May 14, 2026 News@CountryAircheck.com

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You've Got A Highway: SiriusXM’s The Highway (ch. 56) will become ACM Awards Radio tomorrow (5/15) through Sunday (5/17), when a pre-show will begin at 7pm ET, followed by a simulcast of the 61st ACM Awards at 8pm ET. Hosted by Shania Twain and airing live on Prime Video from Las Vegas, the awards will feature performances from artists including Cody Johnson, Dan + Shay, Ella Langley, Jordan Davis, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Riley Green and Thomas Rhett.

Björn Again: RTL Group Exec. Dir./CFO Björn Bauer has been named CFO for the soon-to-be combined BMG and Concord (CAT 4/28). He will be based in Nashville. Until the closing of the transaction, BMG’s current CFO, Mathis Wolter, will continue in that role before subsequently assuming new responsibilities within BMG parent Bertelsmann. Concord’s current CFO, Kent Hoskins, will also continue to serve in his role until the closing, at which time he is expected to take on another senior leadership position in the combined company. Luxembourg-based media company RTL Group is majority-owned by Bertelsmann.

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Tour Support: Josh Turner has added 20 more cities to his This Country Music Thing Tour, including Memphis, Knoxville, Jacksonville, Fort Worth and Albany, NY. Openers include Spencer Hatcher, Payton Smith, Abbey Cone, Kaylee Smith, Belle Frantz and Will Jones. Find all shows and tickets here.

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

Morgan Wallen and Ella Langley lead the midyear airplay report; full list in Country Aircheck Weekly.
Shane Allen joined Riser House as EVP, and Megan Stottlemyer, Alex Heimerman and Jason VanAuken were promoted. (5/13)
The CMA and Disney extended their broadcast relationship through 2032. (5/12)
Max Media/Cape Girardeau, MO's Jack Swart was upped to GM. (5/11)
Sean "Slim" Widmer joined KDRK/Spokane, WA to track middays. (5/11)

Wedding Belle: Lainey Wilson and Devlin "Duck" Hodges tied the knot May 10 at Ruskin Cave in Dickson, TN, with the bride in an Oscar de la Renta gown and reception catering from the chefs at her Nashville bar/restaurant, Bell Bottoms Up. Guests included Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Jelly Roll, Ella Langley, Wynonna Judd, Lauren Alaina, Ian Munsick, Drew Baldridge and Ashland Craft. Vogue has details and 80 wedding photos here.

Bits & Pieces: Veteran music executive and songwriter Shelby Kennedy has published a book for aspiring artists, songwriters and entrepreneurs titled Gold & Platinum Nuggets of Wisdom: Bite-Sized Perspectives For Navigating The Music Business. Find it here. Kennedy has held positions with ONErpm, TuneCore, Wide Open Music, BMI, ASCAP and Lyric Street, and was an adjunct professor at Nashville’s Belmont University from 2008-2016.

ICYMI: Vincent Mason made his late-night TV debut with a performance of "Damned If I Do” on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he was surprised with a gold plaque for the song.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for May 13, according to Mediabase.

CODY JOHNSON/The Fall (CoJo/Warner/WRN) 4506 points
TUCKER WETMORE/Brunette (Back Blocks/Mercury) 4074 points
RILEY GREEN/Change My Mind (Nash. Harbor) 3701 points
ELLA LANGLEY/Be Her (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers) 3606 points
JORDAN DAVIS/Turn This Truck Around (MCA) 3344 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for May 10-13, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase.

KENNY CHESNEY/Carry On (Hey Now) +3470 points
CODY JOHNSON/The Fall (CoJo/Warner/WRN) +2497 points
LUKE COMBS/Be By You (Columbia) +1611 points
ELLA LANGLEY & MORGAN WALLEN/I Can't Love You Anymore (Sawgod/Col. NY/Triple Tigers/Big Loud) +1125 points
JOSH ROSS/Hate How You Look (Core/Mercury) +1000 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (5/15): Keith Allen, Jon Walker, the late Eddy Arnold, the late Dr. Bruce Nelson, the late K.T. Oslin.

Oil Gig: Sony Music Nashville’s Zach John King at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. Pictured (l-r) are WFMS’ Brooks O’Brian and Matt Malone, WUBE/Cincinnati’s Grover Collins, King, WHKO/Dayton’s Nancy Wilson, WBTU/Fort Wayne, IN’s Randy Alomar, the label’s Anna Widmer and WLHK’s Nick Jordan.

Girls Gone Wild: Warner/WRN's Ashley McBryde (l) with Katie & Company's Katie Neal.

Cause Only You Can Love Me This Highway: MCA's Keith Urban (l) with SiriusXM The Highway's Cody Alan.