Country Aircheck

CMA 2021
Voter's Guide

A quick reference guide to the 2021 CMA Nominees

inside The CRS Daily Buzz (2/18)

Day Three: UMGN Explodes With Music
Listening Habits Are Changing
A Knight In Country’s Court

Country Aircheck Weekly (10/11)

Inside This Issue:

"You start out with nothing and, if you're having a good day, you end up with something inspiring. It's hard to explain."

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Top Stories

BREAKING NEWS

» CMA Broadcast Winners:

Big Machine’s Carly Pearce was on the phone today (10/15) congratulating the 2021 CMA Broadcast Award winners who will be honored at the 55th Annual CMA Awards Nov. 10 in Nashville. Here is the list:

CMA Broadcast Personality of the Year

Weekly National: Lon Helton, Country Countdown USA, Westwood One
Daily National: Cody Alan, CMT After Midnite, Premiere
Major Market: Lois Lewis, Double-L, KNIX/Phoenix
Large Market: “Ridder” Shaun Ridderbush, Scott Dolphin andShannen Oesterreich; Ridder, Scott And Shannen; WMIL/Milwaukee
Medium Market: “Mo” Melissa Wagner and “StyckMan” Greg Owens; Mo & StyckMan; WUSY/Chattanooga
Small Market: Steve Stroud, Ben Walker and Nikki Thomas; Steve, Ben And Nikki; WXBQ/Johnson City, TN

CMA Radio Station of the Year

Major Market: KYGO/Denver
Large Market: WUBE/Cincinnati
Medium Market: KUZZ/Bakersfield
Small Market: KCLR/Columbia, MO

» Number Yard:

Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for September 2021 (three-month rolling average, 6/24-9/15) compared with July and August. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Birmingham, AL	WZZK Summit 7.2 (3) - 6.9 (3) - 6.0 (4) WDXB iHeartMedia 5.1 (5) - 5.1 (5) - 4.7 (5)
Buffalo, NY	WYRK Townsquare 9.2 (1)- 9.4 (1) - 8.2 (2) WLKK Audacy 0.7 (17t) - 0.8 (16) - 1.3 (15t) Flipped to Country after the end of the June book (CAT 6/30).
Fort Myers, FL	WWGR Renda 3.0 (9) - 3.1 (8) - 3.5 (8) WCKT iHeartMedia 2.4 (10t) - 2.2 (12) - 2.0 (13) WHEL Sun 1.9 (14) - 2.0 (13) - 1.3 (16)
Greenville, SC	WESC iHeartMedia Classic Country 5.7 (3) - 6.3 (3) - 6.6 (2) WSSL iHeartMedia 6.4 (2) - 6.4 (2) - 5.7 (3) WKSF/Asheville iHeartMedia 1.5 (15) - 1.1 (15) - 1.0 (15t)
Richmond, VA	WKHK Summit 7.3 (3) - 6.0 (3) - 6.1 (3) WRXL-HD2 Audacy N/A - 1.4 (14) - 1.4 (14)
Rochester, NY	WBEE Audacy 9.1 (1) - 9.4 (1) - 8.6 (1)
Tucson, AZ	KIIM Cumulus 7.4 (2) - 7.0 (2) - 7.1 (2t) KHUD iHeartMedia 2.1 (14t) - 2.0 (15) - 2.4 (14t)

» Goin' Through The Big D...& Bubba:

As reported earlier via Breaking News, Silverfish Media nationally syndicated Big D & Bubba has been added to Cumulus WKDF/Nashville for mornings beginning Monday (10/18). They succeed Paul Koffyand Jasmine Sadry’s Morning Koffy, which had been heard on WKDF and via Westwood One national syndication since last May (CAT 5/4/20). Big D & Bubba with Derek “Big D” Haskins, Sean “Bubba” Powell, Silverfish Pres./show producer Patrick Thomas and Silverfish Dir./Programming Jessica “Carsen” Humphreville is syndicated via Compass and will air from 4-10am CT on WKDF.

“This is our home; we live here, [and] we have each raised our families in this town,” says Haskins. “Bubba’s a volunteer firefighter. We are the listener, and we’re living the lifestyle. Country is what we are.” Adds Powell, “Airing live in mornings on [WKDF] is the culmination of a ton of hard work. Preparation and luck have met, and it’s time to cook this chicken!”

The move marks a return to the Nashville airwaves for Big D & Bubba; the show was previously heard on crosstown then-Clear Channel WSIX/Nashville in afternoons from 2003-2011 (CAT 11/16/11) and was syndicated for mornings by Premiere for eight years prior to the duo’s launch of their own Silverfish (CAT 9/10/13). Big D & Bubba has been available in morning syndication since 1999 (CAW 12/9/19) and currently airs in more than 95 markets nationwide. Silverfish studios are based in Nashville. Reach Haskins here, Powell here, Thomas here and Humphreville here.

» Point Of Show Return:

Surprise performer Garth Brooks presented the 2021 CRB Artist Career Achievement Award to an artist who could "populate an entire radio playlist by himself," Keith Urban, during last night's (10/13) Country Radio Hall of Fame Induction Dinner And Awards before joining Urban and Trisha Yearwood for a performance of “Fishin’ in The Dark.” The ceremony not only celebrated the award recipients and inductees, but also the return of the event after last year's induction was moved to CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience.

Brooks' appearance was but the first surprise of the night, which also saw the addition of intro music, scrolling thank yous on video screens, steak instead of chicken (more on that in Country Aircheck Weekly) and RJ Curtis keeping his speech under 10 min. Urban, Beverlee Brannigan, Bob Call, Curtis, Bill Hagy, Norm Schrutt, Heather Froglear, Buzz Jackson, Bob Pickett and Angie Ward were celebrated for their impact on Country radio and in turn recognized the mentors – many of whom were in attendance – who helped paved their way to the CRHoF. “Radio is the house that built me,” said Curtis. Froglear echoed, "I consider it a privilege to be a brick in the chimney of the many Country radio broadcasters here today."