August 15, 2024 News@CountryAircheck.com

Dayton Haps: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for July 2024 (three-month rolling average, 4/25-7/17) compared with May and June. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Albany, NY (Market 67)	WGNA Townsquare 5.6 (2) - 5.4 (4) - 6.4 (1) Largest share since last September. WKLI Pamal 2.9 (11t) - 2.8 (12t) - 2.5 (13)
Allentown, PA (74)	WCTO Cumulus 7.7 (2) - 8.8 (2) - 9.0 (2)
Dayton, OH (65)	WHKO Cox 9.8 (1) - 9.4 (1) - 10.7 (1) Largest share since April 2023. WZDA iHeartMedia 1.9 (12) - 2.3 (11) - 1.9 (11) WCLI Alpha Classic Country 2.0 (11) - 1.4 (13) - 1.2 (12t)
Fresno, CA (66)	KSKS Cumulus 4.0 (6) - 3.5 (8) - 3.2 (9) KHGE iHeartMedia 2.2 (12) - 2.3 (11) - 2.2 (11)
Grand Rapids, MI (69)	WBCT iHeartMedia 8.6 (2) - 8.4 (2) - 8.6 (1) WTNR Cumulus 1.1 (17) - 1.6 (17) - 2.3 (14t) Largest share since March 2023.
Wilkes-Barre, PA (79)	WGGY Audacy 7.1 (3) - 7.6 (3) - 7.5 (3) WSJR Cumulus 0.7 (13) - 0.8 (13t) - 0.8 (15t)

Still Waters: Longtime Alpha WFLS/Fredericksburg, VA morning host Steve Waters will be departing Aug. 30 for a new, as yet undisclosed opportunity in another market. Waters started his career at WFLS, returning to the station (then owned by Free Lance Star) in 2011 after a stint in mornings at WIWF (The Wolf)/Charleston, SC (CAT 5/11/11). WFLS OM/Content Dir. Jeff Cochran is seeking his successor. Morning team member Grayson Williams will continue in the shift. Reach Cochran here. Find the job posting here. Reach Waters here.

Hall Cop: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has promoted Exec. Asst. to the CEO Haley Houser to Assoc. Director; Assoc. Director/Music Programs Aaron Helvig to Dir./School & Music Programs; Assoc. Director/Museum Sales Dana Romanello to Dir.; and Assoc. Director/Security Joe Bridges to Dir.

Screen shot 2016-03-07 at 4_33_57 PM.png

Discovery Channels: Edison Research presented its 2024 Music Discovery Report, with 49% of Americans aged 12 and up saying that keeping up to date with music is important to them, down from 53% in 2016. Word of mouth is the most popular source of music discovery (82%), followed by YouTube (70%) and AM/FM radio (58%). In 2016, word of mouth and AM/FM radio tied for most important with 68% each, while Spotify jumped from from 25% then to 48% now. Spotify is also now the primary source for discovering new music overall, at 18%, it was at 4% in 2016. Word of mouth and YouTube follow at 16% each, and AM/FM radio drops from 28% to 13%. See full report here.

Gig Alert: Saga Classic Country WSIG/Harrisonburg, VA PD Tom Morgan tells Country Aircheck that despite recent industry cutbacks, he is hiring. The eight-station cluster has a full-time opening for someone with 2-3 years experience with music-formatted stations. Send airchecks, résumés and cover letters to Morgan here.

If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Of Work: David Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers), Al Anderson, Liz Rose, Dan Penn and Victoria Shaw will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame during the 54th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala Nov. 6 at the Music City Center. The top vote getter in the contemporary songwriter/artist category, Brad Paisley, is unable to attend this year’s ceremony and will be officially inducted next year as a member of the Hall’s Class of 2025.

Welcome Wagon: The welcoming committee for the 2024 Radio Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony includes Bobby Bones, RJ Curtis, Dan Endom, Blair Garner, Lon Helton, Gerry House, Kurt Johnson, Dan Mandis, Gene McKay, Mike McVay, John Shomby, Julie Talbott, Greg Thompson, Clay Travis and Bud Walters. Committee members will serve as ambassadors of the ceremony, taking place Sept. 19 at the Omni Nashville Hotel; newly reduced tickets ($495) here.

Tour Support: Drew Baldridge Live has been expanded with the addition of 12 new dates; tickets here tomorrow (8/16).

Festive All: Shaboozey has been added to the GoldenSky Country Music Festival lineup Oct. 18-20 at Discovery Park in Sacramento. The lineup also includes headliners Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett and Luke Bryan, as well as Bailey Zimmerman, Riley Green, Gabby Barrett and more. Tickets here.

What's Cooking: A reminder that Cumulus/Nashville's farewell party for recently retired former VP/Country and WKDF & WSM-FM/Nashville OM/PD Charlie Cook is set for Aug. 19 at 6pm at Analog in Nashville's Hutton Hotel. Cook will be toasted ahead of the Lifetime Service Award he'll be receiving from the Tennessee Assn. of Broadcasters on Aug. 22. Light appetizers and music will be provided at the Cumulus event, along with a cash bar. RSVPs are welcomed but not required here.

Tour de Force: The CMA has made several changes in the voting process for its annual Touring Awards, adding an additional voting round before the final ballot. The nomination ballot period will run Aug. 16-27 in all 20 award categories. Candidates who receive three or more nominations will be placed on the new second ballot, with that voting period running Sept. 16-27. The CMA Touring Awards Nominations Task Force will then review the top 20 vote recipients in each category and determine the finalists. Final round voting spans Jan. 6-16, 2025. The Touring Awards ceremony will be held in Nashville early next year.

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

LoCash talk about their new label and Carolyn Kruse her three decades on the air in Country Aircheck Weekly.
Howard Greiner was named iHeartMedia Metro Pres./Nashville and MM/GM Dan Endom exited.
Eric England was promoted to Big Loud SVP/Insights & Analytics.
iHeartMedia cuts continued with Louis Kaplan, John Lund, Gina Ferraro, "Natalie Cash" Lefler and "Sarah Quinn" Peters, Matt Appleby and Michael Perez.
Angela Reed was named iHeartMedia SVP/Inside Sales Division.
Chronicle: Kathy Hughes.

ICYMI: Hardy, Ben Johnson and Dave Alan Johnson are executive producing Music Row, a new docuseries centered on songwriters and artists in country music today. The series, currently in production in Nashville, will feature Cody Johnson, Ashley Cooke, Hunter Phelps, Ashley Gorley and more.

"Genres suck,” Post Malone tells the New York Times. “It’s easier to catalog music that way. But at a certain point — and the cool thing is that it’s moving towards this — why can’t you mix all this together and make something that’s truly unique to you?”

Chronicle: Veteran broadcaster Carl Lamm passed away today (8/15). He was 97. Lamm spent his entire career in eastern North Carolina, starting in Rocky Mount after serving in World War II. He purchased WMPM-AM/Smithfield in 1958, which featured country, bluegrass and southern gospel music. In 2007, Lamm and his son purchased WTSB-AM/Selma, NC, where he moved the WMPM format and continued to work until his retirement in 2019. Lamm was inducted in the North Carolina Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2004. No word on services.

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

NATE SMITH/Bulletproof (RCA) 4626 points
SHABOOZEY/A Bar Song (Tipsy) (Empire/Magnolia) 4344 points
DREW BALDRIDGE/She's Somebody's Daughter (Lyric Ridge) 3857 points
DUSTIN LYNCH f/JELLY ROLL/Chevrolet (Broken Bow) 3732 points
LUKE COMBS/Ain't No Love In Oklahoma (7Ridges/Atlantic/Columbia) 3632 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for Aug. 11-14 compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

POST MALONE f/BLAKE SHELTON/Pour Me A Drink (Mercury/Republic/Big Loud) +856 points
KANE BROWN & MARSHMELLO/Miles On It (RCA) +668 points
ZACH TOP/Sounds Like The Radio (Leo33) +511 points
JACKSON DEAN/Heavens To Betsy (Big Machine) +495 points
MORGAN WALLEN/Lies Lies Lies (Big Loud) +493 points

Tube Check Tonight (8/15): CMT Giants: Alabama at 7pm CT; Koe Wetzel, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS).

Tube Check Tomorrow (8/16): Warren Zeiders, Fox & Friends Summer Concert Series.

Tomorrow's Birthdays (8/16): Ashton Shepherd, Dan Smyers (Dan + Shay), Emily Strayer (The Chicks), Danny Flowers, Kevin Herring, Pat Higdon, Steve Powell, Joe Simpson, Rick Stewart, April Taylor, the late Tandy Rice, the late Billy Joe Shaver.

A Star Song: Empire/Magnolia's Shaboozey receives a platinum plaque for "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" at Outside Lands. Pictured (l-r) are Empire's Tina Davis and Nate Stevenson, co-manager Abas Pauti, Empire's Ghazi, Shaboozey and Empire's Nima Etminan, Heather Vassar, Peter Kadin, Sydney Owen, Briana Jordan and (front) Samyah Ahmed.

Going Places: Big Loud's Ashley Cooke celebrates her inaugural No. 1, "Your Place." Pictured (back, l-r) are Big Loud Publishing’s Mike Giangreco, Sony Music Publishing’s Rusty Gaston, Back Blocks Music’s Rakiyah Marshall, Boom Music Group’s Shaina Botwin, Warner Chappell’s BJ Hill, BMI’s Leslie Roberts, Studio Bank’s Kari Barnhart, ASCAP’s Duane Hobson and the label's Drew Magid and Seth England; (front, l-r) producer Jimmy Robbins and songwriters Jordan Minton, Cooke and Mark Trussell.

Steady Chart: Columbia’s Kameron Marlowe earns gold for "Steady Heart." Pictured (l-r) are the label's Lauren Zimmerman, Red Light's Kaitlin Madewell, the label's Jen Way and Randy Goodman, Marlowe and the label's Taylor Lindsey, Margaret Tomlin, Caryl Atwood and Steve Hodges.

Pro-Voice: Capitol's Keith Urban with Westwood One's Elaina Smith in Nashville (top) and WUBE/Cincinnati's Grover Collins and the label's Megan Youngblood at the Voices of America Country Music Fest (bottom).

Signage: Singer/songwriter Christian Hayes signs with WME, UMPG and FBMM. Pictured (top, back row, l-r) are UMPG's Troy Tomlinson, attorney Scott Safford and UMPG's Don Glista; (middle, l-r) UMPG's Cyndi Forman and Roxy King and Wildrose Projects' Helena Capps; (front) Hayes. Pictured (bottom, back row, l-r) WME’s John Showfety, Brian Jones, Jon Folk and Doug Neff; (front, l-r) WME’s Lane Wilson, Hayes, Capps and WME’s Geoff Turner.