Country Aircheck Today (8/6)

August 6, 2025 News@CountryAircheck.com

Hunts-Thrill: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for June 2025 (three-month rolling average, 4/3-6/25) compared with April and May. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Chattanooga, TN (Market 94)	WUSY Audacy 11.0 (1) - 10.4 (1) - 9.7 (3) WUUQ Bahakel Classic Country 2.8 (8) - 3.4 (7) - 3.2 (7) WOGT Cumulus 1.5 (12t) - 1.9 (12) - 1.3 (13)
Huntsville, AL (99)	WDRM iHeartMedia 9.1 (1) - 9.7 (1) - 10.6 (1) Largest share since Oct. 2023. WWFF Cumulus 1.5 (11) - 1.0 (13) - 1.0 (14)

Star Performers: Here are select Nielsen Audio Spring 2025 (4/3-6/25) two-book per year diary ratings for subscribing stations compared with their last books (Spring and Fall 2024). Ranks (in parentheses) are also among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Atlantic City, NJ (150)	WPUR Townsquare 6.0 (1) - 5.8 (1t) - 4.8 (2t)
Augusta, GA (106)	WKXC Beasley 6.0 (4) - 5.4 (4) - 7.6 (2) Largest share since Fall 2022. WLUB iHeartMedia 4.5 (6) - 3.7 (8) - 4.0 (8)
Ft. Wayne, IN (111)	WQHK Federated 9.3 (2) - 7.2 (4t) - 7.8 (1t) First No. 1 since Fall 2022. WBTU Adams 4.1 (8t) - 4.3 (9) - 3.8 (10)
Lexington, KY (105)	WBUL iHeartMedia 6.9 (1) - 7.8 (1) - 7.2 (1) Eigth consecutive No. 1. WVLK Cumulus 1.7 (17) - 3.1 (8) - 2.4 (12) WLXO Clarity Classic Country 3.7 (6t) - 2.6 (10t) - 1.4 (17t)
Roanoke, VA (120)	WSLC Mel Wheeler 9.8 (1) - 8.7 (2) - 12.7 (1) Largest share since Fall 2017. WYYD iHeartMedia 3.9 (7) - 4.7 (7) - 4.7 (6)
Salina-Manhattan, KS (198)	KSKG Eagle 9.8 (1) - 7.8 (1) - 7.4 (1) 15th consecutive No. 1. KXBZ Manhattan 3.7 (6) - 2.4 (6t) - 2.5 (8t) KQLA Eagle 2.4 (8t) - 1.8 (8t) - 1.8 (10t)

That's Allinger, Folks: Saga WQNY/Ithaca, NY OM/morning host Chris Allinger has set Aug. 29 as his final day on the air before retiring (CAT 3/25). Premiere's The Bobby Bones Show will replace him in mornings starting Sept. 1. Reach Allinger here until Aug. 29.

Colt Of Personality: Curb Word Publishing VP/Country & Creative Colt Murski has joined KP Entertainment as Sr. Dir./Publishing, effective tomorrow (8/7). He joined Curb Word in 2005 and rose to VP in 2019. No word on plans for his previous position. Reach him here.

Claim To Fame: Steve Bogard, Don Cook, Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale, Tony Martin and Brad Paisley will become the newest members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame during the 55th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala Oct. 6 at Nashville's Music City Center. The Class of 2025, revealed at a press conference this morning (8/6), will join the Hall's 247 previously inducted members. Bogard and Martin were elected in the Contemporary Songwriter category; Lauderdale in the Contemporary Songwriter/Artist category; Cook in the Veteran Songwriter category; Harris in the Veteran Songwriter/Artist category; and Paisley in the Contemporary Songwriter/Artist field. Paisley was elected last year, but chose to defer until 2025 (CAT 8/15/24).

3, 2, 18: Carter Faith, Ashley Gorley, K. Michelle and Tucker Wetmore join the previously announced performers (CAT 7/30) for the 18th Academy of Country Music Honors Aug. 20 at The Pinnacle in Nashville. The event celebrates the ACM Industry Awards, Studio Recording Awards (CAT 7/8) and Special Award recipients (CAT 7/9); tickets here.

VerStandig Outside The Fire: With the impending sale of its 104.7 signal, which is currently home to WAYZ/Hagerstown, MD (CAT 7/11), VerStandig has announced the WAYZ format and branding will move to 101.5 Sept. 15. WAYZ will simulcast on both frequencies for the last half of September. This will be a return to 101.5 for WAYZ, which existed there until moving to 104.7 in 2000.

Life Of Pih: SVP/Artist Services Matt Pih has been upped to Partner/President at Nashville-based entertainment merchandising company Futureshirts. He has been with the company since 2019, and previously was Mgr./Tour Merchandise at Live Nation. Reach him here.

Gig Alert: Adams Radio is seeking an OM for its four-station Tallahassee, FL cluster, including Country WWOF. Former OM and WWOF PD Jason Taylor left the company last month (CAT 7/15). The job requires five or more years of radio operations or programming experience and experience managing multiple formats. Send resume and a short note about your programming or operations approach here with the subject line: Tallahassee Ops – [Your Name].

Reve-News: Townsquare reported Q2 net revenue of $115.4 million, off 2.3% from $118.2m in the same period last year. The company saw a net income of $2m, compared to a loss of $48.9m a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA increased 0.7% to $26.4m compared to $26.2m last year. Digital represented 55% of revenue for the first half of 2025. "Digital is and will continue to be Townsquare’s growth engine, and we believe Townsquare’s ability to drive profitable, sustainable digital growth is a key differentiator for our Company," says CEO Bill Wilson. Full release here.

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

Hannah Galluzzi returned as VP/A&R for MCA. (8/4)
Pamal's Kevin Callahan was upped to Exec. Dir./Operations & Programming. (8/4)
Chronicle: Jeannie Seely.

Bits & Pieces: Apple Music Country personality Ty Bentli (8/6) and KSKS/Fresno, CA morning co-host Kris Daniels (10/29) are the latest radio personalities added as Grand Ole Opry guest announcers. Bentli calls his appearance tonight "incredibly special to me to get to participate (just briefly) and become a small part of a place that means so much to all of us who have been lucky enough to cherish it." Daniels calls her participation "a dream come true." See other upcoming guest announcers here.

The Aug. 4 Koe Wetzel & Friends: Stronger Together show in Irving, TX, raised $774,870 for the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund. Performers included Wetzel, Kolby Cooper, Casey Donahew, Ray Wylie and Lucas Hubbard, Pecos Hurley of Pecos & The Rooftops, Mike Ryan, Shane Smith of Shane Smith & The Saints and Dylan Wheeler. The full livestream is available to re-watch here.

In celebration of National Radio Day (8/20), Women In Radio is seeking 15-20 second portrait-style videos from broadcasters to share on social media. Include your name, job title, location and one lesson you’ve learned from the industry, and submit it via Instagram DM to @WomenInRadio by Aug. 10 at 3pm ET.

Service Update: A public Celebration of Life will be held for Grand Ole Opry member Jeannie Seely Aug. 14 at 10am CT at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Seely died Aug. 1 at the age of 85 (Breaking News 8/1). The event is being billed as “Jeannie Seely's 5,398th Opry Show.” It will be broadcast live on WSM-AM/Nashville and livestreamed here. In lieu of flowers, donations in Seely's name are requested to a charitable organization that benefits pets and/or the Opry Trust Fund.

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

NATE SMITH/Fix What You Didn't Break (RCA) 4256 points
THOMAS RHETT/After All The Bars Are Closed (Valory) 4061 points
SHABOOZEY/Good News (Empire/Magnolia) 3866 points
LUKE BRYAN/Country Song Came On (MCA) 3362 points
BAILEY ZIMMERMAN f/LUKE COMBS/Backup Plan (Atlantic/Warner/WEA/Columbia) 3255 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for August 3-5, compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

NATE SMITH/Fix What You Didn't Break (RCA) +2262 points
LUKE COMBS/Back In The Saddle (Columbia) +1108 points
THOMAS RHETT/After All The Bars Are Closed (Valory) +924 points
CHASE MATTHEW/Darlin' (Warner/WAR) +917 points
MORGAN WALLEN/I Got Better (Big Loud) +790 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (8/7): Rodney Crowell, Raul Malo (The Mavericks), Michael Peterson, Kerry Chater, Ken Biddy, Greg Carmichael, Charlie Cook, Josiah Siska, the late Felice Bryant, the late B.J. Thomas.

Sinners And Ain'ts: MCA's Jordan Davis celebrates his eighth No. 1, "I Ain't Sayin.'" Pictured (back, l-r) are ASCAP's Mike Sistad, the label's Mike Harris, Miranda McDonald and Damon Moberly, and BMI's Jackson Kiger; (front, l-r) producer Paul DiGiovanni, songwriters Emily Reid and Mark Holman, Davis, and songwriters Travis Wood and Steve Moakler.

Home Is Where The Chart Is: Galaxy's LoCash celebrate multi-week No. 1 "Hometown Home" on BMI's rooftop in Nashville. Pictured (front, l-r) are producer Jacob Rice, songwriter Zach Abend, the duo's Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, and songwriter Andy Albert; (back, l-r) Relative Music Group’s Jesse Matkosky, BMG’s Chris Oglesby, BMI’s MaryAnn Keen, ASCAP’s Kele Currier, Concord’s Matt Turner, Studio Bank’s Kari Barnhart and the label's Skip Bishop.

Buy A Boat: Warner/Harpeth 60's Chris Janson (c) with WKDF/Nashville's Jesse James (r) and listener Scotty. During an album release party for 20 listeners at the station Tuesday (8/5), Janson was shown photos of Scotty fishing with his grandkids. "He asked him, 'Why are you guys on shore?'" James says. "When the guy said he couldn't afford a boat, Chris got back onstage, told me to turn the mic back on and told everyone he was buying Scotty a boat. There wasn't a dry eye in the house."

Dash Cam: Warner's Dasha in Atlanta (top) and Charlotte. Pictured (top, l-r) are Cumulus' Justin Schaflander, WKHX's Lucas Phelan, Dasha, WUBL's Otis Maher, Cumulus' Greg Frey and the label's Justin Newell; (bottom, l-r) Newell, Dasha and WKKT's Ashley Wilson.

Port Of Call Letters: Triple Tigers' Russell Dickerson on the KEEY/Minneapolis Country Cruise. Pictured (l-r) are the station's Pat Knight, the label's Julianna Vaughn, Dickerson and the station's Gregg Swedberg.