April 16, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

'DRM-pressive: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for February 2026 (three-month rolling average, 12/10/25-3/4/26) compared with December and January. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Chattanooga, TN (Market 93)	WUSY Audacy 11.5 (1) - 13.0 (1) - 10.7 (1) WUUQ Bahakel Classic Country 3.3 (6) - 3.8 (5) - 3.8 (4) WOGT Cumulus Does not subscribe.
Huntsville, AL (99)	WDRM iHeartMedia 7.4 (1) - 8.3 (1) - 11.0 (1) Largest share since Oct. 2023. WWFF Cumulus Does not subscribe.
Jackson, MS (125)	WMSI iHeartMedia 2.4 (9) - 2.8 (9) - 3.7 (8) WUSJ New South 4.2 (6) - 3.8 (7) - 3.4 (9) WHJT New South Classic Country 1.4 (12) - 2.1 (11) - 2.0 (11)
Madison, WI (88)	WMAD iHeartMedia 4.7 (4t) - 6.5 (3) - 5.9 (3) WWQM Mid-West Family 1.9 (13t) - 1.7 (13) - 2.5 (11)

Back In The Saddle: “Radio remains a primary driver in country music, and we understand how critical airplay is to breaking and furthering an artist’s career,” says longtime MCA Nashville promotion vet Louie Newman, announcing the launch of record label and promotion company Saddle Up Records, as reported this morning (4/16) via Breaking News. Newman will serve as the company's Pres., with a staff of fellow industry veterans including SVP/National Promotion & Marketing Chele Fassig and VP/National Promotion & Streaming Matt Galvin, with enRG Promotions' RG Jones joining on special projects. Most recently, Newman had been working alongside Fassig and Jones at Lyric Ridge Records, with which it will collaborate on select projects. Reach Newman here, Fassig here, Galvin here and Jones here.

Next Thing You Grow: MCA Sr. Dir./Marketing & Artist Development Taylor Sloane has launched Dream Big Music with flagship clients Jordan Davis and Riley Green. She's joined in the venture by husband and Belmont University professor Michael Sloane. "The goal is not just to market moments, but to help artists and teams create lasting connection, sustained momentum and real fan growth over time and beyond traditional marketing channels, into new spaces where culture, community and attention converge," says Taylor. Reach her here and Michael here.

On The Agenda: Leading the CRS 2027 Agenda Committee is former The Core Day-To-Day Mgr. Brittani Johnson as Chair, alongside Krista Hayes (BMG/Broken Bow Records) and Kevin Callahan (Pamal Broadcasting) as co-Vice Chairs. Country Radio Broadcasters is now accepting applications for Agenda Committee members who will develop educational programming for next year’s CRS, set for March 17–19. Applicants must be available to attend the mandatory in-person planning sessions in Nashville Aug. 3–5, and must also be available to attend CRS 2027, for which they will recive a comped registration. Submit applications by May 1 here.

A Very Brady Hire: SiriusXM personality Joe "Brady" Blum has joined Connoisseur WWWF/Nassau-Suffolk for weekends, and to serve as a fill-in host on the station's Kelly Ford-hosted morning show. He previously did nights on Top 40 WHTZ/New York and the former Alternative WNYL/New York. “I’ve been trying to hire Brady since we were both in Detroit a decade ago,” says WWWF PD Robby Bridges. "He’s an incredible jock with a deep passion for radio and connecting with listeners. Lucky for us he happens to be a country fan too!”

Night Vision: Former GAC television personality Nan Kelley and her husband, songwriter/musician Charlie Kelley, will host new Monday evening show Heart of the Night With Nan Kelley on Ryman Hospitality Properties WSM-AM/Nashville beginning May 4 and airing weekly from 7-10pm (CT). The show will be produced by current WSM night host David Reed. The format is described as featuring "timeless country music, live listener call-ins and intimate conversation."

Light In The Dark: Radio veteran and 2021 Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame inductee Shannon McCombs is now hosting a weekday overnight show on Commonwealth Broadcasting WHHT/Glasgow-Bowling Green, KY, with plans to syndicate it to other company stations. Listen here.

Portal Combat: Xperi has launched DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal Premium, a previously announced upgrade of its radio listening analytics platform. Daypart rankings and expanded music charts are among the new offerings. Broadcasters can sign up for access to the portal here. Read about DTS AutoStage's capabilities here, and what programmers think here. The portal is being demonstrated in Xperi's booth (No. C2259) at the NAB Show in Las Vegas next week.

Am I Jokay? Jessie Jo Dillon was named Songwriter of the Year for the third time at the Association for Independent Music Publishers' 2026 AIMP Nashville Awards. Additional winners included Zach Top (Artist-Writer) and Ella Langley's "Weren't For The Wind" (Song), and Hardy was presented the Independent Spirit Award; full list here.

Festive All: Lauren Alaina, George Birge, Chase Matthew, RaeLynn and Josh Ross will perform at the Daytime Village during the iHeartCountry Festival May 2 at the Moody Center in Austin, TX. Tickets here.

Little Big Town, Jake Owen and Thomas Rhett have been added to the lineup for Alan Jackson's Last Call: One More for the Road – The Finale, the last full-length concert of Jackson’s touring career, June 27 at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium (CAT 10/8/25). Tickets here.

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

Country Aircheck’s ACM Voter’s Guide is available here.
Morning shows doubling as therapy sessions and prep for the impending “semiquincentennial” in Country Aircheck Weekly.
Cumulus' restructuring was approved. (4/15)
Jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly and overcharged fans. (4/15)
Cindy Mabe launched Joan of Arc Music.
iHeartMedia Dir./Country Programming, Kentucky/West Virginia Rachel Elliot exited. (4/13)
Black River's Bill Macky, Joe Carroll and Jim Malito departed. (4/13)
Sadie Young and Jeff McBrayer joined KUAD/Fort Collins, CO in mornings. (4/13)

Fish Bowl: Big Radio/Janesville, WI, which includes Country WJVL, has added two additional "Showcase Studios" with groundfloor windows about a block away from the cluster's existing space. WJVL PD Justin Brown tells Country Aircheck his station will broadcast the majority of its 13 live weekday hours from the new space, and eventually some weekend hours as well "to promote Big Radio as live, local and now visible to the community we serve."

ICYMI: Luke Combs was highlighted as one of the world’s most influential people in a TIME100 cover story, and will perform at the 20th annual TIME100 Gala April 23 in New York. Read the full profile here and a tribute written by Ed Sheeran here.

Lainey Wilson opened up about love, mental health and her dreams beyond music in a People cover story; read the full profile here.

Ian Munsick’s Cowboy Bar & Western Grill will open Sept. 18 in Deadwood, SD (CAT 2/26), with a full day of performances, followed by Munsick’s performance at Outlaw Square for Deadwood Jam; tickets here.

RadioTraks, a provider of music research services to U.S. radio stations and record labels for 26 years, plans to discontinue operations effective May 29 unless a qualified buyer emerges to continue the business. It will carry on normal operations until that date. Reach company Pres./CEO/founder Hal Fish here.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for April 15, according to Mediabase.

DYLAN SCOTT/What He'll Never Have (Curb) 4513 points
LUKE COMBS/Sleepless In A Hotel Room (Columbia) 4227 points
LUKE COMBS/Days Like These (Columbia) 3836 points
CODY JOHNSON/The Fall (CoJo/Warner/WRN) 3444 points
TUCKER WETMORE/Brunette (Back Blocks/Mercury) 3183 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for April 12-15, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase.

DYLAN SCOTT/What He'll Never Have (Curb) +3274 points
ELLA LANGLEY/Be Her (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) +1966 points
LUKE COMBS/Days Like These (Columbia) +1140 points
CODY JOHNSON/The Fall (CoJo/Warner/WRN) +1013 points
TUCKER WETMORE/Brunette (Back Blocks/Mercury) +971 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (4/17): Amy Goode, Heather Allison, Matt Chamberlain, Monty Criswell, Cash Williams.

Happen Stance: Triple Tigers' Russell Dickerson celebrates his sixth No. 1, "Happen To Me" at BMI/Nashville. Pictured (back, l-r) are Big Machine Music’s Mike Molinar, UMPG’s Cyndi Forman, the label's Kevin Herring and Annie Ortmeier, BMI’s Mason Hunter, Studio Bank’s Ron Cox, Concord’s Courtney Allen and Hang Your Hat’s Hillary Lindsey; (front, l-r) songwriter Chase McGill, producer Josh Kerr, Dickerson and songwriter Chris LaCorte.

Heal Again: River House/Warner/WAR’s Hudson Westbrook and Nashville Harbor's Greylan James help WQMX/Akron raise money for The Healing Sanctuary at The Dusty Armadillo. Pictured (l-r) are Warner's James Marsh, the station's Cherise Richards, Westbrook, WQMX’s Sarah Kay, James, Nashville Harbor's Bridget Herrmann and River House's Lance Houston.

No Such Thing As A Broncin' Heart: Columbia's Old Dominion play the Hondo Rodeo Fest in New Orleans. Pictured (l-r) are OD’s Trevor Rosen, guest Steve, OD’s Matthew Ramsey, WNOE’s Casey Carter, the label's Ali O’Connell and OD’s Brad Tursi and Geoff Sprung.

Signage: Songwriter/producer Jake Saghi signs with Sony Music Publishing Nashville and Ace High Music. Pictured (back, l-r) Ace High's Travis Chaney and SMP's Jackson Kiger, Tom Luteran, Cam Caldwell and Chelsea Kent; (front, l-r) Ace High's Chris Poole and Abigail Wate Ayala, Saghi and SMP's Rusty Gaston.