aikman, who believed Buck was behind the frequent staff changes, told him, “I just never thought you’d do it to me.” Buck replied, “They got rid of them because you were screaming at them,” Front Office Sports reported.

Contract disparities have compounded the issues. Buck recently signed a six-year, $108 million deal. Aikman’s five-year, $90 million contract with ESPN/ABC/Disney, signed in 2022, expires after the Super Bowl broadcast on Feb. 14, 2027. Aikman sought $30 million annually, citing Tom Brady’s $37.5 million Fox deal, but ESPN rejected it. He later requested an 18 percent raise matching Buck’s, which would have amounted to roughly $127.5 million over six years. ESPN has deferred further talks until after the Super Bowl.

Aikman signed his original MNF deal without confirmation that Buck, his Fox Sports booth partner of 20 years, would join him.

The Time Has Come: Daylight Shifts

Millions of Americans will turn their clocks back one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, as daylight saving time ends for 2026. The change returns most of the country to standard time and gives people an extra hour overnight.

The shift moves daylight earlier in the morning and brings sunset earlier in the evening. In Boston, for example, sunrise is expected at 6:17 a.m. Sunday, compared with 7:16 a.m. Saturday; sunset will be at 4:37 p.m., down from 5:39 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Daylight saving time runs from March to early November, when clocks are set one hour ahead of standard time. The United States first adopted the practice in 1918 during World War I, partly to conserve fuel. Congress later repealed the nationwide switch but allowed states to continue observing it. A uniform schedule was established in 1966.

Boston Radio: Cumulus Brings ZoneCasting™ to 104.5 XLO

• Among the First U.S. Radio Stations to Adopt the Technology
• 104.5 XLO Will Offer Advertisers New Geographic Targeting Capabilities

Cumulus Media today announced plans to introduce ZoneCasting™ technology on Boston's 104.5 XLO (WXLO-FM) in partnership with Aktira, positioning the station among the first in the country to offer advertisers the ability to deliver different commercials simultaneously to listeners in distinct geographic areas within the same radio market. 

The technology is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2027.

Unlike traditional FM broadcasting, where all listeners hear the same commercial regardless of location, ZoneCasting™ will allow 104.5 XLO to deliver geographically targeted advertising to listeners in a designated zone east of Route 128, while audiences outside that zone continue to receive the station's primary broadcast. This gives advertisers greater flexibility to reach consumers in specific areas of Greater Boston without sacrificing the broad reach and impact of FM radio.

For local, regional and national businesses, the technology opens new opportunities to deliver messages that are more relevant to where consumers live, work, shop, and travel. 

A retailer, for example, could promote a location or offer specifically to listeners east of Route 128 while a different commercial airs at the same time elsewhere. The initiative also complements Cumulus Media's use of Xperi's DTS AutoStage platform, which provides near-real-time insights into in-car radio listening. Together, these technologies create new opportunities for advertisers to better understand where audiences are listening and deliver more relevant messages to consumers throughout the market.

Manosphere Influencers Step Away From Politics

Joe Rogan helped define 2024 as the “podcast election.” But two years later, some of its biggest players have receded from politics or soured on President Donald Trump.

Manosphere influencers including Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Andrew Tate, and Joe Rogan have lost substantial approval among young men, according to new polling, reflecting broader disillusionment among the group.

Data from the Speaking With American Men Project (SAM), published by Puck and based on tracking of 2,000 young American men aged 16 to 29, shows Joe Rogan down 11 points to 42% approval, Elon Musk down 14 points to 37%, and Tucker Carlson down 8 points to 24%. Andrew Tate, arrested this year on sexual assault allegations, holds a -30 approval rating among the same cohort. The figures mark a notable contraction for figures long associated with large young male audiences.

The declines are part of a wider pattern in which many young people’s political views appear more reactive than principled. Disillusioned young men of various political leanings have sought influencers who acknowledged their concerns without condescension, ranging from figures on the far left such as Hasan Piker to those on the far right such as Nick Fuentes. These voices offered a consistent message of recognition and potential solutions.

Comcast Cuts 634 Jobs At HQs As 'Transitioning' Commences

Comcast is cutting 634 jobs at its Philadelphia headquarters as part of a companywide restructuring aimed at reducing costs and accelerating investment in artificial intelligence. The layoffs are scheduled to begin Dec. 31, and the company has started notifying affected employees.

The company also reported cuts of 119 jobs in New Jersey, 159 in Washington state and 82 in California. At the same time, Comcast plans to hire for more than 1,100 positions, including more than 500 in Philadelphia, according to notices filed with regulators.

Comcast said the changes are intended to make the company more agile, improve customer service and strengthen its ability to compete. The company employs about 179,000 people worldwide, including 15,000 in the Philadelphia area.

The layoffs have affected workers in roles ranging from engineering and product management to information technology and business analysis. Some employees described a tense atmosphere at the company’s Center City headquarters, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Appeals Court Upholds That NFL Overcharged For Sunday Ticket

A federal appeals court on Friday reinstated a jury’s finding that the NFL overcharged Sunday Ticket subscribers in violation of antitrust law and ordered a new trial on damages, overturning a lower court judge who had thrown out a $4.7 billion verdict.⁠

Reuters reports the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez erred in 2024 by excluding key expert testimony from the plaintiffs and granting judgment as a matter of law to the NFL after a Los Angeles jury trial. The three-judge panel held that the jury’s liability verdict should stand because “a jury verdict must stand unless it is clearly not supported by the evidence,” but it affirmed the judge’s separate conclusion that the damages award was improper.⁠

In June 2024, the jury awarded roughly $4.6 billion to about 2.4 million residential subscribers and $96.9 million to roughly 48,000 commercial subscribers such as bars and restaurants. Those damages covered DirecTV Sunday Ticket packages of out-of-market NFL games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons. Under federal antitrust law, successful damages awards are automatically trebled, which would have pushed the total near $14 billion.

NFL On TV: Here's Why CBS and Fox Alternate Sunday Doubleheaders

CBS and Fox take turns airing Sunday afternoon doubleheaders to balance NFL coverage across local markets. League rules limit each network to no more than two games in a market on a given Sunday, so one network typically carries two games while the other broadcasts one. The following week, the arrangement usually switches.

Since 1998, CBS has generally carried games featuring an AFC road team, while Fox has typically shown games featuring an NFC road team. But the NFL’s 2014 television agreements introduced “cross-flexing,” which lets the league move games between the networks regardless of conference. That flexibility helps balance early-afternoon matchups and place more appealing games in the 4:25 p.m. national window.

Class Action Suit Showcases Beef With McDonald's

A federal judge ruled Friday that McDonald’s must face parts of a proposed class action alleging that the company misled customers about the meat in its McRib sandwich.

U.S. District Judge April Perry allowed consumer deception, fraud, and unjust enrichment claims to proceed while dismissing five other claims without prejudice. The ruling does not determine that McDonald’s engaged in deceptive advertising.

Atlanta Radio: Bert Weiss Launches Two Podcasts

Former “The Bert Show” hosts Bert Weiss and Kristin Klingshirn are moving into podcasting, launching separate programs through digital media company Pionaire. Weiss’s travel show, “Trip Happens with Bert Weiss and Amanda Weiss,” debuted Oct. 29, while Klingshirn’s daily talk show, “Barely Functioning with Kristin Klingshirn,” is set to launch Monday, Nov. 2.

R.I.P.: Jerome 'YoJ' Ronquillo, Former KRBE Personality

Jerome “YoJ” Ronquillo, a longtime Houston radio personality and KRBE production director, died Thursday at 57. The station announced his death Friday but did not disclose a cause.

Ronquillo joined 104.1 KRBE in 1994 and spent more than three decades at the station, working in several roles. His voice reached Houston listeners through on-air shifts, club broadcasts and commercials. KRBE described him as “one of the most spectacular, charismatic, and hilarious people that walked our radio station hallways.”

Radio History: Oct 31

➦In 1912...actress & singing cowgirl Dale Evans was born as Lucille Wood Smith in Uvalde, TX (Died of congestive heart failure at age 88 – February 7, 2001) She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers.

She had a tumultuous early life. Her name was changed to Frances Octavia Smith while she was still an infant. She spent a lot of time living with her uncle, Dr. L.D. Massey, a general practice physician, in Osceola, Arkansas. At age 14, she eloped with and married Thomas F. Fox, with whom she had one son, Thomas F. Fox Jr., when she was 15. A year later, abandoned by her husband, she found herself in Memphis, Tennessee, a single parent, pursuing a career in music. She landed a job with local radio stations (WMC and WREC), singing and playing piano. Divorced in 1929, she took the name Dale Evans in the early 1930s to promote her singing career.

➦In 1942..."White Christmas" by Bing Crosby hit No. 1 on the pop singles chart for the first time.

➦In 1942...CBS radio debuted 'Thanks To The Yanks', a wartime themed game show starring Bob Hawk, the quizmaster who had introduced Take it Or Leave It to radio, the original $64 Question show.

➦In 1963...The Beatles returned to London from Sweden to be greeted by hundreds of screaming fans and a mob of photographers. Ed Sullivan happened to be at Heathrow, and was struck by the sight of Beatlemania in full swing. This was the day he determined to have the Fab Four appear on his Sunday night CBS TV variety show, thus introducing The Beatles to North America.

➦In 1968..'The War of the Worlds' was a radio drama, was aired by Buffalo, New York radio station Top40 WKBW 1520 AM.

It was a modernized version of the original radio drama aired by CBS in 1938.

WKBW program director Jefferson Kaye (d. 2012), a big fan of the original Orson Welles version from three decades earlier, wondered what The War of the Worlds would sound like if it was made using up-to-date (for 1968) radio news equipment, covering the "story" of a Martian invasion. Up until this point, most radio renditions of the 1938 broadcast were simply script re-readings with different actors or had minor variations to account for significantly different geographical locations. Kaye decided to disregard the original script entirely, move the action to Grand Island, New York, and use actual WKBW disc jockeys and news reporters as actors.

Bari Weiss Downplays Concerns Over Weak 60 Minutes Ratings

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss addressed the network’s ratings performance during her tenure in remarks at an industry conference on Wednesday, stating that she does not prioritize precise viewership figures for individual 60 Minutes segments.

Speaking at an event organized by the tech publication The Information, which did not offer press credentials, Weiss said, “I could never build anything if I were focused on the precise number of people that happen to tune in to the second feature on 60 Minutes on a given Sunday.” She described the program as doing “tremendously well” overall.

Carr, Gomez Clash Over FCC Warning To Broadcasters

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said his warning about “fake” election polls targets fabricated surveys, not good-faith reporting. Commissioner Anna Gomez countered that airing a poll—even one later shown to be fabricated—does not, by itself, meet the legal standards for news distortion or a broadcast hoax.

Asked whether there was evidence that broadcasters had aired the polls Carr cited, he said he did not know. He also said he was unaware of an FCC investigation, but urged the public to file complaints. Carr named polling outlets he alleged were inventing results, saying politicians in both parties had complained that the polls harmed their fundraising and campaigns.