October 9, 2025 News@CountryAircheck.com

Askew In iHeart Cuts: Among those affected by this week's iHeartMedia job cuts (CAT 10/7 and 10/8) is Nashville cluster (including WSIX) Dir./Digital Kaitlyn Askew, who had been with the company in various digital roles since 2016. She shared on social media, "I have learned and changed so much over the last decade, but the thing I’m the most thankful for are the people I’ve met along the way ... Excited for what’s to come!"

Neal To Retire: William Morris Endeavor (WME)/Nashville partner Kevin Neal announced plans to retire from the music industry during the IEBA's annual Honors & Awards Ceremony Oct. 7 in Nashville, where he was among the honorees. During the event, Neal made an additional $20k donation to his existing endowed scholarship at Middle Tennessee State University. He was also among those presenting two $50k endowments to Belmont University to honor late music executives Buddy Lee and Erv Woolsey. Formerly with Buddy Lee Attractions from 1988-2014, Neal joined WME in 2014 (CAT 5/13/14). He got his start with his father Bob Neal at the Neal Agency in 1981.

Texas Hold'em: Following his promotion from Connoisseur/Lubbock MM to SVP/Texas/Louisiana, Jay Richardson will relinquish his afternoon slot on KLLL. Effective Oct. 13, sister KUPL/Portland, OR midday host Jamie "JT" Tanchyk will track the shift. Tanchyk joined KUPL in July (CAT 7/21), and added middays at Pamal WKLI/Albany, NY last month (CAT 9/25).

Urban Ledgin: Autumn Ledgin has formally launched Ledgin Management with flagship artist Tucker Wetmore, and Red Light as a strategic partner. Ledgin has helped guide Wetmore’s career since 2023. Her previous stops include Good Company Entertainment, where she worked from 2018-2023, rising to day-to-day manager, and Sr. Dir./A&R at Back Blocks Music from 2023-2024. Rounding out the Ledgin Management team are coordinators Mikey Hernandez and Reid Staubitz. Reach Ledgin here.

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Tour Support: Luke Combs will embark on his My Kinda Saturday Night Tour March 21 in Las Vegas, with 16 stadium shows scheduled across North America and Europe. Support includes Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett, The Script, The Teskey Brothers, Ty Myers, Jake Worthington, Thelma & James and The Castellows. Tickets (10/17) here.

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

Country Aircheck’s CMA Voter’s Guide is available here.
Nominations for the Country Radio Hall of Fame are open here through Oct. 31.
The CMA Broadcast winners were announced. (10/7)
iHeartMedia layoffs affected JT Bosch, Jeff St. Pierre, Sarah Jacobs, Kevin "Cruise" Mercer, Duce Foreman and Jeremy "Otis" Maher. (10/7)
Mark Handwerger was upped to Connoisseur/Portland MM. (10/7)
Mike Rittberg transitioned to HYBE Label Service as Pres./Global Distribution. (10/6)
Carletta Blake joined WKHK/Richmond, VA as Brand Mgr., succeeding Garrett Doll. (10/6)

Bits & Pieces: After people lined up as early as 4am to get the popular Trader Joe's Halloween mini tote bags, KFRG/Riverside morning co-hosts Kelli Green and Anthony Donatelli took their show to the station's parking lot this morning (10/9), where they gave away 95 K-Frog totes to the first 95 listeners who showed up. Watch the last bag get handed out by Green here.

Former America’s Morning Show and Ty, Kelly and Chuck co-host Chuck Wicks will host a new show for the Heartland Network, The Chuck Wicks Show, beginning Nov. 4 at 10pm ET/PT. It will feature a mix of music, humor and guests. Find affiliates here.

ICYMI: Kelsea Ballerini, Mitchell Tenpenny, Anne Wilson, Ty Herndon and Kat Luna will perform during Opry Benefiting St. Jude at the Grand Ole Opry Oct. 19; tickets here.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for Oct. 8, according to Mediabase 24/7.

JORDAN DAVIS/Bar None (MCA) 4289 points
MORGAN WALLEN/I Got Better (Big Loud) 3916 points
JELLY ROLL/Heart Of Stone (BMG/Republic/Stoney Creek) 3655 points
CHASE MATTHEW/Darlin' (Warner/WAR) 3597 points
LUKE COMBS/Back In The Saddle (Columbia) 3479 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for Oct. 5-8, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

JORDAN DAVIS/Bar None (MCA) +2623 points
ERIC CHURCH/Hands Of Time (EMI Nashville) +1337 points
CHASE MATTHEW/Darlin' (Warner/WAR) +1320 points
TUCKER WETMORE/3, 2, 1 (Back Blocks/EMI Nashville) +1011 points
PARMALEE/Cowgirl (Stoney Creek) +1003 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (10/10): Tanya Tucker, Tony Arata, Austin Clark, Tim Krekel, Tom Baldrica, Don Browning, Patrick Clark, Denise Roberts, Sheree Latham, Mike Bendavid, the late John Prine.

First And Last Date: KSNI/Santa Maria, CA's Jay Turner (l) catches his first Thomas Rhett show on the closing night of the Better In Boots Tour.

Friday Night Hartbreaker: MCA's Jon Pardi plays the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheatre in Bridgeport, CT. Pictured (l-r) are Live Nation's Jim Bozzi, Pardi, the label's Annie Sandor and Connoisseur's Keith Dakin and Kristin Okesson.

Truck Stops: Stoney Creek's Atlus visits KILT/Houston (top) and KEEY/Minneapolis. Pictured (top, l-r) are the label's Matt Vieira, the station's Nick Russo and Bruce Logan, Atlus, traitor Chris Huff and the label's JoJamie Hahr; (bottom, l-r) Gregg Swedberg, Atlus and Patrick Knight.

Hole Lotta Love: Mitchell Tenpenny's 10Penny Fund donates $117,471.50 to ACM Lifting Lives’ Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund following his annual cornhole tournament. Pictured (l-r) are ACM's Haley Montgomery, Tenpenny and ACMLL's Taylor Wolf and Brooke Boyd.