May 26, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

Three To Leave WSOC: Beasley WSOC/Charlotte's longtime Tanner In The Morning show will come to an end June 19 when hosts Rob Tanner, Catherine Lane and Chris Allen retire after a 22-year run. Lane also does middays at WSOC. The show's fourth member, traffic reporter "Captain Jim" Homa, remains with Beasley in that capacity, where he is heard across the Charlotte cluster. The show launched when Tanner joined WSOC in 2005 from mornings at WPCV/Lakeland, FL. VP/MM Mac Edwards says the team has “been an important part of the fabric of Country 103.7 and the Charlotte area ... They created a show that listeners welcomed into their homes, cars and lives every morning. With over 18 ACM and CMA nominations, their impact on the station, the market and country music has been tremendous.” No word on plans for mornings or middays.

Blink Of A Buckeye: Longtime iHeartMedia/Mansfield & Marion, OH Market Pres. Margie Tasseff is retiring June 1. She oversees seven stations in Mansfield (including WNCO) and three in Marion (including WMRN). Tasseff has been with the company for 39 years, including 15 in her current role in Mansfield, adding those duties for Marion in 2021. Area Pres. Matt Bell says, "Margie’s passion for this business, her commitment to the Mansfield and Marion communities and the relationships she built over nearly four decades have left an incredible mark on our company and everyone fortunate enough to work alongside her." No word on plans for the position.

Kindred Spirit: "There are few creative talents like Frank [Rogers], who is not only an exceptional creative force but also a top-tier business leader," says Spirit Music Chairman and Lyric Capital Group Co-Founding Partner Jon Singer, announcing that Rogers has been promoted from Chief Creative Officer and CEO/Nashville to global CEO, as reported earlier today (5/26) via Breaking News. Rogers was appointed Nashville CEO in 2019 (CAT 5/3/19), adding CCO duties for the whole company in 2022 (CAT 9/12/22). He continues to serve as Pres. of joint venture Fluid Music Revolution (CAT 2/18/16). His publishing background includes leadership roles with EMI Nashville and Sea Gayle Music. Spirit has offices in Nashville, Los Angeles, London and New York.

KLUR's Austin Retires: Cumulus KLUR/Wichita Falls, TX morning host Brad Austin has retired after 28 years in the daypart. Austin spent his entire career in Wichita Falls, and had two previous stints with KLUR: 1975-77 and 1981-85. He also served as PD 2005 to 2018 (CAT 6/7/18). KLUR midday host "Big Jim" Russell has returned to mornings, a daypart he hosted on the station from 1974 to 1997. He has been back with KLUR since 2022 (CAT 5/9/22). No word on plans for the midday shift.

Smith Rises: Cox Media Group/Athens, GA Dir./Digital Media Lauren Smith has been promoted to Sr. Dir./Digital Sales for the company, where she will work with all of its radio and television stations. Before joining Cox in 2022, Smith held leadership roles at Fast Radius and Omnicom Media Group.

Harris Teeter: Wrensong Entertainment Mgr./Creative Haily Harris has joined Combustion Music in the same capacity. In addition to Wrensong, where she has worked since 2024, Harris took on the additional role of Creative Consultant for Jody Williams Songs in 2025. She also served as the Award Show Coord. for the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), in addition to her other jobs. Reach her here.

Nix Tape: Industry vet Chrissy Nix has launched creative artist development company The Interlude with clients including Remy Garrison, JB Somers and Amy Peters. “So much of this industry pushes artists to move faster, be louder and fit into boxes," she says. "I wanted to build something that creates space for artists to actually develop creatively, emotionally and sustainably.” Reach her here.

Choosin' Winners: Morgan Wallen was named Best Male Country Artist and Ella Langley Best Female Country Artist at last night's (5/25) fan-voted American Music Awards, which aired on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. Zac Brown Band won Best Country Duo or Group. Sam Barber was the Breakthrough Country Artist. Megan Moroney's Cloud 9 won Best Country Album, and Langley's "Choosin' Texas" was awarded Best Country Song. See all the winners here.

Tour Support: Lauren Alaina's The Stages Tour kicks off Oct. 1 in Milwaukee and wraps Nov. 12 in Nashville. Joining on select dates are Shane Profitt, Ashley Kutcher and Hannah Harper. Tickets go on sale Friday (5/29) here.

Randy Travis will conclude the More Life Tour featuring vocalist James Dupré this fall with stops in Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, New England, Texas, and more; tickets here Friday (5/29).

Festive All: Lainey Wilson has been added to the Nissan Stadium lineup Saturday (6/6) of CMA Fest; full lineup here.

ICYMI: Ashley McBryde performed “Bottle Tells Me So” on Later ... With Jools Holland last night (5/24).

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Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for the week ending May 23, according to Mediabase.

TUCKER WETMORE/Brunette (Back Blocks/Mercury)
ELLA LANGLEY/Be Her (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers)
RILEY GREEN/Change My Mind (Nash. Harbor)
JORDAN DAVIS/Turn This Truck Around (MCA)
JOSH ROSS/Hate How You Look (Core/Mercury)

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for May 24-25, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase.

JORDAN DAVIS/Turn This Truck Around (MCA) +1159 points
CHRIS JANSON/Me & A Beer (Harpeth 60/WMN) +637 points
ELLA LANGLEY & MORGAN WALLEN/I Can't Love You Anymore (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers/Big Loud) +620 points
KENNY CHESNEY/Carry On (Hey Now) +408 points
TYLER HUBBARD/Land (Mercury) +404 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (5/27): Jace Everett, Alan Clark, Abbe Nameche, Sandy Weaver, Suzanne Wyatt, Carletta Williams, Kira Lew, Denis Miller, Preshias Harris, the late Kenny Price, the late Don Williams.

Heavens To Bets: Blue Highway's Jackson Dean (in hat) with Hard Rock's Brian Jennings, the label's Adam Burnes and KWEN's Karla Cantrell (l-r) at Hard Rock Casino Tulsa.

Drift Kit: Riser House's Mitchell Tenpenny (in hat) with KOLC/Reno, NV's Robbie Owens and JLynn, and the label's Roger Fregoso (l-r) at the station's Drifter's Festival.

Signage: Singer/songwriter Matt Stell signs with Black River. Pictured (l-r) are Rich Mgmt's Jordan Policastri, the label's Gordon S. Kerr, Kellie LaJack, Grace Watson and Tanya Schrage, Rich Mgmt's Brendan Rich, the label's Dawn Delvo, Stell, the label's Doug Johnson and Rick Froio, attorney Aaron Steinberg and Rich Mgmt's Chase Miller.

Signage: Singer/songwriter Sela Campbell signs with Leo33, CAA and Warner Chappell Music. Pictured (back, l-r) are WCM's Bryce Gravitt, Leo33's Katie Dean, Chris Fabiani, Ana Shabeer, Joseph Manzo and Dusty Cantrell, MJF Management's Marc Friedenberg and CAA's Chris Burrus and Kylen Sharpe; (front, l-r) Leo33's Daniel Lee, Campbell and Leo33's Natalie Osborne.