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March 12, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

Share-acuse: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for January 2026 (three-month rolling average, 10/16/25-2/4/26) compared with November and December. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Akron, OH (Market 96)	WQMX Rubber City 5.1 (3) - 5.4 (2) - 5.1 (2)
Charleston, SC (76)	WCKN Saga 4.3 (4t) - 3.6 (4t) - 4.0 (3) WEZL iHeartMedia 4.6 (3) - 4.4 (3) - 3.5 (5t)
Monterey, CA (98)	KTOM iHeartMedia 2.8 (8t) - 2.2 (10) - 2.9 (8)
Syracuse, NY (101)	WBBS iHeartMedia 7.0 (2) - 7.0 (2) - 7.5 (1t) WOLF FoxFur 3.1 (8) - 3.4 (6) - 3.7 (6) Largest share since Sept. 2024.

Trace Atkins: Former West Virginia Radio Corp. (WVRC)/Cumberland, MD OM Casey Atkins has joined SummitMedia WKHK/Richmond, VA as Mgr./Promotions and midday host. He succeeds Lori Kelly, who will retire tomorrow (3/13) after more than 20 years at the station. Kelly moved from mornings to middays when WKHK picked up The Bobby Bones Show (CAT 8/13/18). She has also been tracking middays on AC sister KSRZ/Omaha. Previously Beasley WKML/Fayetteville, NC APD/afternoon host, Atkins joined WVRC (which includes Country WVMD) last June (CAT 6/20/25). Prior to his two years at WKML, he spent spent five at WVRC's WKWS/Charleston, WV.

'Wack Pack: Pattison CJJR/Vancouver afternoon host Dana Thompson has added the same shift on sister CHWK/Chilliwack, BC. The daypart had been hosted by Ashley "AJ" Pirhonen. CHWK's lineup now mirrors CJJR's in all dayparts outside morning drive.

Hall Monitor: Hall Communications has sold WCTK/Providence and Classic Hits sister WNBH & W267CY/New Bedford, MA to Red Wolf Broadcasting (d/b/a Full Power Radio) for a reported $2.35 million, with an LMA to begin Monday (3/16). This is the second recent Country station sale for Hall, which shifted its Lakeland, FL cluster, including WPCV, to Marc Media last month. Following that deal, longtime Hall VP/Programming and Dir./Florida Operations Bob Walker has joined Marc as Mgr./Programming; reach him here. Full Power also operates WBMW-HD2/New London, CT as "US Country 99.5."

Reve-News: Saga Communications reports Q4 2025 net revenue of $26.5 million, down 9.3% from $29.2m in the same period last year. Station operating expense decreased 1.9% to $22.9m. The quarter saw an operating loss of $9.5m, compared to an income of $1m for Q4 2024. For the year, net revenue decreased 5.1% to $107.1m, station operating expense remained flat at $91.8m and station operating income was $15.3m, down 27.3% from 2024. The company paid a quarterly divided of $1.6m, approximately $0.25 per share. See the complete release here.

Lunch Meet: The Band Perry, The Jack Wharff Band, Mackenzie Carpenter, Cole Goodwin, Caroline Jones, Shaylen, Greylan James and Naomi Carman will perform during the Big Machine Records/Nashville Harbor luncheon next Friday (3/20) during CRS 2026.

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

J. Love hits country’s on-ramp as ACM CEO Damon Whiteside eyes his exit in Country Aircheck Weekly.
Bill Simmons, Chris DuBois and Kendal Marcy formed Domain Artist Management. (3/10)
Amy Leimbach was named VP/MM for Beasley/Las Vegas. (3/9)
WFKY & WVKY/Frankfort, KY's Paisley Dunn-Banks is leaving radio. (3/9)
Breck Kinsey joined WCEN/Saginaw, MI for middays. (3/9)

ICYMI: Megan Moroney joined The Drew Barrymore Show to talk about the art of post-breakup payback and take part in an impromptu ramen taste test (featuring flavors like Flamin’ Hot Cheeto and Kool-Aid).

Lainey Wilson is among the artists performing during the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards, airing live from Los Angeles March 26 on Fox and on iHeartRadio stations and the iHR app.

Wynonna Judd, Randy Houser, Heart's Ann Wilson, The War and Treaty, Gretchen Wilson, Terri Clark, Brittney Spencer, Carter Faith, Kimberly Perry and more will perform during the Tammy Wynette tribute concert, Forever Yours, March 30 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. The special will air on PBS, date TBA. Tickets here.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for March 11, according to Mediabase.

ELLA LANGLEY/Choosin' Texas (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) 4754 points
SHABOOZEY & JELLY ROLL/Amen (Empire/Magnolia/Stoney Creek) 4430 points
JUSTIN MOORE/Time's Ticking (Blue Highway) 3555 points
THOMAS RHETT f/JORDAN DAVIS/Ain't A Bad Life (Blue Highway/MCA) 3392 points
MORGAN WALLEN/20 Cigarettes (Big Loud) 3021 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for March 8-11, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase.

JASON ALDEAN/Don't Tell On Me (Macon Music/Broken Bow) +1131 points
MORGAN WALLEN/Don't We (Big Loud) +950 points
LUKE COMBS/Sleepless In A Hotel Room (Columbia) +618 points
CODY JOHNSON/The Fall (CoJo/Warner/WRN) +475 points
ELLA LANGLEY/Be Her (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) +464 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (3/13): Billy Yates, Steve Armstrong, Kay Smith, Jay Turner, Rick McCracken, the late Liz Anderson, the late Jan Howard.

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Web Check: Marty Stuart will announce the 2026 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees March 20 at 10am CT on the CMA's YouTube Channel.

Walk The Liner: Mercury's Jacob Hackworth commemorates his first station visit with WSOC/Charlotte's Cameron Moore (top) and his first radio liners for WKKT/Charlotte's Ashley Wilson and Graham Bunn (bottom).

Work Of Heart: WUSY/Chattanooga's Heart Strings For Hope benefit show raises more than $500,000 for St. Jude. Pictured (back, l-r) are Riser House/Columbia’s Mitchell Tenpenny, Sawgod/Columbia NY/Triple Tigers' Ella Langley, Big Loud's Lauren Alaina, Mercury's Tucker Wetmore and singer/songwriter Kelley Lovelace; (front, l-r) Triple Tiger's Blake Nixon, SMN's Jansen Morgan, the station's Melissa "Mo" Wagner and Greg “StyckMan” Owens, Big Loud's Kelley Bradshaw, the station's Ken Hicks and Jaclyn Davis, Audacy's Katie Neal, the station's Justin Cole, Tyler Stansell and Cowboy Kyle Croft and Mercury's Trudie Daniell and Jimmy Rector. Pictured (bottom) Langley (c) celebrates No. 1 "Choosin' Texas" with Nixon, Wagner, Cole and TT's Julianna Vaughn (l-r).

BIG Time: Nash. Harbor's Greylan James (c) with WPGB/Pittsburgh’s Dan Quindlen, Travis Marzina, Mike Kasper and Joe Seaman (l-r) at the station's Next BIG Thing.

Signage: Singer/songwriter Scout Speer signs with Sony Music Publishing Nashville in partnership with songwriter Dan Isbell. Pictured (l-r) are SMP's Chelsea Kent, Rusty Gaston, Tom Luteran and Cam Caldwell, Speer, Isbell, attorney Scott Safford and Interstate Music's Jeff Peterson.

Signage: Songwriter/producer Jamie Moore signs with Spirit Music Group. Pictured (front, l-r) are SMG's Kennedy Murphy, Moore and SMG's Mike Fiorentino and AJ Burton; (back, l-r) SMG's Jane Wahlfeldt, Ryan Johnson, Brian Bradford, Will Cooper, Jake Pieklik, Frank Rogers and Andy Hodges.