The Supreme Court has stepped into the escalating battle over broadcasters’ political advertising rates for a second time, temporarily blocking a federal appeals court order that would have forced the FCC to decide by noon Friday (Oct. 9) whether to uphold its disputed lowest unit charge policy. The move came just hours after the Fourth Circuit rejected emergency requests to delay its deadline. Chief Justice John Roberts issued the stay Thursday, suspending the Fourth Circuit

Podcast audience growth continued into September, with a majority of publishers measured by Podtrac posting monthly audience gains, while iHeart maintained its commanding lead and several networks made significant moves up the rankings. Podtrac says 11 of its 19 U.S. ranking participants increased their unique monthly audience in September vs. August, while eight recorded gains in downloads and streams. The results follow August’s particularly strong performance, when 18 publ

John Tesh is expanding his advertising offering with a new program designed to give brands a closer look at what consumers 55 and older are asking about before they buy. TeshMedia Engage uses responses from Tesh’s radio, email and social audiences to connect advertisers with consumer concerns around health, sleep, hearing, brain health, balance and fraud. The program draws on the audience for “Intelligence for Your Life,” which reaches 24 million monthly listeners on 250 radi

U.S. advertisers are entering 2026 amid a continued expansion in global advertising spending, with artificial intelligence investment, major events and digital media growth helping drive the market despite economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Global ad spending is set to rise 11.9% to $1.34 trillion this year, according to WARC’s latest update to its third-quarter 2026 media global ad spend outlook. The increase follows growth of about 10% in both 2024 and 2025. The U.S. re

With three-quarters of 2026 now in the books, there are clear trends for radio formats in key demos for this year, and year-to-year, according to Inside Radio’s analysis of average-quarter-hour share data in PPM markets, covering Monday-Sunday 6am-midnight. When it comes to share gains, the standout formats continue to be contemporary Christian — which in the September 2026 survey ranks 10th among persons 18-34 and 12th for 25-54s — and modern/alternative rock, which ties for

Radio sellers have several reasons to approach 2027 with confidence, according to analysis from BIA Advisory Services, even as the absence of a major election is expected to weigh on total radio revenue. Michael Guerity, SVP, Market Intelligence and Strategic Communications at BIA, outlined five opportunities for radio during the Radio Advertising Bureau’s recent webinar, “Radio’s Next Chapter: The 2026-2027 Local Advertising Forecast.” The analysis draws from BIA’s September

With Election Day weeks away, the legal battle over broadcasters’ lowest political advertising rates is complicating further. A federal appeals court has given the FCC just two days to act on a challenge to its political advertising policy, potentially setting up another round of litigation that could change which political advertisers qualify for discounted rates during the final weeks of the campaign. In a sharply worded 2-1 ruling, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals order

With three-quarters of 2026 now in the books, there are clear trends for radio formats in key demos for this year, and year-to-year, according to Inside Radio’s analysis of average-quarter-hour share data in PPM markets, covering Monday-Sunday 6am-midnight. When it comes to share gains, the standout formats continue to be contemporary Christian — which in the September 2026 survey ranks 10th among persons 18-34 and 12th for 25-54s — and modern/alternative rock, which ties for

The rise of video podcasting may be changing how people consume their favorite shows, but new research suggests it is not coming at the expense of audio. Instead, podcast consumers are increasingly moving between listening and watching depending on where they are and what they’re doing. Research from SiriusXM Media and Edison Research finds 90% of monthly podcast consumers listened to an audio-first podcast during the past month, nearly identical to the 89% who consumed a vid

U.S. consumers plan to spend more during the 2026 holiday season, but much of the increase will go toward food, decorations, dining and entertainment rather than traditional gifts, according to a new survey from JLL. Americans expect to spend an average of $1,243 on the holidays this year, a 9.7% increase from last year and nearly back to the level recorded two years ago, JLL said. The increase follows a 2025 holiday season in which consumers trimmed spending. The growth is b