Radio Broadcasting
FCC Ends Payola Probe: iHeartMedia has agreed to overhaul its sponsorship disclosure practices following a U.S. senator’s complaint about alleged payola-style arrangements in which radio airplay was allegedly traded for free artist performances at company events.
Reach Is Radio's Thing: AM/FM radio reaches 87% of U.S. adults every week, giving advertisers the broadest, most consistent audience of any major media platform, according to Nielsen Audience Insights.
Towers Dilemma: More than six months after Radio One moved WBT’s news-talk programming from its legacy 1110 AM frequency to 107.9 FM, the future of the Carolinas’ first commercial radio station is still unclear.
Media Industry
Strong Primetime Ratings: FOX News Channel (FNC) ended the week of June 29th with 2.5 million weekday primetime viewers and 224,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, dominating ABC (2.2 million viewers), NBC (2.2 million viewers) and CBS (1.9 million viewers) according to Nielsen Media Research Big Data + Panel.
ABC's WNT No 1: For the 12th straight week, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.128 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of June 29, 2026.
Going Live? Netflix is discussing the addition of live channels that continuously stream specific programs or genres, as well as bundling other subscription services like NBCUniversal’s Peacock into its app, according to people familiar with the matter.
U-S News
Accused Killer Expressed Regret: The man charged in the killing of Charlie Kirk told his former roommate that he wished “he hadn’t done it,” according to taped testimony from the roommate played in court on Thursday. Lance Twiggs, the former roommate and romantic partner of Tyler Robinson, told investigators in a recorded interview that he spoke with Robinson in person the day after Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University.
Trump A Target: Israel shared new intelligence with the U.S. that it said indicated a fresh Iranian plan to kill President Trump, people familiar with the matter said, a finding that would mark an escalation in the war between Washington and Iran. Iran for years has vowed openly to retaliate against Trump for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, who was a top general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in the president’s first term.
Pump Pain: The White House launched 25 Freedom Fuel gas stations, all selling fuel at $3.47 a gallon. The White House announced the initiative July 7 on X with a video of customers thanking President Donald Trump for lowering gas prices. The stations are located in the greater Philadelphia area