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March 31, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

Frito & Katy Exit: Audacy KILT/Houston morning hosts Tucker "Frito" Young and Katy Dempsey departed the station today (3/31) after a little more than a year. Prior to joining KILT (CAT 1/6/25), they did mornings for three years at Cox KCYY/San Antonio after nearly 10 at Top 40 KNDE/Bryan, TX. KILT will run jockless in mornings while VP/Programming Bruce Logan seeks a successor; reach him here.

Bull Shift: iHeartMedia KWNR/Las Vegas has tweaked its weekday lineup outside of morning drive. Lois "Double L" Lewis extends her 9am-noon show to 9am-2pm, SVPP MoJoe Roberts shifts from noon-3pm to 2-7pm. Wayne Danielson & Tay Hamilton's show, previously heard from 3-7pm, moves to 7-midnight. Hamilton had previously hosted a solo shift at night.

Brand Name: NBCUniversal EVP/Marketing & Brand Partnerships Jamie Cutburth has been named EVP/Marketing for iHeartMedia, based in New York. He spent more than a decade at NBCUniversal, where he led B2B marketing and advertiser strategy for NBC, Bravo, E!, Peacock, NBC News, Telemundo and a portfolio of live events and franchises.

Knotting Hill: Nashville-based Sony Music Publishing (SMP) VP/Global Royalties Shane Knotts has been upped to SVP. “Shane’s application of lean principles and love of making everything more efficient has allowed SMP to continually handle increasing volumes of data smoothly and proficiently for our songwriters and clients," says EVP/Worldwide Administration Dale Esworthy, to whom Knotts reports. Knotts joined the company in 1994 as Mgr./Royalty.

Leap Froggy: Connoisseur Media is purchasing NRG Media's Lincoln, NE cluster, including Country KFGE. Connoisseur already owns crosstown Country KZKX. In the Fall 2025 Nielsen ratings, KFGE had a 7.1 share 12+ and was No. 2 overall, while KZKX was No. 3 with a 6.6 share (CAT 1/23). The transaction is expected to close this summer. “The Lincoln stations have been a very important part of our story, and we are pleased to pass them to [Connoisseur CEO] Jeff [Warshaw] and his team,” says NRG CEO Mary Quass, whose company continues to own more than 30 other radio stations across Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Lift Kit: Lauren Alaina, Rodney Atkins and Randy Houser have been added to the lineup for ACM Lifting Lives Country on the Green: Riley Green & Friends May 15 at Topgolf Las Vegas (tickets here), and Ashley Cooke, Dasha, Flatland Cavalry, Braxton Keith and Tucker Wetmore to ACM Next Wave: Country’s Beach Bash May 16 at the Mandalay Bay Beach and Wave Pool (tickets here). Additional ACM Awards and Awards Week performers, as well as nominations, presenters and the host, will be announced in the coming weeks.

What You CRS Is What You Get: First-timers take on CRS with fresh eyes, sharing standout panels, unexpected takeaways and the moments that made the biggest impact. Radio attendees on the ground in Las Vegas recap Luke Combs’ My Kinda Saturday Night Tour stop at Allegiant Stadium, bringing firsthand perspective on the crowd, production and highlights. Plus, songwriter Blake Pendergrass goes beyond the credits, breaking down the stories behind some of his most notable cuts. It's all in last night's (3/30) Country Aircheck Weekly.

Stories Of The Week: Search for news and people in the archives at countryaircheck.com.

Audacy's Debbie Kenyon was promoted to Regional Pres. for the company's Central U.S. markets. (3/30)
Adam Star was named Beasley/Augusta, GA PD. (3/30)
Care Jones was upped to iHeartMedia/Providence, NH Market Pres. (3/30)

Contact Update: Former Audacy WDAF/Kansas City afternoon host Jeff "Shotgun" Jaxon joins the 12-station Cumulus Kansas City/Topeka cluster as an engineer, where his responsibilities include Country KTOP/Topeka. Following 14 years at crosstown KBEQ, Jaxon had been with WDAF since 2007 (CAT 5/31/07) until his departure last summer (CAT 8/14/25). Reach him here.

Bits & Pieces: Owens KUZZ/Bakersfield has partnered with Dewar’s Candy Shop to offer the “KUZZ Sundae” – a red, white and blue treat featuring blue-dyed vanilla ice cream, strawberries and marshmallow – at all of the shop's locations through the month of April. Proceeds go to the Wounded Heroes Fund, which provides services to veterans in Kern County.

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Crib Note: Riser House's Meghan Patrick and Riser House/Columbia’s Mitchell Tenpenny are expecting their first child, a baby girl. "We’ve been blessed with the greatest gift of all this year," they shared on social media. "God is so good and always right on time … we can’t wait to be mom and dad.”

Life Note: Curb VP/Marketing John Clore is mourning the loss of his brother, Andrew, who passed away Sunday (3/29) at 42 years old. Visitation will be held at Watson Funeral Home in Eldorado, IL Friday (4/3) 4-7pm CT, and a Celebration of Life service will follow at Eldorado First Baptist Church Saturday (4/4) at 11am CT. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Safe Haven here.

Service Update: A Celebration of Life for the late Jerry Kennedy (Chronicle 2/13) will be held April 7 at 7pm at Ray Stevens’ CabaRay Showroom (5724 River Road, Nashville, TN 37209).

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for March 30, according to Mediabase.

JUSTIN MOORE/Time's Ticking (Blue Highway) 4563 points
LUKE COMBS/Sleepless In A Hotel Room (Columbia) 4036 points
ELLA LANGLEY/Choosin' Texas (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) 3877 points
THOMAS RHETT f/JORDAN DAVIS/Ain't A Bad Life (Blue Highway/MCA) 3691 points
DYLAN SCOTT/What He'll Never Have (Curb) 3500 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for March 29-30, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase.

JUSTIN MOORE/Time's Ticking (Blue Highway) +1740 points
ELLA LANGLEY/Be Her (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) +1304 points
LUKE COMBS/Sleepless In A Hotel Room (Columbia) +1081 points
LUKE BRYAN/Country And She Knows It (MCA) +838 points
BRANTLEY GILBERT/Good Damn (Wheelhouse) +614 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (4/1): Kip Moore, Jennifer Wayne (Runaway June), Billy Dean, Hillary Scott (Lady A), Jameson Clark, Royce Porter, Chuck Horvath, Greg Stevens, Susan Nadler, Pat Payne, the late Jim Ed Brown.

Nate Dogg: RCA's Nate Smith (c) with the label's Mallory Michaels and KSCS & KPLX/Dallas' Mike Preston at Billy Bob's.

The Sipranos: MCA's Jacob Hackworth (l) with WIRK/West Palm Beach, FL's Nick Rivers.

In Good Company: Katie & Company's Katie Neal with Dan + Shay's Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney (top) and MCA's Luke Grimes.

Signage: Singer/songwriter Nicholas Jamerson signs with CAA and Why&How Management. Pictured (l-r) are CAA's Jacob Lapidus, W&H's John Smithwick, Jamerson, W&H's Halie Hampton Mosley and Eddie Kloesel and CAA's Michael Bornstein.

Signage: Singer/songwriter/producer Austin Bianco signs with Concord Music Publishing. Pictured (back, l-r) are Concord's Claire Buchanan, Matt Turner, Brad Kennard and Ellie Gray; (front, l-r) Concord's Melissa Spillman, Bianco and manager Mike Hagler Jr.