April 29, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

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Full Nelson: iHeartMedia/Kentucky VP/Programming Nathan Nelson has added PD duties for the company's WAMZ/Louisville & WBUL/Lexington. Nelson has been with iHeart for 16 years in a variety of roles, holding the VPP position since 2023. He also does middays at WBUL. With the recent arrival of Christopher "Boomer" Layfield as VPP for iHeart's eight-station Louisville cluster (Breaking News 4/23), Nelson now has VPP oversight for Lexington, in addition to his new PD duties. Rachel Elliot exited her Dir./Country Programming role for iHeart's Kentucky/West Virginia division earlier this month (CAT 4/13). Reach Nelson here.

Reve-News: Cumulus reported Q1 2026 net revenue of $164.4 million, down 12.2% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.7m, off from the prior year's $3.5m. The company reported a net loss of $16.9m, compared to a net loss of $32.4m in Q1 2025. Broadcast radio revenue was down 16.3% for spot and 24.9% for network, while digital was down 8.3%. "The Court’s recent approval of our reorganization plan marks a pivotal milestone in strengthening our financial foundation and positioning the company to compete in the evolving media landscape," says CEO Mary Berner. Full release here.

Post-It Vote: The ballot schedule for the 60th Annual CMA Awards (eligibility period of July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026) is:

Nomination ballot emailed to CMA members July 6 with voting closing July 16.
The second ballot  opens Aug. 4 with voting closing Aug. 17.
The third and  final ballot  opens Oct. 1 and closes Oct. 27.

Applications for the 2026 CMA Broadcast Awards (eligibility period of June 1, 2025-May 31, 2026) are being accepted here Friday (5/1) through June 30. The 60th Annual CMA Awards air Nov. 18 live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena live on ABC and next day on Hulu.

Festive All: The 2026 iHeartCountry Festival — featuring performances by Luke Bryan, Kane Brown, Parker McCollum, Riley Green and more — will air live from the Moody Center in Austin May 2 on Disney+ and Hulu, as well as iHeartCountry stations.

Tour Support: Atlantic Outpost's Sam Barber has added Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Grand Prairie, TX to his The American Route Tour. Tickets (5/8) and dates here.

Bits & Pieces: CRS Research Co-Chairs Clay Hunnicutt and Justin Chase participated in the CRS360 series' NuVoodoo's Leigh Jacobs-presented “The Music Test;" watch here.

Bailey Zimmerman is donating $1 from every ticket sold for his May 1-2 shows at Nashville's Ascend Amphitheater to nonprofit dog rescue organization Wags & Walks; tickets here.

Mickey Guyton will perform during The Alliance for Women In Media Foundation’s 51st Annual Gracie Awards Gala May 19 in Beverly Hills. Tickets here.

Opry Entertainment Group and Boxcar Development are bringing Ole Red to downtown Indianapolis in late 2027.

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

Country Aircheck Weekly dives into the ongoing Nielsen/Cumulus standoff.
Cumulus/Toledo OM Jerry Mac departed. (4/28)
Avery Anna was named ACM New Female Artist of the Year. (4/27)
Zach Dillon added afternoons at KEEY/Minneapolis, succeeding Mike "Muss" Mussman.
Chronicle: Cliff Downs.

ICYMI: Brandy Clark. Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson all made The New York Times' "30 Greatest Living American Songwriters." See the full list, which also includes Taylor Swift, Diane Warren and Lucinda Williams, here.

Ernest performed "Boat Named After You" on NBC's Today (4/29).

Watch Alana Springsteen's Access Daily interview here.

Crib Note: Musician and Opry Live host Natalie Stovall and husband James Bavendam are expecting her first child in late August. On social media, Stovall said the pregnacny happened after "years of trying, three failed IVF rounds, [and] multiple docs saying it 'probably wasn’t gonna happen' ... Can’t wait to meet this little human at the end of the summer!! Until then, Mamma’s gonna be bumpin' onstage and hosting the Opry."

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for April 28, according to Mediabase.

LUKE COMBS/Sleepless In A Hotel Room (Columbia) 4543 points
TUCKER WETMORE/Brunette (Back Blocks/Mercury) 3444 points
CODY JOHNSON/The Fall (CoJo/Warner/WRN) 3408 points
RILEY GREEN/Change My Mind (Nash. Harbor) 3360 points
ELLA LANGLEY/Be Her (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) 3237 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for April 26-28, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase.

ELLA LANGLEY & MORGAN WALLEN/I Can't Love You Anymore (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) +2462 points
LUKE COMBS/Sleepless In A Hotel Room (Columbia) +1115 points
KANE BROWN/Woman (RCA) +794 points
TUCKER WETMORE/Brunette (Back Blocks/Mercury) +703 points
LUKE COMBS/Be By You (Columbia) +624 points

Fox Office: KUZZ/Bakersfield's Class of 2026 plays the Fox Theater. Pictured (l-r) are the station's Ness Heraldez, Wheelhouse's Alexandra Kay, the station's Kenn McCloud, The Core/Mercury's Josh Ross, Sony Music Nashville's Zach John King, the station's Brent Michaels, Warner/WAR's Chase Matthew, B-Dub Radio's Bryan "B-Dub" Washington and the station's Mike Bell.

Too Step: Broken Bow's Dustin Lynch (holding plaque) celebrates the platinum certification of “I’d Be Jealous Too" with the label's Chris Loss, Tara Master and Peter Strickland (l-r) at the Grand Ole Opry.

Woman, A Man: MCA's Dierks Bentley with WHKO/Dayton’s Cindy Carusone and Nancy Wilson and guests Rachel Murray and Marlene Hey (l-r) at the Ohio Stadium stop of Luke Combs' My Kinda Saturday Night tour.

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Cheer: The Musicians Hall of Fame inducts its ninth class in Nashville last night (4/28). Pictured (back, l-r) are the MHoF's Linda Chambers, Don Felder, the MHoF's Britt Chambers-Hawker, Keith Urban, John Boylan, Moira Hopkins, Dann Huff, Michael McDonald, Leland Sklar, Ricky Skaggs and Richie Owens; (front, l-r) George Thorogood & The Destroyers' Buddy Leach, Bill Blough, George Thorogood, Jeff Simon and Jim Suhler.

Signage: Singer/songwriter Naomi Carman signs with Big Machine. Pictured (back, l-r) are the label's Julian Raymond, attorney Jacqueline Sabec, Haptic Management's Brent James, the label's Ryan Dokke and Jimmy Harnen, attorney Jason Turner and the label's Allison Jones; (front) Carman and the label's Scott Borchetta.