October 28, 2025 News@CountryAircheck.com

The Ties Have It: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for September 2025 (three-month rolling average, 6/26-9/17) compared with July and August. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Chattanooga, TN (Market 94)	WUSY Audacy 9.5 (3) - 9.2 (3) - 9.8 (2) WUUQ Bahakel Classic Country 3.1 (8) - 2.3 (8t) - 2.8 (7t) WOGT Cumulus 1.4 (13) - 0.9 (14) - 1.7 (13)
Huntsville, AL (99)	WDRM iHeartMedia 10.5 (1) - 8.7 (1) - 7.5 (1) WWFF Cumulus 0.8 (15) - 1.2 (13t) - 1.4 (11)
Jackson, MS (125)	WMSI iHeartMedia 3.2 (8) - 3.4 (8) - 3.4 (6t) WUSJ New South 2.9 (9) - 3.1 (9) - 3.4 (6t) WHJT New South Classic Country 2.2 (11) - 2.2 (10t) - 2.2 (10t)
Madison, WI (89)	WMAD iHeartMedia 4.5 (4) - 3.8 (6t) - 3.9 (5t) WWQM Mid-West Family 3.4 (7) - 3.8 (6t) - 3.9 (5t) Largest share since March 2021.

New In Town(square): After cancelling its national Taste of Country Mornings show (CAT 10/13), Townsquare has split the affiliates, with nine picking up Premiere's syndicated The Bobby Bones Show, and seven airing Curt & Samm In The Morning, based out of the company's KWWK/Rochester MN, and hosted by Curt St. John and Samm Adams. St. John is a 30-year radio vet who has been with KWWK since 2012, first in afternoons before moving to mornings in 2016. He had been tracking mornings on KIIK/Quad Cities, IA-IL; KNFM/Odessa, TX; KEKB/Grand Junction, CO and KCGY/Laramie-Cheyenne, WY before they picked up Taste of Country Mornings last year (CAT 3/12/24). Adams has done mornings on KWWK since 2023, with previous stints in middays there from 2014-2019 and mornings on Top 40 sister KROC-FM from 2009-2020. Listen to Curt & Samm here.

The new Bones affiliates are KEKB; KATP/Amarillo, TX; KEAN/Abilene, TX; KGKL/San Angelo, TX; KKXK/Montrose, CO; KWFS/Wichita Falls, TX; KYSN/Wenatchee, WA; KYYZ/Williston, ND; and WJOD/Dubuque, IA. New Curt & Samm affiliates are KIIK; KNFM; KCGY; KDBL/Yakima, WA; KQBR/Lubbock, TX; KRFO/Fairbault, MN; and KUSB/Bismark, ND. Morning show plans for KWCD/Sierra Vista, AZ are TBD.

Change Of Pacey: Bonneville KNCI/Sacramento afternoon host Pacey Williams has departed the station, with his Instagram account teasing a "major announcement coming Nov. 5." Prior to joining KNCI, Williams did weekends/swing at KBWF/San Francisco after stints at KMYI/San Diego, KHTS/San Diego and KMEL/San Francisco. Bonneville Group Dir./Programming Chad Rufer is seeking a new afternoon host. Find details and apply here. Rufer is also still seeking a morning co-host following the May retirement of Tom Mailey (CAT 5/16). Apply for mornings here.

Richmond In Which Mend: In related news, Bonneville/Seattle Dir./Sales Jim Richmond has been promoted to SVP/MM for the four-station Sacramento cluster, including KNCI. He succeeds Steve Cottingim, who retired in April (CAT 3/6). Richmond spent five years with the company's Seattle cluster, and previously worked for Entercom in San Francisco and Clear Channel and CBS Radio in Seattle. Following Cottingim's retirement, his duties had been absorbed by San Francisco SVP/MM Val Maki.

Big Loud's Davis Exits: Big Loud VP/Digital H. Read Davis has exited the label. He joined in the newly created role of Sr. Dir./Digital in 2022 (CAT 4/4/22) and rose to VP the following year (CAT 7/31/23). Prior stops include Spotify and Crowd Surf. No word on plans for the position.

Amanda On Hand: Former TasteOfCountry.com Editor-in-Chief Amanda Hensel has joined SonicTrek.ai's MyCountry.fm format (CAT 10/15) as Coord./Content. In this role, she will guide localized content for MyCountry.fm and oversee its social media. The company has also added industry veteran Suzanne Alexander (RFD-TV, GAC, American Country Countdown With Kix Brooks) as a MyCountry.fm host. MyCountry.fm Brand Mgr. Charlie Cook says Hensel "brings hands on experience and a passion for the country genre." Hensel left the Townsquare-owned TasteOfCountry last month (CAT 9/11) after 14 years on the job. She remains based in Austin; reach her here.

Tour Support: Cooper Alan's To The Pub Tour kicks off April 17 in Dublin and wraps April 28 in Glasgow. Tickets here Friday (10/31).

Prison Mic: From prison classrooms to reality TV sets, KKBQ/Houston’s Erica Rico, WQDR/Raleigh’s Amanda Daughtry and KUZZ/Bakersfield’s Vanessa “Ness” Heraldez prove there’s no single road to radio. Also in Country Aircheck Weekly, Hollywood & Mind brings the conversation on mental health to Nashville, Alexandra Kay gets a Second Wind and Jackson Dean is ghosted.

Special Delivery: Chris Janson will host Fisher House's 15th annual Veterans Day special, The Gift, available to air Nov. 8-11. The show remembers the country's armed forces, past and present, with stories and music from Blake Shelton, Craig Morgan, Toby Keith, Janson and others. To carry the two-hour, Sharla McCoy-produced program, sign up here.

Lift Kit: F2 Entertainment's Fletcher Foster is Chair of the ACM Lifting Lives Board of Directors for the 2025-2026 term, assisted by Vice-Chair John Hickman (Dallas Cowboys), VP Chandra LaPlume (Sandbox Entertainment), Treasurer Paul Barnabee (FBMM) and Secretary Brooke Boyd (ACM Lifting Lives). Newly-elected Board Directors are Greg Hill (Hill Entertainment), artist Tracy Lawrence, Adi Sharma (The Neal Agency), Darin Murphy (CAA) and Storme Warren (TuneIn). Newly appointed Directors are Shelley Grayson (FBMM) and Blain Rhodes (Tape Room Music). See the full board 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.
The deadline for the Country Radio Hall of Fame class of 2026 is Oct. 31; submit here.
Shawn Patrick and Michael "Big Mic" Buhrman have been named KYGO/Denver PD and APD, respectively. (10/27)
Jessi Vaughn Stevenson launched Perfect Game Creative with Warner Chappell Music. (10/27)

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Bits & Pieces: The Opry NextStage Class of 2025 (Dasha, Kashus Culpepper, Chayce Beckham, Avery Anna, Tigirlily Gold and Kaitlin Butts) will perform at the Ashley McBryde-hosted Opry NextStage Live Dec. 3 at Nashville's Category 10; tickets here.

ICYMI: Alexandra Kay performed “Straight For The Heart” on The Kelly Clarkson Show (10/27).

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for Oct. 27, according to Mediabase 24/7.

LUKE COMBS/Back In The Saddle (Columbia) 4719 points
CHASE MATTHEW/Darlin' (Warner/WAR) 3983 points
MORGAN WALLEN/I Got Better (Big Loud) 3231 points
JACKSON DEAN/Heavens To Betsy (Big Machine) 2907 points
LAINEY WILSON/Somewhere Over Laredo (Broken Bow) 2854 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for Oct. 26-27 , compared with the same day last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

ELLA LANGLEY/Choosin' Texas (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) +543 points
MEGAN MORONEY/Beautiful Things (Col. NY/Columbia) +501 points
TUCKER WETMORE/3, 2, 1 (Back Blocks/EMI Nashville) +458 points
RILEY GREEN f/ELLA LANGLEY/Don't Mind If I Do (Nash. Harbor) 458 points
CHASE MATTHEW/Darlin' (Warner/WAR) 442 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (10/29): Jordan Walker, Jules Wortman, Erin Creedon, John Foxx, Maddye Trew, the late Charlie Monk, the late Sonny Osborne (Osborne Brothers).

Road Work: Riser House/Columbia’s Mitchell Tenpenny with Atlanta radio at the Duluth, GA stop of Jordan Davis' Ain't Enough Road Tour. Pictured (l-r) are Cumulus’ Greg Frey, WKHX’s Lucas Phelan, Tenpenny, the label's Ali O’Connell and WUBL’s Angie Ward and Mishelle Rivera.

Un-Hinged: EMI's Tucker Wetmore (r) talks dating profiles, the three greatest songs ever written and his upcoming Brunette World Tour with SiriusXM's Cody Alan.

Last "Weak" End: Valory's Preston Cooper makes his Grand Ole Opry debut Friday (10/24). Pictured (l-r) are the label's George Briner, Cooper and the label's Scott and Sandi Borchetta.

Eh Cigarette: Warner's Gavin Adcock celebrates multiple certifications, including platinum "A Cigarette," with his Canadian label team. Pictured (l-r) are Sticks Management's Saxon Curry, Bell Media's Nevena Maric, the label's Madelaine Napoleone, Adcock and the label's Dave Stelling, Ken Boyer and Lisa Grossi.