Trent Condon #

Introduction #

Trent Condon was a longtime Des Moines sports-talk radio host and, alongside Ken Miller, one half of “Miller and Condon” on KXnO, the iHeartMedia-owned sports station in Des Moines. On June 29, 2026, he announced that his time at the station was over after his on-air comments about iHeartMedia’s layoffs of his own colleagues drew corporate scrutiny.

Background Information #

Condon had been a host on KXnO since 2019, according to his LinkedIn as cited by the Des Moines Register’s report, which was carried by the Ames Tribune. “Miller and Condon” aired weekdays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and was a fixture of an Iowa sports-radio lineup built on local conversation — Hawkeyes, Cyclones, Bulldogs, Panthers, Grand View — rather than syndicated programming.

His position at the station was unusual: Condon was not an iHeartMedia employee but an independent contractor who bought his own airtime on the station, a detail he himself explained after the layoffs. Barrett Media noted the same arrangement, observing that even though Condon was not an employee of iHeartMedia, he still functioned as a trusted local voice for the outlet.

By late June 2026, that arrangement collided with a wave of corporate cutbacks. iHeartMedia had recently cut staff at KXnO, eliminating several positions at the Des Moines station, as part of a major restructuring of its programming operation described in an internal memo from senior executives. The full number of job cuts was not disclosed, but stations in markets such as St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis were also affected.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

What is documented. The events here are employment facts, not criminal allegations: the June 24, 2026 broadcast remarks and Condon’s June 29 social media posts are preserved audio and posts, reported by Barrett Media and the Des Moines Register (via the Ames Tribune). iHeartMedia never publicly stated a reason for the separation or responded to a request for comment, so the characterization of the remarks as “controversial” comes from Condon’s own account of corporate’s reaction.

The layoffs were announced June 23. The June 24 episode, which came a day after the news and was to have been Miller’s last day before retirement, named the six laid-off hosts and producers, and Miller chose not to come in for a final show.

On that broadcast, Condon mourned the cuts and defended the station’s local product. “My heart aches … for my friends, for my colleagues, for the people that made this station what it is,” he said. “The people that worked incredibly hard to give you listeners a product, to localize what we’re doing, to give you a voice. Regardless if you’re a Hawkeye fan or a Cyclone fan, or a Bulldog or a Panther, or Grand View, or anything in between, your voice to keep things local. And that was taken away.”

He also disputed the financial rationale for the cuts. He echoed Sean Roberts, KXnO’s former program director and one of those laid off, in saying the station was financially stable and not losing money, despite the layoffs. “This was a station that’s bringing in revenue. This is not a station that is hemorrhaging money. I know the financials because I work in the financials. I know it. But from the corporate [perspective], it’s not Des Moines, it’s not about Sioux City, it’s not about the little places,” Condon said.

He also told listeners hoping for a repeat of 2020 — when KXnO fired and rehired staffers within a single day after an outpouring from listeners and advertisers — that a reversal was unlikely this time. “I don’t think that’s going to happen at that level,” he said. “I hope the support’s still there.”

Per Condon’s own account, iHeartMedia deemed those remarks “controversial,” and his comments prompted the company to part ways with him.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Condon announced his departure in a social media post on Monday, June 29, 2026. “My days at KXNO are over. My comments were considered ‘controversial’ from corporate about my colleagues that were let go. I stand by what I said,” he wrote. He added that he was “still incredibly sad that Ken Miller didn’t get his final show after starting sports talk in Iowa 30 years ago,” and thanked listeners “for listening and showing that local sports talk matters.”

The exit removed the last local presence from the station’s schedule. With Condon’s departure, KXnO had no local dayparts remaining following iHeartMedia’s reduction in force, per Barrett Media. The week after he left, the station’s lineup — aside from The Central Iowa Real Estate Scoreboard Show — was largely nationally syndicated programming.

The June 24 podcast episode was pulled from KXnO’s website, but it remained available on other platforms such as Spotify and YouTube.

Current Status #

iHeartMedia never publicly addressed Condon’s departure or clarified its reasoning, and station officials did not respond to a request for comment from the Des Moines Register. Condon said he had already had conversations with many outlets about his next move, told followers he remained reachable daily on Locked On Iowa, and thanked his clients and sponsors as they worked together “to find what and where’s next.” “As media evolves, I will evolve with it,” he wrote.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The separation ended a roughly seven-year run on KXnO for Condon and closed out “Miller and Condon,” with Miller denied a farewell broadcast after three decades in Iowa sports radio. For a host who was technically not an employee at all — a contractor who bought his own airtime — the corporate response showed how little insulation that status provided once his comments embarrassed the parent company. Barrett Media framed his willingness to speak out, and face consequences, as a sign of how layoffs are reshaping the relationship between hosts and the companies that carry them.

The affair also became a case study in the economics of local radio: a station that was, by its own host’s firsthand account, “bringing in revenue” still saw its local lineup dismantled from outside the market. Condon left without retracting anything. “I stand by what I said,” he wrote, and he signaled continuity rather than retirement — still hosting Locked On Iowa daily and open, in his words, “to any and all ideas.”