October 3, 2024 News@CountryAircheck.com

Hot Air: No official word, but Spotify Head/Artist Partnerships Mary Catherine Kinney has joined Republic as EVP/Artist & Label Strategy, where she will lead efforts for Republic Records, Island Records, Mercury Records and Def Jam Recordings. Kinney joined Spotify in 2018 from Sony/Nashville (CAT 9/12/18).

Sunshine Slate: Beasley has elevated three regional sales managers in Florida to new roles: Fort Myers Dir./Sales Randy Cable adds Tampa to become Reg. Dir./Sales; Tampa Mgr./Digital Sales Stacie Waldrop adds Fort Myers as RVP/Digital Sales; and Tampa, Fort Myers & Augusta, GA Mgr./National Sales April Banks-Bailey has been named Dir./Agency Sales for the Tampa and Fort Myers markets.

Pod Squad: Former WKLB/Boston morning hosts Jonathan Wier and Ayla Brown will launch The Hangout With Jonathan And Ayla podcast Nov. 12; more details here.

Bits & Pieces: To assist with Hurricane Helene recovery and damage awareness efforts, WQDR/Raleigh's Q Morning Crew, Mike Wheless and Amanda Daughtry, connected with the owners of local business National Coatings who have been using their tractor trailers and helicopter to get supplies to Western North Carolina and help with search and rescue missions. The Morning Crew flew with the business owners yesterday (10/2) to survey the damaged areas, also spending time at a command center to witness the relief efforts firsthand. The station made arrangements with the business to have trucks on-site to collect donations at the Post Malone show at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek Saturday (10/5).

Reba McEntire joins the lineup for the two-hour American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special Oct. 6 on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Previously announced performers and presenters include Brad Paisley, Kane Brown and Carrie Underwood (CAT 9/26).

Double Digits: Here are select August Eastlan Ratings showing Country stations that are leading in the 17 markets measured monthly by the company, compared with June and July. Shares are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

KSJJ/Bend, OR Gross: 10.9 - 11.6 - 11.9
KCTR/Billings, MT Townsquare: 11.6 - 12.8 - 12.4
WQBE/Charleston, WV Bristol: 16.2 - 18.5 - 19.2
WBYT/Elkhart, IN (South Bend) Federated: 11.5 - 11.8 - 10.5
WXFL/Florence, AL Big River: 12.8 - 13.1 - 12.4
KQUS/Hot Springs, AR US Stations: 11.6 - 12.3 - 11.4
WXBQ/Johnson City, TN Bristol: 22.0 - 21.9 - 23.3
KDBR/Kalispell, MT Bee: 16.8 - 16.1 - 14.5
WALS/LaSalle, IL Shaw Local: 9.2 - 11.8 - 11.2
WBBN/Laurel, MS Blakeney: 18.2 - 16.2 - 15.3
KKJG/San Luis Obispo, CA AGM: 14.2 - 14.9 - 14.8
WBYT/South Bend, IN Federated: 11.3 - 11.3 - 10.7
WACO/Waco, TX iHeartMedia: 15.0 - 14.9 - 14.4

Tour Support: Morgan Wade is extending her Obsessed Tour into 2025, beginning Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C. Joining her on select dates are Crowe Boys, Amy Ray Band, The Lone Bellow and Cole Chaney. Tickets go on sale next Friday (10/12) here.

Festive All: Blake Shelton is joining previously announced headliners Lainey Wilson, Tyler Childers and Sam Hunt at Gulf Coast Jam May 29-31 in Panama City Beach, FL; tickets and lineup here.

Engage Meant: Nashville Harbor Pres./CEO Jimmy Harnen recently got engaged to Leslie Gudel while vacationing in Salzburg, Austria. Congratulate Harnen here.

Final Four: Nielsen Audio observes Rosh Hashanah today. The fourth and final day of September 2024 PPM ratings will be released tomorrow.

ICYMI: Luke Bryan performed "Love You, Miss You, Mean It" and talked Carrie Underwood joining American Idol and Mind Of A Country Boy on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (10/2).

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

Country Aircheck's fall print issue is available here.
Find out which artists and labels are leading the chart share race in Country Aircheck Weekly.
Ronnie Glover segued to Beasley/Las Vegas as Cluster Mgr.
CMT's Leslie Fram exited; reach her here.
We checked in with stations in areas affected by Helene.
Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson and Peyton Manning will host the 58th Annual CMA Awards.
Chronicle: Kris Kristofferson, Henry Williams (Steve Gary), Al Schiltz, Jason Parkin.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for Oct. 2, according to Mediabase 24/7.

LUKE BRYAN/Love You, Miss You, Mean It (Capitol) 4721 points
POST MALONE f/BLAKE SHELTON/Pour Me A Drink (Mercury/Republic/Big Loud) 4443 points
KANE BROWN & MARSHMELLO/Miles On It (RCA) 4228 points
JELLY ROLL/I Am Not Okay (BMG/Republic/Stoney Creek) 4226 points
LUKE COMBS/Ain't No Love In Oklahoma (7Ridges/Atlantic/Columbia) 3618 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for Sep. 29-Oct. 2 compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

LUKE BRYAN/Love You, Miss You, Mean It (Capitol) +3049 points
CODY JOHNSON w/CARRIE UNDERWOOD/I'm Gonna Love You (CoJo/Warner/WMN) +2270 points
JELLY ROLL/I Am Not Okay (BMG/Republic/Stoney Creek) +2209 points
ELLA LANGLEY & RILEY GREEN/You Look Like You Love Me (Sawgod/Columbia/Nashville Harbor) +2153 points
MORGAN WALLEN/Lies Lies Lies (Big Loud) +1295 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (10/4): Heidi Newfield, Jaren Johnston (The Cadillac Three), Sarah Darling, Kristy Osmunson (American Young), Hobie Hubbard (Sawyer Brown), Leroy Van Dyke, J. Brooks, Dan Nelson, Lucas Phelan, Jeff Hackett, Sean Caldwell, Chris Carson, Leeanne Lisk, Joel Pyle, Will Payne.

Penn Pals: Stoney Creek's Jelly Roll at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. Pictured (l-r) are WFGY/Altoona, PA's Bobbi Castellucci, Mr. Roll, WFGY's Cadillac Jack and Castellucci's husband, Nick.

Brothers KIIM: MCA's Josh Turner (c) with KIIM/Tucson's past (Jim Slone, l) and present (Buzz Jackson).

Montailgates & Tanlines: Capitol's Luke Bryan with The Big 615's Monta Vaden.