welcome back my friends - country aircheck - issue 1... · feruary ssue powered by country aircheck...

February 22, 2017, Issue 1 Powered by Country Aircheck

Kickin’ With Curb: Early CRS revelers enjoy happy hour with Curb’s Jerrod Niemann. Pictured (l-r) are Taste Of Country Nights’ Amber Atnip, Silverfish’s Carsen and Patrick Thomas, Niemann, Curb’s Mike Rogers, WSOC/Charlotte’s DJ Stout, WLFP/Memphis’ Marty Brooks and promotion exec Jeff Solima.

©2017 Countr y Aircheck™ — Al l r ights reser ved. S ign up f ree at w w w.countr yaircheck .com. Send news to news@countr yaircheck .com

Welcome Back My Friends Country Radio Seminar’s story of 2017 commences now, and what CRS Exec. Dir. Bill Mayne recently pointed to as the magic of the event is certainly to be expected – “networking, learning, having a great time and getting a preview of the music coming for the rest of the year.” Beyond that, getting the most from CRS requires some forethought and balance. With more than 25 panels, sessions or breakouts and dozens of musical showcases, it can’t all be done ... but that shouldn’t stop anyone from trying. Here are a few tips from Agenda Committee Chair Tom Hanrahan, who knows a thing or two about this year’s hottest sessions, starting with the mentoring breakfasts Thursday morning.

Hanrahan calls them “invaluable face time with the best of the best in sales or programming across market sizes.” Panels expected to generate buzz include “Speeding Toward Tomorrow” on radio’s place in a driverless world and a follow-up to last year’s most talked-about panel called “Women Empowering Women.” “You’re More Valuable Than You Think” looks at successful career transitions and “Cultivating

The Farm Team” addresses filling the crucial need for talent development. “Broadcast companies are doing some innovative things to find talent in areas we haven’t been looking,” Hanrahan hints. Social media, research and data analysis sessions (see Look Ahead, page 5) have been meticulously planned. And there’s some out-of-the-format perspective in “Coaching the Coaches,”

during which ESPN/ABC’s Kirk Herbstreit, HLN/Cumulus’ Robin Meade and Pop morning team Ace & TJ will share how they are best motivated. “This is just one of many ways CRS is able to get more external voices and talent to shape a positive experience for attendees,” Hanrahan says. Also providing valuable perspective in that vein are keynote Olympian Scott Hamilton, featured speaker Ryan Redington from

TomHanrahan

February 22, 2017


Amazon, a trip “Inside Studio G” with Garth Brooks and Friday’s discussion with Toby Keith on doing things “My Way.” Finally, there’s the research team from Edison, whose mobile-focused presentation likely joins a long line of thought-shaping analysis. As Mayne says, “The big picture of this presentation is getting off our hamster wheel for a big look at the outside world in which we need to grow, evolve, captivate and maintain our relevance.” Music, of course, is wrapped around and through the entire event, and is every bit as important. “For people who have to make decisions about music, seeing and hearing the talent is a big deal,” Mayne says. “You can effectively and efficiently get more business done in three days than you could in two years running all over the country.” It all wraps Friday with the New Faces of Country Music. Beyond hearing five rising artists selected by radio – William Michael Morgan, Maren Morris, Jon Pardi, Granger Smith and Drake White, the evening will honor 27 of radio and records best in the industry-voted CRS/Country Aircheck Awards. Don’t miss it!

Nashville’s Country Stations “The music business didn’t die, it just moved to Nashville.” Lionel Richie could just have easily been talking about Country radio had he made that observation this time of year. With roughly 2,000 Country pros coming into town for CRS 2017, many will be sampling the airwaves to see how their format is represented in Music City. With that in mind, Country Aircheck is offering a baseline to better understand what’s coming through the speakers. Market & Ratings: If choice is evidence, Country radio is represented well. Nashville is one of two PPM markets with four full-signal Country subscribers (Salt Lake City is the other). Three are owned by one of the two biggest radio companies in America (iHeartMedia and Cumulus). The fourth is operated by Ryman Hospitality, which also owns some of the most famous country

music brands in the world in the Grand Ole Opry and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Nielsen Audio ranks Nashville as market 43 and over the last 13 PPM surveys it offered a combined average Country share of 15.6. The four stations are Cumulus’ WSM-FM (Nash Icon at 95.5) and WKDF (Nash FM at 103.3), iHeartMedia’s WSIX (The Big 98 at 97.9) and

Ryman Hospitality’s Classic Country WSM-AM (650 AM). The three FMs are 100kW Class Cs with similar market coverage, and WSM-AM is a 50kW clear channel Class C heard at night in up to 30 states. iHeartMedia also airs a legends-based format on WNRQ-HD2 & FM translator W252CM, whose share has hovered near 0.3 since launching in September (CAT 9/2). According to Nielsen, 1.4 million people 12+ live in the Nashville metro, which is 6% Hispanic and 16% Black. Two notable developments have taken place in the Country landscape since Country Aircheck examined the market ahead of CRS last year (Daily Buzz 2/8). One, Nashville has added a full Country share point.

Two, there’s a new overall Country leader. By surveys won and among People 6+, WSM-FM rose from third to first in 2016, topping all but one monthly among Country stations (Holiday 2016) by an average of 1.3 shares. In 2015, by comparison, the

Holiday survey was the only month it won and WSIX led the year with eight. Ironically, Holiday was the only survey WSIX won in 2016 and by two-tenths of a share point. Zooming out, average shares for 2016 were 5.6 (WSM-FM), 4.4 (WSIX), 3.3 (WKDF) and 2.0 (WSM-AM). Best shares during the year were 7.3 (WSM-FM in July), 5.0 (WSIX in December and Holiday), 3.9 (WKDF in June) and 2.3 (WSM-AM in August and September). WSM-FM has been notably successful P25-54 as WSM-FM & WKDF OM/PD Charlie Cook explained to Country Aircheck in December (CAW 12/2). “[The station] is in front,” he said, noting its 5.1 share during that survey. “[In December 2015], that was a 3.5.” AQH, TSL and cume all went up, he noted. “Have we stumbled onto something? Maybe we have,” Cook acknowledged. Music & Programming: That something likely had to do with WSM-FM’s broader library. A recent seven-day analysis shows the station with a current-recurrent-gold ratio of 8-25-67%, compared with WSIX’s 48-32-20%, WKDF’s 51-35-14% and WSM-AM’s 14-1-85%. “There’s a significant portion of the listening population that wants a broader base of music,” Cook argued. “The thing about WSM-FM is we feel every song is a hit. Every song has a level of familiarity you don’t get on the contemporary-based stations.”

http://countryaircheck.com/art/47324

http://countryaircheck.com/buzz_sheet/2016%20-%20Issue%201%20-%20February%208.pdf

http://countryaircheck.com/buzz_sheet/2016%20-%20Issue%201%20-%20February%208.pdf

https://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_529%20-%20December%2012,%202016.pdf

February 22, 2017


Music quantity could be a factor, too. WSM-FM plays the most music of the four stations (2,348 titles), followed by WSIX (2,141), WKDF (2,065) and WSM-AM (1,7,18). WSM-AM, meanwhile, airs more unique titles weekly (1,329), followed by WSM-FM (522), WSIX (315) and WKDF (239). As for vintage, the average on WSIX and WKDF is 2015. The averages for WSM-AM and WSM-FM are 1993 and 2006, respectively. If WSM-AM’s 1,300+ unique titles are surprising, Interim PD Jonathan Shaffer suggests they shouldn’t be. “With our heritage – 91 years and counting – and being an AM, we operate in a unique place,” he says. “We basically operate in our own sphere and tell ‘our story,’ which is a mix of the station’s history, premium live content, a diverse playlist, and an outstanding collection of on-air talent that includes three Country Radio Hall of Fame members in Bill Cody, Eddie Stubbs and Bill Whyte. We do our own thing and do it well.” More & Monitoring: Other mentionables in 2016 happened in the realms of programming and mornings. iHeartMedia/Nashville SVP/Programming and WSIX PD Michael Bryan left in September to be replaced by iHM/Chattanooga SVPP and WUSY PD Gator Harrison (CAT 9/1), and WSM-AM PD Dean Warfield exited in July (CAT 7/11). In the on-air realm, Cumulus replaced the Blair Garner-led America’s Morning Show with the Ty Bentli-led Ty, Kelly & Chuck as Garner returned to overnights to helm The Blair Garner Show. Cumulus VP/Country Charlie Cook continues to lead WSM-FM and WKDF, and Premiere’s The Bobby Bones Show still calls WSIX home. All that’s left now is to listen. Sample WSM-FM here, WKDF here, WSIX here and WSM-AM here. Listen to WNRQ-HD2 & W252CM here. –Russ Penuell

How Does Free Sound? Every CRS 2017 attendee operates in an audio environment, which makes the free audio testing available this year a career-preserving opportunity. CRS Exec Dir. Bill Mayne explains the organization’s long-standing drive to offer a little something more to attendees. “In 2010 when hordes of people were losing their jobs we did a panel on the art of transition,” he says. “Several years ago we had Cleveland Heart Lab doing free testing and I’ve got letters from people saying that blood test saved their life. Last year we arranged free COPD testing and a number of people have reached out saying they didn’t realize until then the condition they were in and had been pointed directly where to get immediate help. This year, on that same note, we’re offering hearing testing in conjunction with the Starkey Hearing Foundation and Nashville ENT Audiology.” Country Aircheck initially approached Starkey Hearing Foun-dation co-founders Bill and Tani Austin, who already had contacts in the country world and were enthusiastic about the idea. Mayne’s connections brought in Nashville ENT Audiology and he executed the partnership that resulted in a generous offering to attendees. A full hearing test, free to every registrant, could cost between $250 and $450, and is potentially invaluable. “Audio is our lives,” Mayne says. “You just don’t know what you’re not hearing and finding out can change your life. It changed mine. I damaged my hearing at 21 playing in a rock band, but never thought it was that bad. When I finally sat in a testing room and tried different devices I literally had tears running down my cheek. Everybody needs to hear all the music. If we don’t take care of our own, who will?”

Bill Mayne

Lon Helton, [email protected] Aly, [email protected]

Russ Penuell, [email protected] Newcomer, [email protected]

Paul Williams, [email protected](615) 320-1450



http://www.955nashicon.com/

http://www.nashfm1033.com/

http://thebig98.iheart.com/

http://wsmonline.com/

http://thebiglegend983.iheart.com/


February 22, 2017

Not Your Average Get-Together: The Average Joes Happy Hour crew poses for the CRS Daily Buzz. First person to correctly ID everyone in this photo gets a free subscription to Country Aircheck and a box of dog treats to give to a sad puppy.

A Look Ahead 11amSSM ShowcaseBranch & Dean, The Redhead Express, Alexandra Demetree, Wes HaydenOmni, Level 2, Music Row 1

12:15pm CRS 2017 Kickoff Party Sponsored by SunTrust Bank and Encore TechnologiesCaroline Jones, Macy Martin, Matt Gary, Jeremiah Richey, Joe DenimOmni, Level 2, Broadway Ballroom Lobby

3pmOpening Ceremonies Sponsored by Sarah CannonOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

3:30pm Artist Humanitarian Award

PresentationZac Brown Omni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

3:30pmTom Rivers Award PresentationPeter SmythOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

4pmKeynote Interview: Scott HamiltonOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

4pmEric Church's Virtual Reality Tour ExperienceUMG Library Lounge

5:30pmWelcome ReceptionSponsored by CMA & Live NationOmni, Level 2, Broadway Ballroom

7pmGrand Ole OpryOmni, Level 2, Broadway Ballroom

9pmSSM ShowcaseTroy Anderson, Jay Seeney, Logan Robinson, Molly Adele Brown, Amanda JonesOmni, Level 2, Music Row 1

10pmMy Headache PartyOlivia LaneOmni, Big Spark Suite

Thursday, 2/23

8amProgramming Mentoring BreakfastSponsored by Sun Broadcast GroupBruce Logan (facilitator), Shelly Easton, Tim Richards, Tim Roberts, Kenny Jay, Rod


February 22, 2017

Phillips, Kix Layton, Mike Brophey, Jeff Garrison, Andrew Bland, Mike Preston, Charlie Cook, John Shomby, Mac Daniels, Nikki Thomas, DJ Stout, Mike Moore, Jeff KapugiOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 5-6

8amSales Mentoring BreakfastKatie Reid, Sarah Frazier, Melissa Kent, Lee Adams, Judy LakinOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 3-4

9amCRS Research Presentation: The Mobilization of Country RadioPresented by Edison MediaOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom, D-G

10amInside Studio G with Garth BrooksOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

10amObjects Are Larger Than They Appear: Small Markets That Do Big ThingsTom Baldrica (moderator), RG Jones, Jesse Garcia, Erica Ogle, JJ Holiday, Stephanie TheisenOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom A-C

11:30amTeam UMG at the RymanRyman Auditorium

2:30pmCMA Breakout Session #1: The Power of the Country Music Radio ConsumerOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 3-4

2:30pmWomen Empowering WomenBeverlee Brannigan, Carol Hughes, Erica Farber, Linda Wei, Beth Burley, Brooke

WilliamsOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom A-C

2:30pmVictory in the Hallways: Creating a Positive Work Culture Gregg Lindahl (moderator), Sean Shannon, Josh Easler, Dave Paulus, Rick JacksonOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 1-2

2:30pmSpeeding Towards Tomorrow: Radio in a Driverless WorldBob Richards (moderator), Jason Bailey, Stevens Radley, Chris AndrewsOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

3:30pmMore Than Words: Presenting Ideas That Inspire Bold Action John Ellett, Jerry JamesOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 3-4

3:30pmYou Are More Valuable Than You Think: Finding Your Full PotentialBecky Brenner (moderator), Graham Bunn, Carole Bowen, Clay Hunnicutt, Jeff RoperOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 5-6

3:30pmCapturing the Millennial Ear: Rethinking Our Traditional Medium for the Next GenerationBob Richards (moderator), Leigh Jacobs, Carolyn GilbertOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom A-C

3:30pmMoving the Listeners and the Numbers That CountRJ Curtis (moderator), Torie Nugent, Mike Moore, Tom Lord, Matt BaileyOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

3:30pmHow Are You Protecting Your Core Revenues? Local and National RevenuesGregg Lindahl (moderator), Paul Weyland, John HenleyOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 3-4


4pmOn-Air Talent Mentoring Happy HourLon Helton, Kelly Ford, Danny Dwyer, Skip Mahaffey, Big Sue, Kim LeslieWestwood One Lounge

5pmCold River Records “Biscuits and Beer”Performance by Drew BaldridgeOmni, Level 1, Kitchen Notes

5pmSSM + Nashville Country Club Presents Alexandra DemetreeOmni, Level 2, Music Row 1

5:30pmCountry Music Hall of Fame Reception/TourKent Blazy, Tony ArataHall of Fame Rotunda

7pmRebel Engine Happy HourLucas Hoge, Stephanie QuayleOmni, Level 2, Top of Escalators

7pm Bob Kingsley’s Acoustic AlleyShane McAnally, Josh Osborne, JT Harding, Laura Veltz, Luke Laird, Ashley Gorley, Brett

February 22, 2017


James, Rhett Akins, Busbee, Jon Nite, Cole TaylorOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom A-C

9pmSSM Showcase + BeerTroy Anderson, Jay Seeney, Logan Robinson, Molly Adele Brown, Amanda JonesOmni, Level 2, Music Row 1

10pmOne Whisky Away PartyOlivia LaneOmni, Big Spark Suite

12amDenny Strickland BreakfastBaja Sexto

Friday, 2/24

7:30amWomen Mentoring BreakfastSponsored by NuVoodoo Media ServicesCarolyn Gilbert, Jinny Laderer, Beverlee Brannigan, Lisa Smoot, Sunny Leigh, Lisa Balance, Melissa Kent, Whitney Allen, Shelly Easton, Katie Bright, Sarah Frazier, Charlie Dean, Katie Dean, Lisa Wall, Erica Farber, Alison Bonaguro, Becky Brenner, Ginny RogersOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 5-6

8amDigital & Tech BreakfastMalika Quemerais, Michael Shoup, Gloria StittOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 3-4

9amDaily Featured Speaker: Ryan Redington/Amazon Omni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

10amThe Digital Revenue ExplosionEli Mayo, Bob Parris, Adam PonzurickOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 1-2

10amDicing the DataBob Richards (moderator), John Zarling, Jeff Green, Tim RichardsOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

10amCultivating the Farm Team: Sources of New TalentBecky Brenner (moderator), Liz Rozengard, Tony Banks, Ben Downs, Dan VallieOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 5-6

10amCMA Breakout Session #2: And the CMA Broadcast Award Goes to…Omni, Level 3, Cumberland 3-4

11amPromotions Start to Finish: Part YouSponsored by vCreativeTom Baldrica (moderator), Fritz Moser, Sunny Leigh, B Dub, John TrapaneOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom A-C

11amLace Up Your Boots & Get in the Trenches with Social Media PlatformsBecky Brenner (moderator), Malika Quemerais, Granger Smith, Gloria StittOmni, Level 3, Cumberland 1-6

11:45amAcoustic Stage Performance Featuring Kaylee RutlandOmni, Level 2, Broadway Ballroom Lobby

12pmLunch & Performance Sponsored by BMLG

A Thousand Horses, Trent Harmon, Delta Rae, Midland, Carly Pearce, Maddie & TaeOmni, Level 2, Broadway Ballroom

2pmCashing in on Live Events: Live!Tom Baldrica (moderator), Dave Anthony, Paige Nienaber, Michael Jordan, Dhruv PrasadOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom A-C

2pmCoaching the Coaches: Top Talent Tell How to Motivate Them BestKirk Herbstreit, Robin Meade, Ace & TJOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G


3pmArtist Interview with Toby Keith: My WaySponsored by BMIOmni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G

5:15pmNew Faces Cocktail Reception Sponsored by Big Spark Music GroupOmni, Level 2, Grandview Terrace

6:30pmNew Faces of Country Music Dinner and PerformanceSponsored by ACM and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital CRS/Country Aircheck Awards PresentationsWilliam Michael Morgan, Maren Morris, Jon Pardi, Granger Smith, Drake WhiteOmni, Level 2, Broadway Ballroom

welcome back my friends - country aircheck - issue 1... · feruary ssue powered by country aircheck...

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