November 8, 2024 News@CountryAircheck.com

Déjà VOO: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for October 2024 (three-month rolling average, 7/18-10/9) compared with August and September. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Dayton, OH (64)	WHKO Cox 11.2 (1) - 11.9 (1) - 9.7 (1) WCLI Alpha Classic Country 1.2 (12t) - 1.1 (13) - 1.6 (11) WZDA iHeartMedia 1.6 (11) - 1.5 (11) - 1.5 (12)
Fort Myers, FL (52)	WWGR Renda 5.3 (3) - 4.9 (4) - 5.6 (3t) WCKT iHeartMedia 1.9 (16t) - 2.3 (13t) - 2.2 (13)
Grand Rapids, MI (69)	WBCT iHeartMedia 8.3 (1) - 8.7 (1) - 8.3 (1) WTNR Cumulus 2.1 (15t) - 1.7 (16) - 1.4 (16t)
Tucson, AZ (62)	KIIM Cumulus 8.0 (1) - 7.5 (2) - 7.3 (1) KHUD iHeartMedia 2.5 (12t) - 2.1 (14) - 2.6 (15)
Tulsa, OK (63)	KVOO Griffin 5.2 (4t) - 4.7 (6) - 4.9 (4) First format lead since Winter 2015. KWEN Cox 5.2 (4t) - 4.9 (5) - 4.5 (5) KXBL Griffin Classic Country 4.8 (7) - 4.3 (8) - 3.9 (9t) KTGX iHeartMedia 3.6 (12) - 3.6 (11t) - 2.8 (13t)

Come What Mays: Former Mid-West Family Rockford, and DeKalb, IL Dir./Programming & Content and WRTB/Rockford, IL PD/midday host Gordon Mays has been named Dir./Programming for Milwaukee Radio Alliance WLDB-HD3/Milwaukee, which is also heard on W262CJ and in South Milwaukee on W297BY, all of which flipped to Country as "Froggy 100.3 & 107.3" yesterday (CAT 11/7). Mays plans to announce an air staff shortly, which will include himself in a daypart to be determined. He says Froggy's music mix will be "a mix of burgeoning talent and current chart-toppers.” Mays departed Mid-West last month (CAT 10/25); reach him here. Stream the new Froggy station here.

Wakin' Jennings: Former WGUL, Inc. WXCZ & WXZC/Cedar Key, FL personality Heather Jennings has joined MARC Classic Country WPLL/Gainesville, FL in mornings. She succeeds PD Larry Wilson, who is now heard in afternoons on sister Classic Hits WXJZ. Jennings spent five years at WXCZ & WXZC before departing earlier this year.

iHeart Restructuring Continues: The latest round of iHeartMedia cuts now includes Chillicothe, OH cluster PD and WKKJ afternoon host Christina Wolford. "It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve this town on the radio for the past 35 years," she shared on social media. "I will always cherish the memories and friendships I made on the radio ... On to the next chapter!" She joined the cluster in 1989 and had handled afternoons since 2013 following two years in mornings and a total of 18 years in the news department. Reach her here.

Queen Bey: Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter, Post Malone's F-1 Trillion, Kacey Musgraves' Deeper Well, Chris Stapleton's Higher and Lainey Wilson's Whirlwind are up for Best Country Album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, airing live from Los Angeles Feb. 2 on CBS and Paramount+. Beyoncé also earned nods for all-genre Record and Song ("Texas Hold 'Em") and Album (Cowboy Carter), as well as Best Country Solo Performance ("16 Carriages") and Best Country Duo/Group Performance ("II Most Wanted" f/Miley Cyrus), among others. Shaboozey's nominations include all-genre Best New Artist and Song of the Year, Country Solo Performance and Country Song, while Jelly Roll's "I Am Not Okay" and Post Malone's "I Had Some Help" f/Morgan Wallen each earned two nominations; full list here.

Gig Alert: Smack is looking for a Nashville-based Dir./Marketing with at least six years of industry experience (ideally in digital marketing). Duties include the creation of digital marketing campaigns, communicating with streaming and digital partners and growing social media engagement. Résumés to Pres. Robert Carlton here.

Reve-News: iHeartMedia reported Q3 revenue of $1.01 billion, up 5.8% from the prior year's $953m. Adjusted EBITDA was $205m, up 0.4% from last year's $204m. Broadcast radio revenue was $448.8m (-1.4%), digital revenue (excluding podcasting) was $187m (+13.6%) and podcast revenue was $114m (+11.1%). "Technology is the key to increasing our operating leverage because it allows us to speed up processes, streamline legacy systems, and enables us to take another significant step in our modernization journey," says Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman. "We have flattened our organization, eliminated redundancies and broken down silos, which will have a major impact on costs, expected to generate $200 million of annual savings in 2025 compared to 2024, and benefiting full year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA by $150 million on a year over year basis.”

The company also entered into an agreement with debt holders to exchange $4.1b of existing debt for new notes and term loans, extend maturities by three years and keep annual cash interest essentially flat. Full release here.

Saga Communications reported Q3 net revenue of $28.1 million, down 3.5% from $29.1m in the same period last year. Station operating expense was $23.5m, a 3.1% increase year-over-year. The company had a net income of $1.3m compared to $2.7m in the same period last year. Full release here.

Flip Out: Mountain Radio KQSC-AM/Colorado Springs has flipped to a simulcast of sister Classic Hits KDZA-AM. The station, which was also heard on two FM translators in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, adopted its Red Dirt-focused format in January 2016. No word on staff.

Special Delivery: Compass Media Networks' Y’all Access With Kelly Sutton is offering a three-hour CMA Awards preview special, available inventory free to stations in non-competitive markets for broadcast Nov. 16-20. It includes nominated songs and Sutton's interviews with nominees, performers and the hosts of the Nov. 20 awards show – Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson. Contact Doug Ingold here to sign up.

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

iHeartMedia restructuring affected Clyde Bass, Nick Jordan, David "D.J." Taylor, Kia Becht, Greg Chance, Leah Dickinson.
WIOV/Lancaster, PA afternoon host A.J. Cobian exited.
WYRK/Buffalo Clay & Company morning co-host Kadie Daye exited.
Jason Wilson joined iHeartMedia as Area Pres./Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas & Missouri.
KFKF/Kansas City's Tony Stevens is retiring, Jim Daniels is returning and Ed Walker is named MD/middays.
Chronicle: "Jesse James" Davis.

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

MORGAN WALLEN/Lies Lies Lies (Big Loud) 4316 points
JELLY ROLL/I Am Not Okay (BMG/Republic/Stoney Creek) 3560 points
KANE BROWN & MARSHMELLO/Miles On It (RCA) 3058 points
PARMALEE/Gonna Love You (Stoney Creek) 2699 points
ELLA LANGLEY & RILEY GREEN/You Look Like You Love Me (Sawgod/Nashville Harbor/Columbia) 2640 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for Nov. 3-7 compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

MORGAN WALLEN/Lies Lies Lies (Big Loud) +3228 points
MORGAN WALLEN/Love Somebody (Big Loud) +1605 points
KOE WETZEL & JESSIE MURPH/High Road (Columbia/Records Nashville) +1351 points
DYLAN MARLOWE & DYLAN SCOTT/Boys Back Home (Columbia/Curb) +1007 points
KANE BROWN/Backseat Driver (RCA) +953 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (11/9): Chris Lane, Barry Knox (Parmalee), D’ette Brosius, Deb Haus, Sue Wilson, Lyndie Wenner, Neil Cacciottolo.

Sunday's Birthdays (11/10): Miranda Lambert, Brian Henningsen (The Henningsens), Chris Cagle, Donna Fargo, Joe Carroll, Carol Turner, Alicia Harvey, Scott Gaines, Mike Carol, the late Jay J. McCrae.

Monday's Birthdays (11/11): Narvel Felts, Tom Sgro, Debi Fleischer-Robin, Kay Manley, Heather Fricke, Dana Halverson, Brandon Perdue, Max Kachinske, Kristie Sloan, the late Tom Starr.

Tube Check Tonight (11/8): Craig Morgan and Mickey Guyton, Salute To Service 2024: A Veterans Day Celebration (PBS).

The Go-Joe's: Warner/WMN's Dasha (c) with WUSN/Chicago's Marci Braun (l) and the label's Anna Cage before her show at Joe's Live.

My Boys: Wheelhouse's Chayce Beckham (l) and Elvie Shane (r) with WUBE/Cincinnati's Jesse Tack.

Hallie Ray Lightning: MCA's Parker McCollum (l) with the label's Miranda McDonald and WTGE/Baton Rouge, LA 's Jimmy Brooks.

Lights, Camo, Action: Curb's Dylan Scott (in hat) with the label's Samantha DePrez and WHKO/Dayton's Nancy Wilson and Aaron “Woody” Woods (l-r).

Signage: Singer/songwriter Braxton Keith signs with Warner Music Nashville. Pictured (back, l-r) are the label's Patrick Worstell, Cris Lacy, Victoria Mason, Patrick Sabatini and Mason Domke; (front, l-r) Torrez Music Group's Alex Torrez, Keith, Torrez's Emily Vincent and the label's Stephanie Davenport.