David Samson, a guy who usually backs up his claims with solid evidence, just dropped a bombshell: he thinks baseball radio is dead, saying “radio will go the way of Kodak and Blockbuster.” And trust me, the internet blew up over it. This take is just flat-out wrong.
The “Death” of Radio? Hold Up.
Look, I respect David’s knowledge of the baseball business. He ran the Miami Marlins for 15 years and even spent a few years with the Expos. He’s been on the team side of media deals, noting that some clubs “buy a block of time, and then go out and sell ads.” Yeah, some do, but most of the big brands out there? Not so much. He even compared radio’s future to Kodak and Blockbuster. But his argument that “we don’t need baseball on the radio anymore” and that “the voices will find a different way to get into your brain” because we have different content engagement? That’s where he steps on a landmine.
Radio’s Reach and Revenue: Not So Dead, David.
Reach matters in media today, right? And Nielsen data for the first quarter of 2026 shows AM/FM radio is still crushing it. It reaches a massive 87% of U.S. adults every single week. Think about that: it beats smartphones at 82%, TV-connected devices at 78%, and even live TV at 71%! Even among young adults, those 18-34 year olds, radio hits 81%.
Now, about the money. Did radio’s revenue peak in 2006 at $21 billion? Yeah, it did. But BIA projects local radio will still pull in $12.2 billion in 2026. That’s a ton of cash, even if it’s less than two decades ago. When Samson says there is no money in radio, those twelve billion Benjamin’s sitting there are screaming otherwise.
Pods and YouTube Are Cool, But Radio Still Rules the Money Game.
Samson points to podcasting and YouTube as growth areas, and don’t get me wrong, I love both! Stations are definitely active there, and there’s huge room to grow. But let’s be real, those two spaces don’t come close to delivering the financial return that traditional radio advertising does.
Check these numbers: iHeartMedia posted $3.87 billion in revenue in 2025. Cumulus generated $741.7 million. And powerhouse stations like 98.5 The Sports Hub and WFAN? They each made over $30 million in 2025, landing them in the top 10 billing stations across all formats. Those are NOT Blockbuster or Kodak numbers, folks.
If you look at television, linear revenue dropped from $56 billion to $41 billion since 2006. Streaming and connected TV added $28 billion, which is cool, but that’s only half of what linear TV used to pull in. Combine them, and TV is a winner. But podcasting? It produced just under $3 billion in 2025. That’s up big from 2006, sure. But if you combine podcasting revenue with radio, like streaming is with TV, the audio business collectively earns $15 billion. Still, radio alone delivers 4x the revenue that podcasting does right now. Will that stay the same in 20 years? Maybe, maybe not. I’m bullish on podcasting, streaming, and YouTube, I really am, and I believe they’re huge growth areas. But replacing, let alone surpassing, 4-5x the revenue of radio? That’s a whole different ballgame.
So yeah, David, I get the vision for new content, but the numbers don’t lie. Radio’s still here, still reaching millions, and still raking in billions. This isn’t just about listening to games, it’s about the entire ecosystem of how we engage with sports. Don’t count out the crackle of the airwaves just yet. That signal’s still coming in loud and clear.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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