Into that gap, AccuMinute LLC and Talk Media Network are launching America’s Morning News on Monday, September 21 — the same 5 a.m. Eastern weekday hour the old show occupied. AccuMinute will produce the program; Talk Media Network, the independent syndicator founded in 2010 by Josh Leng, will distribute it. The hour will be fed by satellite and FTP on a barter basis, with a weekend edition planned to follow.
Continuity is the pitch. Jeff McKay, executive producer of America in the Morning, moves into the same role on the new show. Rich Johnson, a longtime national radio correspondent who has reported regularly for the outgoing program and whose career includes CNN Radio, ABC Radio, Fox News Radio, and WTOP, will anchor. Talk Media Network’s Leng framed the launch as a way to spare stations from replacing a decades-old morning franchise on short notice. AccuMinute co-founder Gary Lee said the aim is to make the new hour part of listeners’ daily routine. The partners also say they intend to build a multi-platform morning brand that stations can localize and monetize without a heavy extra production load.
The result is a familiar morning-news slot with a new name, a new distributor, and much of the same production DNA — competing for the affiliates America in the Morning is leaving behind.
Singer Tom Jones has claimed he was fired as a judge from singing competition show “The Voice U.K.” due to “financial difficulty with insurance.”
“To be clear, I did not want to leave ‘The Voice’ as I love the show and really appreciate the audience,” Jones posted on social media. “ITV made this decision — obviously a while ago, and I was told just recently. The reason given is because of a financial difficulty with insurance. They now say in the press they wanted to ‘refresh’ the show, and with a new coaching line-up there wouldn’t be a chair for me.”
Jones has been on the show almost since it launched in 2012 (with one gap in 2016). He did not choose to leave. ITV decided he would not have a coaching chair for series 15, which was due to start filming around September 2026 for a 2027 broadcast.
TV shows take out insurance on key on-camera talent. At 86, premiums for a full season of filming can become expensive or hard to place. Insurance trade coverage treated that claim as plausible.
ITV’s public line is different: they wanted to “refresh” the panel. Reports say the new lineup was expected to be will.i.am, Kelly Rowland, Cheryl, and rapper Aitch — four chairs, no seat left for Jones.
Jones said, “There’s never a good time to fire an 86-year-old who’s still pretty good at his job.”
This has happened to him before. In 2015 the BBC dropped him from series 5 with almost no notice. He was furious about the manner of it, later calling it a “knockback” and saying ratings fell after he left. When the show moved to ITV he was brought back. The pattern — last-minute communication, a “refresh” justification, a reduced-role offer — is familiar to him.
In SPORTS…
(Reader submission) Charles Barkley has been one of the best sports analysts for years. And at 63, he remains very much on top of his broadcasting game. However, he told podcaster Bill Simmons that the upcoming NBA season could very well be his last. He also said it could be the last for “Inside the NBA” host Ernie Johnson.
Barkley told Simmons, “Me and Ernie are a package deal. So right now, unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year 100 percent.”
So, a couple of things. First, Johnson hasn’t publicly revealed that this will be his last NBA season. And, secondly, Barkley has been talking about retiring for years now.
For now, let’s put this in the I-believe-it-when-I-see-it file.
Tom!
Jason Remington • September 10, 2026
I’ve seen Tom Jones in concert three times. The ladies went crazy over him. Great entertainer!