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March 27, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

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Cruze Liner: Blue Highway National Dir./Radio Strategy Jay Cruze has joined the Big Machine/Nashville Harbor promotion team as National Dir./Promotion & Marketing. Cruze had been with Blue Highway since the breakup of Hybe America's BMLG (Breaking News 2/12), where he held a similar post. He segued from iHeartMedia National Programming Group Country PD to Big Machine Dir./Southeast Promotion & Marketing in 2023 (CAT 2/9/23). Also rejoining Big Machine/Nashville Harbor are former intern Carly Leach, now Coord./Promotion & Marketing, and former Label Coord. & Executive Asst. Christina Hunt, now Mgr./Digital Marketing. New to the team is Claudia Deters, who takes on Hunt's former role. No word on plans for the position at Blue Highway. Reach Cruze here, Leach here, Hunt here and Deters here.

Audacy's Martin Departing: Audacy SVPP & Head/Music Initiatives Michael Martin is stepping down May 1 after 17 years with the company and its predecessors, Entercom and CBS Radio. (He was SVP/Programming & Music Initiatives at the latter prior to Entercom's purchase.) Martin acquired his current title in 2019 (CAT 4/2/19), and has also served as Alternative Format Captain.

Mind The Gap: With Cumulus no longer subscribing to Nielsen during ongoing litigation, Eastlan has begun measuring two PPM markets with Cumulus Country stations (Atlanta and Dallas), in addition to previously measured Memphis. Eastlan uses a hybrid of phone and electronic surveys to collect estimates, which measure Persons 12+.

Atlanta
WKHX Cumulus: 4.2 share; 517,800 cume
WUBL iHeartMedia: 4.0 share; 556,900 cume

Dallas
KPLX Cumulus: 5.9 share; 1,003,100 cume
KSCS Cumulus: 5.0 share; 863,900 cume

Memphis
WGKX Cumulus: 5.3 share; 129,100 cume
WLFP Audacy: 3.2 share; 102,500 cume
WEBL N. Mississippi Media: 2.4 share; 92,600 cume

Work The Problem: Morgan Wallen was named Country Artist of the Year at last night's (3/26) 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards. Wallen's I'm The Problem won Album, Shaboozey's "Good News" took home Song and Ella Langley was crowned Best New Country Artist. Additionally, Lainey Wilson performed a medley of “Wildflowers And Wild Horses,” “Hang Tight Honey” and “Heart Like A Truck," and presented Miley Cyrus with the 2026 iHeartRadio Innovator Award.

Contact Update: Former WFMS/Indianapolis afternoon and midday host Jay Michaels is expanding his voice tracking business for Country and Contemporary Christian stations. Prior to WFMS, he was OM for Lake City/Warsaw, IN (including WAWC), with previous stints as PD/mornings at WMDH/Muncie, IN and nights at WQHK/Fort Wayne, IN. Reach him here.

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

CRS '26 takes center stage in Monday's Country Aircheck Weekly.
Connoisseur Media's Zoe Burdine-Fly retired. (3/26)
Warner Records Nashville's Kristen Williams was upped to EVP; additional promotions and hirings here. (3/25)
Brooke Diaz, Bill Lubitz, Jane Staszak and Anna Scott joined Hey Now Records. (3/24)
Heather Vassar was named SVP/Nashville at The Orchard. (3/24)
Dave Russell joined WVVR/Clarksville, TN as PD and morning co-host. (3/23)
Chronicle: Ronnie Bowman, Chip Taylor.

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Bits & Pieces: Artist and former Trailblazers Radio host Fancy Hagood has returned to Apple Music Country as host of new weekly show, Fancy, which debuted today (3/27). It features Country, Americana and adjacent music and artist interviews with a "pop culture-forward" format. Hagood hosted Apple's bi-weekly Trailblazers Radio from 2022-2025. Listen with a subscription here.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for March 26, according to Mediabase.

SHABOOZEY & JELLY ROLL/Amen (Empire/Magnolia/Stoney Creek) 4609 points
ELLA LANGLEY/Choosin' Texas (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) 3813 points
JUSTIN MOORE/Time's Ticking (Blue Highway) 3791 points
THOMAS RHETT f/JORDAN DAVIS/Ain't A Bad Life (Blue Highway/MCA) 3515 points
LUKE COMBS/Sleepless In A Hotel Room (Columbia) 3405 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for March 22-26, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase.

ELLA LANGLEY/Be Her (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) +2253 points
BRANTLEY GILBERT/Good Damn (Wheelhouse) +2043 points
KANE BROWN/Woman (RCA) +1145 points
LUKE COMBS/Sleepless In A Hotel Room (Columbia) +901 points
RILEY GREEN/Change My Mind (Nash. Harbor) +877 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (3/28): Reba McEntire, Rodney Atkins, Charlie McCoy, Gerry House, Michael Powers, Jessica Rouse, Ransom Garcia, Mike Sistad.

Monday's Birthdays (3/29): Brady Seals, Lindsey Roznovsky, EJ Butler.

Tuesday's Birthdays (3/30): Justin Moore, Thomas Rhett, Jordan Davis, Steve Williams, the late Randy VanWarmer.

On-Aeration: Curb's Rodney Atkins plays Wilson Creek Winery. Pictured (l-r) are the label's Todd Thomas, KFRG/Riverside's Pepper Daniels, Atkins and the label's Lori Hartigan and Craig Powers.

Indy Label: Leo33's Trey Pendley (c) with the label's Chris Fabiani and WFMS/Indianapolis' Matt Malone, Deborah Honeycutt and Brooks O’Brian (l-r).

Slay, Belles: Deluge Records Nashville/East Music Row Records' Belles (l) with Big D & Bubba's Derek “Big D” Haskins, Jessica "Carsen" Humphreville and Sean “Bubba” Powell.

Habit Forming: Sons of Habit sign with Lucille/MCA. Pictured (l-r) are the label's Stephanie Wright, Champ/Red Light's Matt Musacchio, the band's Mitchell Douglas, Jeffrey Parish and Dalton Daniels, MCA's Mike Harris, Sons' Noah Patrick, Champ/Red Light's Evan Miller, the band's Hagan Edge, and the label's Katie McCartney, Rob Femia and Dave Cobb.