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March 15, 2023 News@CountryAircheck.com

Lambert Leaves Sony: Miranda Lambert is leaving Sony Music Nashville, her label home of more than 20 years. In a post on social media, Lambert writes, "I'm so thankful for our time together ... yet I wouldn't be true to myself if I wasn't constantly looking for the next challenge and a new way to stretch my creativity." She adds, "I can't wait to see what my next adventure holds." Read the full post here. No word from Sony at press time.

Present Accounted For: NuVoodoo’s Carolyn Gilbert and Leigh Jacobs declared this year’s "Research Project" to be “a gift from CRS.” The gift was a full music test of 716 titles comprising 2,817 respondents nationwide ages 18 to 54, with gender, age and region breakouts available to all attendees. Beyond the music, perceptual questions provided ample food for thought. When asked how they felt about their favorite Country station, only 20% said they would be sad if it was no longer available. “This is not a good number,” said Gilbert. “This is a wakeup call; we want them to be miserable if their favorite station went away.” Jacobs added, “It’s about compelling content. It's about engaging them every chance you get.” Among the top 10 testing songs overall, six were released before 2000. The highest testing song overall? “Picture” by Kid Rock f/Sheryl Crow.

Reve-News: Audacy has reported Q4 2022 net revenue of $342.0 million, down 0.8% from Q4 2021's $344.7m. Spot revenue was down 3.8% to $213.6m, while digital revenue was up 2% from $68.1m last year to $69.1m. Total operating expenses increased from $292.0m to $295.6m. For the year, total revenue was $1.25 billion, up 3% from 2021's $1.22b. Digital revenue was up 9%, operating expenses were up 18.1% and adjusted EBITDA was off 16.8% from $165.7m in 2021 to $137.9m.

“Having started 2022 on a great note with revenues up 14% in the first quarter, we ended the year with revenues down 0.8% in the fourth quarter as challenging ad market conditions persisted," says CEO David Field. Full report here.

Sell-abration: This morning’s (3/15) sales-focused panel, “The Dimes They Are A-Changin: The New Seller,” was moderated by Salem/Portland, OR Dir./Marketing & Promotions Sue Wilson and touched on numerous issues brought to the forefront by the pandemic. Alpha Media/Portland, OR VP/Sales Cressy Walton said her cluster has not returned to traditional remote appearances. “Just standing in front of a retailer with a pair of concert tickets isn’t going to get anybody out there,” she said. Audacy/Chattanooga Sr. Account Exec. Michael Walden detailed the value of digital sales, especially the analytics it brings to clients. Dick Broadcasting/Savannah Dir./Marketing Nathan James concluded, “The dollars are there, but you’ve got to go get them, and you’ve got to come up with a ‘wow factor’ every single time to not only get the client but also to engage the listener.”

Stay In Your Lame: "The gist of this [panel] is how not to be lame on social media in 2023," said Beasley WXTU/Philadelphia afternoon personality Nicole Michalik at this morning's (3/15) "Socially Acceptable: Understanding the Platforms of Today." Live Nation Sr./Dir./Artist Partnerships Stefany Reed said the first step is understanding "you don't have to go viral every time. You just have to be [where people can] find you." This Is It Network CEO/Exec. Producer Cheldin Rumer added, "You don't have to master every space ... spend the majority of your time honing your craft." Lucchese Bootmaker Head/Omnichannel Marketing and Programs Kelsey Charles suggested paying attention to a targeted audience's demographics and preferred platforms, then figuring out how and why your story "fits into each."

Diverse City: Wednesday morning’s (3/15) Power Hour lineup concluded with CMA Sr. Dir./Industry Relations & Inclusion Mia McNeal offering a one-woman presentation entitled “Beyond The Box: A Conversation On Expansive Inclusion.” The 25-minute talk focused on defining diversity, equity and inclusion and destigmatizing the concepts. “It’s about people – humans – and the ways we are all different,” said McNeal. “I do what I do for everyone.” She went on to explain how a diverse group of employees can fortify a company or organization and challenged attendees to think about one small change they could make in their management styles to make others feel more included in the process.

High Cost Of (Not) Living: "We can still do fun things." That was the central challenge of Wednesday (3/15) morning's "Alek Halverson: Living The Dream" CRS session. The KAJA/San Antonio PD took the room back to his childhood as a second-generation radio kid. He also played previously unearthed audio he recorded as child pretending to be an on-air personality. Asserting that radio has ceded the "cool" ground to YouTube, TikTok and other media, he urged attendees to "get back on the streets" to show future generations that a radio career is a worthy aspiration.

ICYMI: Tenille Townes won her second Country Album of the Year trophy for Masquerades at Monday's (3/13) Juno Awards. She also performed acoustic renditions of “Where You Are” and “The Sound of Being Alone."

Bobbi Boyce, Nigel Hassler, Bob Shennan and Chris Stevens were presented 2022 CMA International Awards during C2C: Country to Country Festival.

BMLG EVP/Creative Sandi Spika Borchetta is hitting the dance floor to raise money for families experiencing homelessness during the 14th annual Dancing for Safe Haven April 28 in Nashville; packages here.

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Stories Of The Week: Items you may have missed. Search for news and people in the archives at countryaircheck.com.

Catch up on what you missed at CRS with the Daily Buzz.
Johnny Chiang expanded his oversight to include Country programming for SiriusXM.
The 2023 Country Radio Hall of Fame inductees were announced.
Brittany Schaffer was named Dean of Belmont University's Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.
Chronicle: Jeff Shaw, "Big Joe" Lombardi.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for March 14, according to Mediabase 24/7.

LUKE COMBS/Going, Going, Gone (River House/Columbia) 4540 points
BAILEY ZIMMERMAN/Rock And A Hard Place (Elektra/Warner/WEA) 4537 points
LAINEY WILSON/Heart Like A Truck (Broken Bow) 3754 points
CARLY PEARCE/What He Didn't Do (Big Machine) 3612 points
MORGAN WALLEN/Thought You Should Know (Big Loud) 3386 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for March 12-14 compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

TIM MCGRAW/Standing Room Only (Big Machine) +1584 points
MORGAN WALLEN/One Thing At A Time (Big Loud) +1571 points
MORGAN WALLEN/Last Night (Big Loud) +676 points
CARLY PEARCE/What He Didn't Do (Big Machine) +629 points
BAILEY ZIMMERMAN/Rock And A Hard Place (Elektra/Warner/WEA) +618 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (3/16): Stan Thorn (Shenandoah), Ray Walker (The Jordanaires), Ray Benson (Asleep At The Wheel), Dallas Davidson, Allison Smith, Ray Mariner, the late Jerry Jeff Walker.

Tube Check Tomorrow (3/16): Lainey Wilson, The Kelly Clarkson Show (syndicated).

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Spin & Tonic: Mediabase's Philippe Generali, Spintel’s Rob Dalton, iHeartMedia's Alissa Pollack and Mediabase’s Robin Rhodes (l-r) celebrate their new partnership.

Body Like A Rocky Road: KKBQ/Houston's Travis Moon (l) is treated to ice cream and a performance from MCA's Sam Hunt during CRS.

Well Plaid: Broken Bow's Jordan Harvey with the label's Lee Adams (l) and WUSN/Chicago's Marci Braun at Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Music Celebration during CRS.

Nails Before Males: Big Machine/BMLGR's Danielle Bradbery invites CRS attendees to get manis and pedis.

Brothers-Dub: Brothers Osborne's TJ (c) and John Osborne (r) with B-Dub Radio’s Bryan “B-Dub” Washington at the duo's new music preview during CRS.