January 26, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

'COS Play: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for December 2025 (three-month rolling average, 9/18-12/10) compared with October and November. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Cumulus is no longer a subscriber in diary markets.

Columbia, SC (Market 89)	WCOS iHeartMedia 6.3 (2) - 6.3 (3) - 7.5 (2) Largest share since Feb. 2024.
Des Moines, IA (70)	KHKI Cumulus 7.2 (1t) - 7.4 (1) - N/A KJJY Cumulus 5.3 (5) - 5.3 (5) - N/A
Little Rock, AR (94)	KSSN iHeartMedia 8.5 (2) - 7.2 (4) - 7.6 (2) KMJX iHeartMedia Cl. Country 3.1 (9) - 3.1 (10) - 3.0 (5)
Monterey, CA (98)	KTOM iHeartMedia 3.1 (7t) - 2.8 (8t) - 2.2 (10)
Spokane, WA (90)	KDRK Stephens 2.2 (8t) - 2.6 (7) - 2.6 (7t) KICR Blue Sky 2.2 (8t) - 2.2 (9t) - 2.0 (12t) KXLY QueenB Does not subscribe.
Springfield, MA (102)	WRNX iHeartMedia 4.2 (4) - 4.7 (4) - 4.2 (4)

10 K: Here are select Nielsen Audio Fall 2025 (9/18-12/10) two-book per year diary ratings for subscribing stations compared with their last books (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025). Ranks (in parentheses) are also among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Gainesville, FL (79)	WOGK Saga 11.4 (1) - 10.6 (1) - 10.9 (1) Tenth consecutive No. 1. WRUF University of Florida 3.0 (7) - 3.2 (6) - 2.8 (7) WPLL MARC Radio Classic Country 1.0 (11t) - 1.4 (10) - 1.7 (9t)
Hot Springs, AR (240)	KQUS US Stations 8.4 (1t) - 9.5 (1t) - 9.8 (1t)

Weather Impact: Winter storm Fern has dumped snow and ice across 34 states, with Middle Tennessee among the hardest hit areas as more than 300,000 households lost power. In Nashville, the iHeartMedia cluster has been running continuously on generator power, with the exception of News/Talk WLAC-AM, which had a generator failure, though the 98.3 FM simulcast remained on the air. SVPP & WSIX PD Gator Harrison says, "Air staff – all staff – are navigating well, [though] some are without power." Key personnel were offered hotel accommodations near the cluster's offices and studios, which have kept power. Frequent on-air and social updates are the focus for music stations, with listeners directed to WLAC for extended coverage. "Everyone was prepared for the road conditions," he says. "The ice, cold temps and power outages have everyone concerned."

WKDF & WSM-FM PD Travis Daily says much of the programming staff was in the building Monday (1/26), with some staying overnight at a hotel across the street. Approximately half the staff is without power, but generator backups are functioning for the stations. "I lived in Colorado and Utah and I’m not sure I’ve seen ice exactly like this," he says. "It took my son and I an hour to melt more than an inch of ice covering my truck with a hair dryer to be able to open the door. I just hope power comes back on soon for all because today’s high is only 20 and we are already hearing from listeners without power about how cold their homes are becoming."

Word Up: Curb/Word Music Publishing has promoted Sr. Dir./Creative-Country Publishing Sarah Schumacher to Head/Creative-Country Publishing and Coord./Creative-Country Publishing Calista Miller to Dir. Joining as the new Coord. is former The Listening Room Cafe Mgr./Booking Zachary Anderson. Schumacher joined Curb/Word as Dir./Creative in 2021 and rose to her most recent role in 2023 (CAT 9/6/23). Miller started as an intern in 2022 and was hired the following year.

Tour Support: Zac Brown Band's 27-date Love & Fear tour opens July 17 in Grand Rapids, MI and includes stops at Boston's Fenway Park (8/2), New York's Forest Hills Stadium (8/27-28) and Red Rocks (10/19-20). Grace Potter, Brothers Osborne, Old Crow Medicine Show and Fitz and The Tantrums support on select dates. Tickets on sale Friday (1/20) here.

George Strait will perform in-the-round April 9 and 11 at Austin's Moody Center with William Beckman in support. Tickets here Friday (1/20).

Mitchell Tenpenny's Speed Of Light Tour kicks off Feb. 6 in Rockford, IL. More than a dozen dates are set, with more expected. Jake Banfield is booked as support. Details here.

Festive All: Scotty McCreery, Jordan Davis, Zach Top, Jackson Dean, Drake Milligan and Kameron Marlowe are among the 58 artists from around the world booked for C2C Berlin. The festival is set for March 5-8 at Uber Eats Music Hall and the surrounding Uber Platz. Brush up on your German, the full lineup and find tickets here.

Dead(line) & Company: First-round voting for the 2026 CRS/Country Aircheck Awards closes tomorrow (1/27). Radio, streaming, record industry and allied industry professionals with valid industry email addresses are eligible to select up to five finalists from as many as 15 nominees in each category. (Seriously, votes from non-industry addresses get tossed.) Last year's CRS/CA Award winners are not eligible to win. Vote now here.

Extended Credit: The deadline for submissions to the 61st ACM Awards has been extended by two days to Wednesday (1/28) at 7pm (CT) due to weather conditions affecting many members. The extension includes the Radio and Industry categories. Find details and submit entries here. The first round of voting opens Feb. 23, and the show returns to Las Vegas May 17, airing live on Prime Video from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

ICYMI: The first Netflix-available episode of Bobby Bones Presents: The BobbyCast (CAT 12/16/25) features an interview with Kenny Chesney and is available to watch here.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for the week ending Jan. 24, according to Mediabase 24/7.

HARDY/Favorite Country Song (Big Loud)
ELLA LANGLEY/Choosin' Texas (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers)
JASON ALDEAN/How Far Does A Goodbye Go (Macon Music/Broken Bow)
GEORGE BIRGE/It Won't Be Long (Records Nashville)
MORGAN WALLEN/20 Cigarettes (Big Loud)

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for Jan. 25, compared with the same day last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

GEORGE BIRGE/It Won't Be Long (Records Nashville) +500 points
KELSEA BALLERINI/Baggage (Black River) +338 points
RILEY GREEN/Change My Mind (Nash. Harbor) +318 points
SHABOOZEY & JELLY ROLL/Amen (Empire/Magnolia/Stoney Creek) +311 points
TUCKER WETMORE/Brunette (Back Blocks/Mercury) +254 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (1/27): Bailey Zimmerman, Tracy Lawrence, Noah Schnacky, Richard Young (Kentucky Headhunters), Todd Berry, Steve Levesque, Joseph Pitt, Tim Leary, Melissa "Mo" Wagner, Ginny Brophey.

Buzz Feed: Warner Records Nashville's Ashley McBryde debuts new single "What If We Don't" at SiriusXM The Highway's Music Row Happy Hour with Buzz Brainard.

Max-A-Million: Santa Anna's Bayker Blankenship (c) celebrates his first platinum certification for "Maxed Out" with songwriter Trevor Daniels and RIAA's Jackie Jones.

Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunday: MCA's Luke Bryan is presented with a No. 1 plaque for "Sunday In The South" by Shenandoah during Crash My Playa. Pictured (l-r) are Shenandoah's manager Cole Johnstone, the group's Mike McGuire and Marty Raybon, Bryan and his manager Kerri Edwards.

WIRK Flow: Broken Bow's Dustin Lynch plays WIRK/West Palm Beach, FL first Secret Session of 2026. Pictured (l-r) are the station's Moriah Daniels and Tim Leary, Lynch and the station's Chelsea Taylor, Nick Rivers and Eddie E.