Gomez Urges Broadcasters To Be More Aggressive With FCC

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez on Friday urged the broadcast industry to take a far more aggressive stance in confronting the Trump administration’s actions against major U.S. networks and stations.

Gomez, the Federal Communications Commission’s sole Democratic member, specifically called on the National Association of Broadcasters to push back against the administration’s multipronged efforts to challenge broadcasters. She highlighted a series of recent moves, including a warning from FCC Chair Brendan Carr that networks could violate their regulatory obligations by airing “entirely fake polls” ahead of the November 3 election.

The commissioner framed the administration’s approach as an escalating threat to independent journalism and the traditional role of licensed broadcasters. She argued that industry leaders should not wait for further regulatory or political pressure before responding, and instead should coordinate a stronger defense of newsrooms and station owners.

Study: Podcaster Listeners Are Engaged Radio Listeners First

Radio stations already reach many of podcasting’s most engaged listeners, according to findings from The Podcast Study 2026 presented in the series’ final webinar on Tuesday, October 20.⁠

Strategic Solutions Research and Point-To-Point Marketing hosted the free session, “What Radio Can Learn from The Podcast Study,” drawing on a national survey of 1,205 U.S. podcast consumers ages 18–54. The webinar examined what the research reveals for radio leaders about talent, advertising, audience development, and the overlap between radio and podcast audiences.⁠

Among the findings: 74 percent of podcast consumers listen to local radio weekly or more (46 percent daily). Among radio listeners with a favorite podcast, 81 percent say the host is a big part or the only reason they listen. Superfans and Prime Prospects—podcasting’s highest-value segments—also show strong radio use, with 79 percent and 82 percent, respectively, listening weekly or more. Daily radio listeners are more likely to be influenced by host-read ads and more open to host interaction, VIP clubs, and related offerings.⁠

Edison Research Is Out With Top 50 Podcast List

Edison Research at SSRS announces the Top 50 Podcasts in the U.S. from Edison Podcast Metrics™ based on reach for the third quarter of 2026 among weekly podcast consumers ages 13+.

The Joe Rogan Experience, Crime Junkie, and The Daily top the list, as they did in Q2 2026. The full list of Top 50 podcasts is below.

1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. Crime Junkie
3. The Daily
4. Call Her Daddy
5. Smartless
6. New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce (+1 rank position since Q2 2026)
7. This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von (+1 rank position since Q2 2026)
8. Dateline NBC (-2 rank positions since Q2 2026)
9. Rotten Mango (+4 rank position since Q2 2026)
10. The Breakfast Club (+1 rank position since Q2 2026)

Fox News Unveils Extensive Midterm Coverage Plans

• Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum to Co-Anchor “FOX News Democracy 26” November 3rd
• FOX News Channel to Unveil Enhanced Augmented Reality and Data-Driven Graphics
• FOX News App Debuts AI-Powered Election Chatbot, Interactive Maps
• Ruthless to Bring Its Signature Insider Take FOX Nation and FOX News Digital

FOX News Media will provide special multiplatform coverage of the 2026 midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3rd and throughout the surrounding days. Beginning at 6 PM/ET, FOX News Channel (FNC) will kick off November 3rd’s election night coverage with FOX News Democracy 26, co-anchored by Bret Baier, chief political anchor and executive editor of Special Report, and Martha MacCallum, anchor and executive editor of The Story.

Atlanta Radio: The Mega Morning Show Launches On Star 94

Star 94 launched “The Bret Mega Show” this week, its ninth morning-show lineup since early 2008. Audacy vice president of programming JR Ammons, who oversees stations in Houston, Atlanta and other markets, made the change by dropping hosts Kevin Avery and Taylor Scott earlier this year, shortly after assuming oversight of the station. The previous duo had been on Star for less than a year after 25 years at the now-defunct Christian station Fish 104.7.

Ammons, who declined to comment to Rodney Ho at AJC, previously worked with Mega in St. Louis and brought him to Atlanta along with co-host Anna Bohlmann. Ammons has long ties to Star 94: he served as assistant program director and music director from 1995 to 2006 during the Steve & Vikki era and returned as program director from 2008 to 2011.

“I am a little surprised they cut Kevin & Taylor,” said Mark Owens, who was part of the Star morning show in 2019 and 2020 with Jenn Hobby. “Established names. Built-in audience. Good people. But I wish the new show lots of success. Radio needs more live and local personalities.”

Many Afffiliates Annoyed with ABC's Plans for Super Bowl

ABC affiliates are angered by Disney’s plan to air this year’s Super Bowl on Disney+, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPNU in addition to ABC and ESPN, a move that could reduce related ad revenue by up to 35%, according to a station group CEO speaking anonymously.

Disney holds the rights under its 2021 NFL deal; ABC last broadcast the game in 2006.

The Super Bowl is a major revenue driver for ABC affiliates. While Disney owns some stations, most belong to groups such as Sinclair, Nexstar and Tegna. Roughly 3% of a typical local affiliate’s annual advertising revenue comes from the game when it airs on the station, a figure that can be substantially higher for large-market owned-and-operated outlets, which have generated about $10 million in Super Bowl advertising revenue, according to people familiar with the matter.

Manning Media Expands With Acquisition of Three Stations

Manning Media expands regional radio footprint with $700,000 acquisition of three VerStandig stations

Manning Media has purchased three additional radio stations from VerStandig Media for $700,000, bringing its total to eight stations across the Frederick, Hagerstown, Martinsburg, and Chambersburg, Pa., markets and strengthening its presence in the Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia region.

The newly acquired stations are 101.5 WAYZ, 92.1 BOB Rocks, and 100.9 NEXT. Combined with Manning’s existing holdings—Key 103, 106.9 The Eagle, Fred fm, 106.3 WARK, and 93.5 MAX Country—the expanded group now reaches an estimated 281,800 people.

Comscore Launches Monthly Ad Exposure Report

August Ad Exposure

Streaming now reaches nearly half of US adults with ads, yet accounts for only 22% of television ad exposure—barely half the share of broadcast.

Comscore’s new monthly Score Report, launched this week, quantifies that gap for the first time by tracking the percentage of total TV Ad Exposure Time across platforms rather than relying on traditional viewership figures. The inaugural August edition shows broadcast platforms still commanding 43.2% of ad exposure time, cable 34.5%, and streaming just 22.3%.

Ronn Owens Daughter Gets Jail For False Pregnancy Scam

Former KGO Talker Ronn Owens and Daughter

Laura Owens, daughter of Bay Area radio legend Ronn Owens, was sentenced Friday to 30 days in jail and up to seven years of supervised probation for four felony convictions related to false claims that she became pregnant with twins by two men, including former “Bachelor” star Clayton Echard.

The Mercury News reports Maricopa County Judge Jeffrey Rueter imposed the sentence in Arizona after a hearing in which prosecutors sought prison time. Owens, 36, pleaded guilty in August to perjury, identity theft of an ultrasound, and two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices. She originally faced 14 felony counts; the plea carried a possible sentence of up to 12.5 years.

In Court

Echard called her calculating and manipulative and urged jail time to prevent other victims. Prosecutor Ed Leiter said investigators found at least four men over a decade against whom she made false pregnancy claims, and that she made “a mockery” of the courts through lengthy litigation. Rueter said he viewed her not as a sophisticated schemer but as someone whose “poorly thought-out, attention-seeking behavior” stemmed from mental health issues.

Owens tearfully apologized for the pain and expense she caused and said she was “terrified of jail.” Her father, speaking from a wheelchair, pleaded for leniency, citing his Parkinson’s disease, cancer, and limited time left. Owens has said she was his primary caregiver.

Prosecutors described how she sent falsified medical evidence and stolen ultrasound images to convince the Arizona men she was pregnant, then claimed miscarriage or abortion. Her claims against Echard, which began after a single 2023 date, drew national attention, “Bachelor” fan interest, and became the subject of the podcast “Love Trapped.” The criminal case followed a family court judge’s referral after her 2024 paternity trial, citing lack of good faith and serial fabrications.

R.I.P.: Dan Davis, Longtime ESPN Radio Host

Legendary ESPN Radio broadcaster Dan Davis, a founding voice of the network known as “The Duke,” has died at 84, ESPN announced Wednesday.

Davis joined ESPN Radio at its launch in January 1992 as a host and update reporter and remained a fixture until his retirement in 2011. ESPN Public Relations confirmed the news on X, calling him an ESPN Radio founding member.

Over a career that began with high school football play-by-play, Davis called college football and basketball games and covered major events including the Masters, the U.S. Open, the Super Bowl, and the Final Four. One of his most celebrated calls was Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary pass that lifted Boston College over Miami in 1984. From 1999 until his retirement he served as ESPN Radio’s SportsCenter update reporter.

Colleagues praised his consistency and professionalism. Longtime ESPN personality Mike Tirico said Davis “has been the great constant of ESPN Radio” and “the best update man sports radio has ever known,” adding that “someone will work his shift, but no one will replace ‘The Duke.’” Scott Van Pelt called him “a professional, first and foremost, but beyond that, a great role model” and a friend whose voice he would deeply miss.

Radio History: Oct 24

➦In 1861…The transcontinental telegraph line across the United States was first completed.

Rudy Vallee

➦In 1929...one of radio’s first “really big shows” The Fleishmann Hour starring Rudy Vallee was broadcast for the first time over NBC radio. Actually, the Rudy Vallee show had several different titles over the years, all of which were referred to by the public as The Rudy Vallee Show. Megaphone-totin’ Rudy and his Connecticut Yankees band were mainstays on radio into the late 1940s.

➦In 1930...Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson Jr. born (Died – February 3, 1959). He was known as The Big Bopper, he was a musician, songwriter, and disc jockey. His best known compositions include "Chantilly Lace" and "White Lightning", the latter of which became George Jones' first number-one hit in 1959. 

He was killed in a plane crash in Iowa in 1959, along with fellow musicians Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens and the pilot Roger Peterson. The accident was famously referred to as "The Day the Music Died" in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie".

Richardson worked part-time at Beaumont, Texas radio station KTRM (now Gospel KZZB). He was hired by the station full-time in 1949 and quit college. He soon was promoted to supervisor of announcers at KTRM.

In March 1955 he was drafted into the United States Army and did his basic training at Fort Ord, California. He spent the rest of his two-year service as a radar instructor at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

Richardson returned to KTRM radio following his discharge as a corporal in March 1957, where he held down the "Dishwashers' Serenade" shift from 11 am to 12:30 pm, Monday through Friday. One of the station's sponsors wanted Richardson for a new time slot, and suggested an idea for a show. Richardson had seen college students doing a dance called The Bop, and he decided to call himself "The Big Bopper". His new radio show ran from 3:00 to 6:00 pm, and he soon became the station's program director.

YouTube TV Viewing Hits Record

Television viewing cooled in August after a two-month World Cup-driven surge, according to Nielsen’s August 2026 Gauge and Media Distributor Gauge reports. Total TV usage fell 4.4%, reflecting the quiet period between the end of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in July and the start of the football season, along with the usual back-to-school drop among kids and teens. Although time spent declined across every Gauge category from July to August, both cable and streaming still gained share, reaching 18.9% and 49.6% of television, respectively.

Streaming usage was down 3.2% month-over-month, but the drop was smaller than the overall TV decline, so the category picked up 0.6 share points. YouTube crossed a critical threshold in August as the social video platform captured more than 15 percent of time spent with television in American households. YouTube stood out by setting a platform record at 15.8% of TV as its viewing rose 6%. While viewing among 6- to 17-year-olds faced back-to-school pressure, YouTube saw a 9% increase among adults 50 and older. Disney Streaming and Paramount Streaming each gained 0.1 share point, finishing at 4.8% and 2.3% of TV. Peacock slipped to 1.6% (−1.0 point) after Telemundo’s World Cup coverage and the latest season of Love Island USA ended in July, though it was still up 0.2 points from August 2025.