The Federal Communications Commission has approved Cumulus Media’s reorganization, the last major obstacle to its emergence from its packaged bankruptcy, Radio World reports. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection earlier this year. Cumuus CEO Mary Berner pledged to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that the firm will maintain existing newsroom headcounts for two years or more. Chapter 11. Cumulus owns 384 stations in 84 U.S. markets.

AI use has grown among social media professionals, with 95% now using AI tools in their work, and 75% daily, according to a newreport from Metricool, Net Influencer reports. But 14% say AI-generated content performs worse than human-made, up from 5% in 2025. The biggest AI tasks are writing copy (86%) and generating content ideas 84%. But AI use for strategy design is now at 62%, up from 39% last year, and trend and topic research has jumped from 36% to 61% in the same period. 

Scripps News, the digitally distributed information service., has launched an initiative to give viewers more direct access to reporters, according to Radio & Television Business Report. Dubbed “Connect with Me,” the new effort is moving beyond traditional feedback channels by providing lines of communication via text messaging and email. “At a time when audiences are looking for more trust and authenticity, Scripps News is reinforcing journalism’s role as a public service by creating more direct lines of communication between reporters and the communities they cover,” the company says.  

New research from iHeartMedia shows that Gen Z is still attracted to broadcast radio despite perception that it prefers personalized, on-demand audio, Inside Radio reports. “While Gen Z is conventionally thought to want everything on-demand and tailored to their needs, the data shows that teenagers are gravitating to the safety and anonymity of radio to create community,” said Lainie Fertick, President of Insights for iHeartMedia. 

Most Americans have seen ads that clearly have been created with artificial intelligence, Gallup reports. Of those surveyed, 79% have seen such ads in the last 30 days, and 49% have negative feelings about use of AI. Younger people are especially opposed to it, including 66% of those aged 18-29. In contrast, 51% in the 30-44 age bracket, 38% in the 45-59 cohort and 46% of those who are 60 and older are against AI use in advertising. However,  75% accept use of AI for brainstorming ideas and to create early drafts of ads when it is disclosed. 

The media world has received the sad news that Columbia House, the mail order music subscription business and major advertiser, is shutting down, CNN reports. Founded in the 1950s, the brand peaked in the 1980s and 1990s as it provided monthly selections of records, tapes and CDs. Its annual revenues hit $1.4 billion in 1996, but delivery systems changed and the company did not succeed when it tried to pivot to streaming. 

West Virginia’s HD Media is acquiring 25 publications from AIM Media Management, effective Sept. 1, according to the Daily Reporter, of  Indiana. Six publications are part of AIM Media Indiana and 19 from AIM Media Ohio. “We found a partner in AIM Media when we purchased the Portsmouth Daily Times three years ago, and as that relationship grew stronger, we felt comfortable negotiating a large acquisition like this with them, said Phil Perry, president of HD Media. The terms were not disclosed. 

Michigan Stadium, a 107,601-seat facility that turns 100 next year, is taking advertising for the first time, pulling in Coca-Cola, Meijer and Google Gemini as the first three brand sponsors, The Athletic reports. Their logos will be displayed in the Big House. “As we introduce this partner program, we will do so with care and purpose, ensuring that any brand partner presence is strategic, tasteful, and aligned with the values of the University of Michigan,” Warde Manuel, athletic director, in a statement. 

A new deal will have Taboola power all of NBC’s programmatic display advertising sales, Axios reports. NBC News will leverage the Taboola Realize performance ad platform to sell all of its global programmatic display advertising on its digital properties, including NBCNews.com and Today.com.. The NBC News ad sales team will continue to sell premium video and other display offers. Taboola will be the only outside vendor to handle programmatic ad sales. 

Disney will provide a comprehensive omnichannel strategy for  pharma marketers as fall arrives, Campaign Live writes. That includes sports programming: In upfronts this spring, Disney Advertising pitched attractions like the Super Bowl and ESPN events to medical companies. Disney has “a wide array of content that spans multiple demographics, so there's a large user base that makes their platform applicable to multiple disease states, which means tons and tons of different drugs,” says Justin Fried, chief media and innovation officer at  CMI Media Group and Compas. “It's not a niche community where only one is going to be successful."