Rocky Allen, the irreverent and high-energy host best known for “The Rocky Allen Showgram” on WPLJ-FM (95.5) in New York City, died on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at the age of 71 following a more than year-long battle with colon cancer.
Allen built a colorful, multi-decade career that spanned major and mid-sized markets, but he became a New York radio legend for his afternoon drive show that blended Top 40 music, celebrity interviews, comedy sketches, pranks, and audience interaction. Longtime co-host and producer Blain Ensley was a key partner in the “Showgram,” helping create a morning-show energy in the afternoon slot.
NPR is rolling out a new formula for calculating public radio station membership dues that takes effect Oct. 1. The updated model shifts from donor revenue to broadcast reach for news stations and includes tiered collaboration options that let stations reduce their payments by as much as 20%.
NPR projects the change will cut its dues revenue by 15% to 18% compared with the current fiscal year, COO Ryan Merkley told Current. The expected shortfall was cited as one factor behind NPR’s workforce reduction announced May 27.
Nearly 60% of stations will pay lower dues even if they choose not to participate in any collaboration tiers, Merkley said. Stations that opt into collaboration agreements can receive 15% or 20% discounts depending on the level of partnership with NPR.
NBC News’ TODAY was the #1 morning show across the board in May 2026, ranking #1 in total viewers for the sixth consecutive month and in eight of the last nine months, marking its best total viewer winning streak since June 2012.
TODAY averaged 2.998 million total viewers in May, outperforming ABC’s Good Morning America by +188,000 viewers (+7%) and leading CBS Mornings by +1.192 million viewers (+66%). The program posted its highest May viewership in five years, recorded its first May total viewer victory over GMA in 14 years, and delivered its largest May advantage over CBS in 12 years.
Compared to May 2025, TODAY posted the largest year-over-year total viewer growth among the broadcast morning shows, adding +254,000 viewers (+9%), while widening its lead over CBS by 61%. The program has now posted four consecutive months of year-over-year growth in total viewers, A25-54 and A18-49.
President Donald Trump will sit down with NBC News’ Kristen Welker for a Sunday show exclusive interview airing on Meet the Press with Kristen Welker this Sunday, June 7.
Highlights from the interview, which will take place on Friday, June 5, will be released prior to Sunday’s Meet the Press on NBC News, NBC News NOW and NBCNews.com, all available on the NBC News app. The full video interview and transcript will publish on NBCNews.com this Sunday, June 7.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday significantly reinforced the FCC’s ability to issue civil forfeitures without a jury trial, ruling 8-1 that the agency’s process does not violate the Seventh Amendment.
In doing so, however, the Court emphasized that FCC forfeiture orders do not create definitive legal obligations to pay and that the agency’s factual findings are not conclusive in court — a point that undercuts the binding weight regulators have historically placed on such penalties.
The decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts in the consolidated cases FCC v. AT&T and a related Verizon matter, reverses a Fifth Circuit ruling and sides with the FCC. It allows the agency to continue issuing multimillion-dollar forfeitures — including nearly $200 million combined against AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile for alleged customer data privacy violations — through its administrative proceedings.
RIP: Rocky Allen, the irreverent and high-energy host best known for “The Rocky Allen Showgram” on WPLJ-FM (95.5) in New York City, died on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at the age of 71 following a more than year-long battle with colon cancer.
NPR Shifting Dues Formula: NPR is rolling out a new formula for calculating public radio station membership dues that takes effect Oct. 1. The updated model shifts from donor revenue to broadcast reach for news stations and includes tiered collaboration options that let stations reduce their payments by as much as 20%.
SCOTUS Validates FCC: The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday significantly reinforced the FCC’s ability to issue civil forfeitures without a jury trial, ruling 8-1 that the agency’s process does not violate the Seventh Amendment.
CBS News on Thursday firmly denied a circulating rumor that Bari Weiss is facilitating Joe Rogan’s entry into the iconic “60 Minutes” program, calling the report “False.”
A network spokesperson delivered the unequivocal denial to TheWrap as the story gained momentum online. The rumor originated from a March article on the gossip site RadarOnline and resurfaced Thursday after the Austin American-Statesman published a speculative piece titled “Could Joe Rogan replace Anderson Cooper on ‘60 Minutes’?
Observers described the newspaper’s coverage as possible wish-casting for the Austin-based podcast host. The story quickly spread on X (formerly Twitter), sparking reactions across the political spectrum.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has declined an invitation to testify at a June 10 House Judiciary Committee hearing examining the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 and its impact on today’s media market for major leagues. Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) had requested Goodell’s appearance earlier this week.
In a letter sent Wednesday, June 3, NFL General Counsel Ted Ullyot informed Jordan that Goodell will not attend “due to ongoing litigation related to the topic of the hearing.”
The NFL defended its current media strategy in the letter, stating that 87% of all games in the upcoming 2026 season will air on free-to-air broadcast television. Even for games with national streaming rights on platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, or Netflix, local broadcast stations in each team’s home Designated Market Area (DMA) will carry the matchup. The league noted this arrangement also applied throughout the 2025 season.
Country music icon Garth Brooks is actively considering the sale of his entire music catalog — including both songwriting rights and recordings — with an asking price of roughly $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the potential deal would rank among the largest ever for a single artist’s catalog. Brooks, one of the best-selling recording artists in history, has been exploring a transaction for several years and recently signaled to investors that he is among the few superstars of his stature who has not yet sold, one person familiar with the discussions said. He has floated a valuation ranging from the high $1 billion range to more than $2 billion.
Edison Research at SSRS released The Podcast Consumer 2026, its annual in-depth study of the U.S. podcast audience. The findings point to a medium at an inflection point: for the first time, as many weekly podcast consumers are watching as are listening to podcasts.
The report also covers how much time the audience spends with audio, what content they are choosing, and how podcasts influence their behavior.
The show reflects Entravision's commitment to innovation, exploring how emerging technologies can enhance creativity, expand storytelling, and create new ways to inform, entertain, and connect with the communities it serves. Al Aire y Sin Permiso is where innovation meets cultura.
This Was SportsCenter: Stories from the Set vodcast debuts Friday, June 5 across Disney+, ESPN App and major podcast platforms
Hosted and produced by Rich Eisen, the six-episode series brings together legendary SportsCenter anchors and personalities from across the show’s history
ESPN Thursday announced This Was SportsCenter: Stories from the Set, a new ESPN video podcast hosted and produced by Rich Eisen, premieres Friday, June 5. The highly anticipated six-episode first season takes fans behind the scenes of the iconic SportsCenter set and newsroom during the late 1990s and early 2000s, featuring firsthand stories and memories from many of the personalities who helped define the show’s cultural impact.
➦In 1910...Radio, TV character actor Herb Vigran was born in Cincinnati.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1939, and with his unique voice was frequently cast in scores of network radio dramas and variety shows, performing with the likes of Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball and Jimmy Durante.
He appeared in more than 350 TV shows and big screen films, most notably in Dragnet, Gunsmoke and I Love Lucy.
He died of complications from cancer Nov. 29 1986 at age 76.
➦In 1956...Elvis Presley appeared on The Milton Berle Show, causing a national uproar with his hip-swiveling performance of "Hound Dog. When Presley appeared next on Ed Sullivan’s show on CBS TV, he was pictured only from the waist up.
➦In 1973…following news that the American Red Cross had run out of money as a result of aid efforts for recent natural disasters, Gordon Sinclair of CFRB in Toronto recorded what would become his most famous radio editorial, "The Americans." While paying tribute to American success, ingenuity, and generosity to people in need abroad, Sinclair decried that when America faced crisis itself, it often seemed to face that crisis alone.
At the time, Sinclair considered the piece to be nothing more than one of his usual items. But when U.S. News & World Report published a full transcript, the magazine was flooded with requests for copies. Radio station WWDC-AM in Washington, D.C., started playing a recording of Sinclair's commentary with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" playing in the background. Sinclair told the Star in November 1973 that he had received 8,000 letters about his commentary.
With the strong response generated by the editorial, a recording of Sinclair's commentary was sold as a single with all profits going to the American Red Cross. "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" went to No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, making the 73-year-old Sinclair the second-oldest living person ever to have a Billboard U.S. Top 40 hit.
A transcript of the commentary was also recorded by Byron MacGregor, news director of Windsor, Ontario, radio station CKLW-AM Windsor-Detroit, and it became an even bigger hit in the U.S., climbing to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sinclair was said to be annoyed by MacGregor's recording, which was released as a single before Sinclair's authorized version.
➦In 1977…DJ Charlie Van Dyke did his last show on 93KHJ, Los Angeles.
➦In 1982…DJ Cousin Brucie returned to New York City Radio on WCBS 101.1 FM.
CBS News has fired longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley after he publicly assailed network leadership, breaking a “foundation” of trust, Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss told the newsroom Wednesday morning.
Weiss said the decision followed an explosive staff meeting on Monday in which Pelley accused her of “murdering ‘60 Minutes’” and declared that Nick Bilton, the tech journalist hired to run the program, would “never be welcome.”
“I’m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect,” Weiss said on a 9 a.m. editorial call, according to a recording obtained by The NYTimes. “That foundation was broken on Monday.”
Weiss, Pelley
“Despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways,” she added. “We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he chose.”
Pelley was informed of his termination Tuesday evening. CBS News has not issued an official statement on the firing.
In a statement Wednesday, Pelley pushed back against Weiss’s version of events, saying there was “no effort of any kind to ‘find a way back.’”He met Tuesday with Weiss, Bilton, and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski. Pelley described the meeting as hostile and said the network showed little interest in addressing his concerns about the future of “60 Minutes.”
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