Industry News

TALKERS News Notes

PodcastOne acquires the exclusive sales and distribution rights to “Camp Counselors with Zachariah Porter and Jonathan Carson.” The podcast first launched in 2022 and has released nearly 100 episodes to date. PodcastOne president and co-founder Kit Gray says, “We’re thrilled to welcome ‘Camp Counselors with Zachariah Porter and Jonathan Carson’ to our network at PodcastOne. Zachariah and Jonathan have created a great comedic podcast, and we’re looking forward to putting our considerable marketing and ad sales strength behind the show to grow its listenership and revenue potential.”

Multimedia sports platform OutKick says January data from Comscore credits it with 7.1 million total multiplatform unique visitors, up 22% versus December 2023. It also delivered 33 million total multiplatform views in January 2024, up 29% versus December 23, and saw 33 million total multiplatform minutes, up 27% versus the prior month. OutKick founder Clay Travis says, “We kick off the year once again with numbers that not only speak to the platform’s growth but our commitment to providing engaging content to our audience. OutKick is the only destination for common-sense reporting with talent that’s unafraid to speak their minds on any topic. I’m looking forward to an exciting year and continuing to drive the conversation.”

Industry News

FOX News Digital Leads News Set in Multiplatform Views and Minutes

FOX News Digital reports that, according to data from Comscore, it finished January continuing its streak as the top news brand with both multiplatform views and minutes. FOX News Digital closed outim the month reaching 3.27 billion total multiplatform minutes, compared to CNN.com’s 1.85 billion, and NYTimes.com’s 1.59 billion. FOX News Media attracted 1.66 billion total multiplatform views, compared to NYTimes.com’s 1.49 billion, and CNN.com’s 1.17 billion. When it comes to total digital unique visitors – similar to radio’s cume – CNN.com still holds the lead with 112.7 million. But FOX News Digital (109.7 million) has gradually been gaining ground on CNN.

Industry News

FOX News Digital Sees Multiplatform Gains in 2023

FOX News Digital reports that it finished 2023 “as the top-performing news brand with multiplatformim views and minutes, according to data from Comscore. FOX News Digital accrued 20.2 billion multiplatform views (up 9% versus 2022) and multiplatform minutes reached 36.9 billion (up 6% over 2022). FOX topped competitors CNN.com and NYTimes.com in both of those metrics. Importantly, in the multiplatform unique visitors – comparable to radio’s cume – FOX achieved 93.6 million, an increase of 13% over its 2022 total, while news brand leader CNN.com racked up 121 million, a decline of 3% compared to 2022.

Industry News

FOX News Digital Leads November in Multiplatform Views and Minutes

FOX News Digital reports that it finishes November continuing its streak as the top news brand in multiplatform views and minutes, according to data from Comscore. FOX News Digital closes outim November reaching 2.9 billion total multiplatform minutes, compared to CNN.com’s 1.9 billion and NYTimes.com’s 1.5 billion. FOX News Digital achieved 1.7 billion total multiplatform views, compared to NYTimes.com’s 1.4 billion and CNN.com’s 1.3 billion. Looking at multiplatform unique visitors, CNN.com was #1 with 116.3 million, compared to FOX News Digital’s 88.6 million and NYTimes.com’s 70.5 million.

Industry News

FOX News Digital Leads News Brands in Multiplatform Minutes

FOX News Digital reports that according to data from Comscore, it finished the third quarter of 2023 marking 10 consecutive quarters leading news brands with multiplatform minutes, while seeing double-imdigit, year-over-year growth across all key performance indicators. FOX News Digital topped competitors CNN.com and NYTimes.com in total multiplatform minutes with 9.5 billion. It also led news brands in multiplatform views with 5.2 million. CNN.com continues to lead both FOX News Digital and NYTimes.com in multiplatform unique visitors with 120.5 million to FND’s 88.4 million and NYTimes.com’s 72.1 million.

Industry News

Outkick Reports Year-Over-Year Growth

Digital sports platform OutKick says that it delivered over 6 million total multiplatform unique visitors for July 2023, and that’s the highest year-over-year growth among its custom competitive set, up 119% versus Julyim 2022, according to data from Comscore. The platform also saw 24 million total multiplatform views and 27 million total multiplatform minutes. OutKick founder Clay Travis – co-host of the Premiere Networks syndicated talk show “Clay Travis and Buck Sexton” – says, “It’s always great to see OutKick’s strong growth every month. We continue to distribute engaging content on topics that reach beyond sports and add talent to our roster that embrace common sense reporting.”

Industry News

Outkick Reports Strong Audience Growth

Multimedia sports platform OutKick says it has experiences “strong growth” over the past year with Q2 2023 data revealing more than 9 million monthly multiplatform unique visitors, 101 million total multiplatform views (up 45%),im and 112 million total multiplatform minutes (up 60%), according to Comscore data. Outkick founder (and Premiere Networks syndicated talk radio star) Clay Travis states, “OutKick doesn’t shy away from the most pressing topics in American sports today which is why we have continued to expand our audience every quarter.”

Industry News

FOX News Digital Again Tops in Multiplatform Views

According to the latest data from Comscore, FOX News Digital finished February 2023 as the top-performing news organization in the competitive set in both multiplatform minutes and multiplatform views. This marks fiveLogo - FOX consecutive months as the top news brand with multiplatform views and two straight years as number one with multiplatform minutes. While FOX News Digital – as well as NYTimes.com – still lags behind CNN.com in multiplatform unique visitors (97.4 million to CNN.com’s 117.7 million), it has improved 23% in that category since February of 2022 while CNN.com is down 8% during that period.

Industry News

FOX News Wraps 2022 as Tops in Multiplatform Views and Minutes

According to data from Comscore, FOX News Digital closed out 2022 as the top-performing news brand with multiplatform views and minutes. For the year, FOX News Digital secured more than 18 billion multiplatformLogo - FOX views, over 34 billion multiplatform minutes and averaged 82.7 million monthly multiplatform unique visitors. FOX News states that it was also “the most engaged news brand on social media throughout 2022, according to Emplifi, reaching over 445 million social media interactions. FOX News Digital drove 179.7 million Facebook interactions, 49.6 million Twitter interactions and 215.9 million Instagram interactions. On YouTube, FOX News delivered its best year ever, driving over 3.4 billion views, finishing first in the news competitive set.” While FOX News Digital topped rival CNN.com in the multiplatform minutes and multiplatform views category, CNN.com was the leader in multiplatform unique visitors – the digital equivalent of cume – with 124.9 million compared to NYTimes.com’s 89 million and FOX News Digital’s 82.7 million.

Front Page News Industry News

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Streaming Has Saved Talk Radio. Longtime radio sales professional Kathy Carr, president of the Howie Carr Radio Network, writes today in an exclusive piece for TALKERS magazine about the ways in which digital audio – streaming and podcasts – has “given talk radio life beyond what could have been imagined years ago.” She adds, “When a buyer asks me to send him a ranker, I have a pretty good idea of his age. Shouldn’t the question be: Tell me about your top five clients and how long they have been with you?  Doesn’t that more accurately show the client your success rate?” And the reason that’s a better question is because of the different ways people are accessing talk radio these days. Read her column here.

The Ramsey Show Celebrates 30th Anniversary On Air. The nationally syndicated program “The Ramsey Show” is celebrating its 30th anniversary on the radio. The program was founded by Dave Ramsey whose core message of living life debt free has “helped millions of listeners by giving practical answers to callers’ questions about money, careers, relationships and mental wellness.” Dave Ramsey, CEO of Ramsey Solutions, says, “I always want listeners to come away with a sense of power over their situation. Over three decades of taking calls, I’ve watched millions of people get out of debt, find jobs they love, have healthier marriages, become millionaires, and ultimately live better, more peaceful lives. That’s what the show is about — providing REAL hope.” See the show’s YouTube channel trailer here.

FOX News Digital Continues to Lead Multiplatform Minutes and Views. According to the most recent data from Comscore, FOX News Digital finished the August 2022 period as the top-performing news organization in the competitive set in both multiplatform minutes and multiplatform views. FOX News Digital says that this marks 18 consecutive months as the number one news brand with multiplatform minutes and three consecutive months as the leading news brand with multiplatform views. FOX News Digital closed out August reaching over 2.9 billion total multiplatform minutes – compared to CNN.com with 2.3 billion and NYTimes.com with 1.3 billion. FOX News Digital also wins in multiplatform views with 1.5 billion, compared to CNN.com’s 1.36 billion and NYTimes.com’s 1.32 billion. In the category of multiplatform unique visitors – the digital version of radio’s cume – FOX News Digital comes in third place with 77.5 billion. CNN.com wins that measurement with 116 billion followed by NYTimes.com with 83.5 billion.

Cumulus Announces Programming Promotions in Syracuse. At the Syracuse cluster, Cumulus Media announces the promotion of programming staffers to expanded roles within its four-station group. On the spoken-word side, Joe DeTomaso – program director, content production manager and midday host for alternative rock WAQX-FM “95X” – takes on programming duties for sports talk WSKO-AM “The Score 1260.” He says, “I’m excited to add ‘The Score 1260’ to my programming duties here in Syracuse. We will continue to expand our audiences on both ‘The Score 1260’ and WAQX in the digital footprint thru outstanding relevant local content.”

Tyler Polumbus Exits KKFN-FM, Denver. According to a report by KUSA-TV, Denver, Tyler Polumbus exits Bonneville’s sports talk KKFN-FM “104.3 The Fan” as his contract was not renewed. Polumbus was co-host of “The Drive” alongside with Darren “Dmac” McKee.  He tweeted, “My contract at The Fan has come to an end. Thank you to all of the listeners that made the last three years a joy. We laughed and created memories, we consoled each other through the Broncos rough years, and together we did so much good through Pedal with Polumbus to beat Ovarian Cancer. I won’t name all my colleagues that will forever be a part of my life but you guys know who you are. I love you guys.” This comes a week after evening co-host Sandy Clough retired from his full-time gig with the station after a 25-year career with “The Fan.” Clough co-hosted with Shawn Drotar, who will remain with KKFN-FM in a yet-to-be-announced capacity.

G Audio Networks Enters into Deal to Rep SPARC Media Hub. This new deal between G Audio Networks, a Gen Media Partners company, and SPARC Media Hub means G Audio Networks will offer radio stations the ability to use the SPARC Media Hub radio station workflow system on a barter basis. G Audio Networks chief development officer Rich O’Brien states, “Every day, SPARC Media Hub continues to develop its product to be the best workflow system available. Using customer feedback, researching the latest trends in media, and always thinking ‘what’s next?’ are just some of the pillars that make SPARC a leading-edge product in the industry. We’re very excited about bringing this superior product to radio stations.”

TALKERS News Notes. Nationally syndicated, Atlanta-based talk host Erick Erickson hosted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on his program yesterday (9/19) in what was the governor’s first national radio interview in the aftermath of the transportation of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard…..Benztown + McVay Media Podcast Networks announce the release of two special episodes of the “Sound, Sobriety & Success” podcast hosted by rock journalist and former MTV host Matt Pinfield in recognition of Sobriety Awareness Month in September. The first of the two new episodes features AJ McLean, actor, dancer, and Grammy-winning singer of the Backstreet Boys. McLean shares his journey from addiction to recovery, the highlights of performing, and how getting sober has improved his music and changed his perspective. In the second new episode, Pinfield talks to Chrissy Metz, the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress and singer known for her portrayal of Kate Pierce on NBC’s award-winning TV series “This is Us.”…..AdLarge announces it has entered into an ad sales partnership with Eeriecast, The Horror Podcast Network. AdLarge will oversee the management, sales, and fulfillment of the audio ad sales for the Eeriecast network dedicated to horror-themed content.

Immigration/Migrant Flights, Inflation/Financial Markets, Trump Documents Case, Midterms/2024 Presidential Race, Russia-Ukraine War, Hurricane Fiona, and COVID-19 Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (9/19). The immigration problems at the U.S.-Mexico border and the transporting of migrants to Democrat-leaning cities & investigations into the legality of the moves; the stubborn rate of inflation and Wall Street’s nervousness over the looming Fed interest rate hike decision; the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago; the November midterm elections and speculation about the nominees for the 2024 presidential race; Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine; the destruction in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Fiona; and the conflicting opinions about COVID-19 by President Joe Biden and Dr. Tony Fauci were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.