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In This Issue (1/26) 

“I don’t want to be some top-down programming guy that’s in the sky and nobody sees.”

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Radio Vision

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Buzz Feed: Warner Records Nashville's Ashley McBryde debuts new single "What If We Don't" at SiriusXM The Highway's Music Row Happy Hour with Buzz Brainard.

Bayker-Blankenship12626.jpg Max-A-Million: Santa Anna's Bayker Blankenship (c) celebrates his first platinum certification for "Maxed Out" with songwriter Trevor Daniels and RIAA's Jackie Jones.
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Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunday: MCA's Luke Bryan is presented with a No. 1 plaque for "Sunday In The South" by Shenandoah during Crash My Playa. Pictured (l-r) are Shenandoah's manager Cole Johnstone, the group's Mike McGuire and Marty Raybon, Bryan and his manager Kerri Edwards.

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WIRK Flow: Broken Bow's Dustin Lynch plays WIRK/West Palm Beach, FL first Secret Session of 2026. Pictured (l-r) are the station's Moriah Daniels and Tim Leary, Lynch and the station's Chelsea Taylor, Nick Rivers and Eddie E.

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Office IMAX: EMI Eric Church and his team at the premiere of his Evangeline vs. The Machine Comes Alive IMAX film. Pictured (l-r) are Q Prime's John Peets, the label's Mike Harris and Stephanie Wright, Church and the label's Robert Femia and Katie McCartney.

Tyler-Nance12326.jpg BIG Shot: Santa Anna/Akando's Tyler Nance plays WPGB/Pittsburgh’s Next BIG Thing. Pictured (l-r) are the station's Travis Marzina, Akando's Christina Kosters, Nance and the station's Mike Kasper.
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Broken Chart Thing: BBRMG's Madeline Merlo (c) is surprised with a gold certification plaque in Canada for "Broken Heart Thing" by the label's Bryan Columbus and Lindsay Hyslop.

Top Stories

December CDM Ratings
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'COS Play: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for December 2025 (three-month rolling average, 9/18-12/10) compared with October and November. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Cumulus is no longer a subscriber in diary markets.

Columbia, SC
(Market 89)

WCOS iHeartMedia
6.3 (2) - 6.3 (3) - 7.5 (2)
Largest share since Feb. 2024.

Des Moines, IA
(70)    
KHKI Cumulus
7.2 (1t) - 7.4 (1) - N/A 
KJJY Cumulus
5.3 (5) - 5.3 (5) - N/A
Little Rock, AR
(94)   
KSSN iHeartMedia
8.5 (2) - 7.2 (4) - 7.6 (2)
KMJX iHeartMedia Cl. Country
3.1 (9) - 3.1 (10) - 3.0 (5)
Monterey, CA
(98) 
KTOM iHeartMedia
3.1 (7t) - 2.8 (8t) - 2.2 (10)
Spokane, WA
(90) 
KDRK Stephens
2.2 (8t) - 2.6 (7) - 2.6 (7t)
KICR 
Blue Sky
2.2 (8t) - 2.2 (9t) - 2.0 (12t)
KXLY QueenB
Does not subscribe.
Springfield, MA
(102)
WRNX iHeartMedia 
4.2 (4) - 4.7 (4) - 4.2 (4)
Jan 26, 2026 Share
Fall Diary Ratings
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10 K: Here are select Nielsen Audio Fall 2025 (9/18-12/10) two-book per year diary ratings for subscribing stations compared with their last books (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025). Ranks (in parentheses) are also among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Gainesville, FL
(79)

WOGK Saga
11.4 (1) - 10.6 (1) - 10.9 (1)
Tenth consecutive No. 1. 
WRUF University of Florida
3.0 (7) - 3.2 (6) - 2.8 (7)
WPLL MARC Radio Classic Country
1.0 (11t) - 1.4 (10) - 1.7 (9t)

Hot Springs, AR
(240)
    

KQUS US Stations
8.4 (1t) - 9.5 (1t) - 9.8 (1t)

Jan 26, 2026 Share
December CDM Ratings
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Bob Scene: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for December 2025 (three-month rolling average, 9/18-12/10) compared with October and November. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Akron, OH  
(Market 96)

WQMX Rubber City 
5.4 (3) - 5.1 (3) - 5.4 (2)

Bakersfield, CA
(83)  
KUZZ Owens
6.7 (2) - 8.0 (1) - 8.5 (1)
Largest share since March.
KCWR Owens Classic Country
1.5 (15) - 1.5 (16) - 1.8 (13t)
KRJK 
Owens
1.2 (17t) - 1.2 (17t) - 1.5 (17t)
Charleston, SC
(76)   

WEZL iHeartMedia
5.2 (3) - 4.6 (3) - 4.4 (3)
WCKN Saga
4.5 (4) - 4.3 (4t) - 3.6 (4t)

Harrisburg, PA
(87)
WRBT iHeartMedia
4.4 (3) - 4.5 (5) - 4.7 (2)
Largest share since Oct. 2024.
Omaha, NE
(74) 
KXKT iHeartMedia 
7.8 (1) - 9.3 (1) - 9.5 (1)
KFFF iHeartMedia Classic Country
2.4 (15t) - 2.7 (10t) - 2.8 (10t)
Jan 23, 2026 Share
Recent Stories
Jan 26, 2026 Weather Impact: Winter storm Fern has dumped snow and ice across 34 states, with Middle Tennessee among the hardest hit areas as more than 300,000 ... Read full story
Jan 26, 2026 Word Up: Curb/Word Music Publishing has promoted Sr. Dir./Creative-Country Publishing Sarah Schumacher to Head/Creative-Country Publishing ... Read full story
Jan 26, 2026 Tour Support: Zac Brown Band's 27-date Love & Fear tour opens July 17 in Grand Rapids, MI and includes stops at Boston's Fenway Park (8/2), New ... Read full story
Jan 26, 2026 Festive All: Scotty McCreery, Jordan Davis, Zach Top, Jackson Dean, Drake Milligan and Kameron Marlowe are among the 58 artists from around the world ... Read full story
Jan 26, 2026 Dead(line) & Company: First-round voting for the 2026 CRS/Country Aircheck Awards closes tomorrow (1/27). Radio, streaming, record ... Read full story
Jan 26, 2026 Extended Credit: The deadline for submissions to the 61st ACM Awards has been extended by two days to Wednesday (1/28) at 7pm (CT) due to weather ... Read full story
Jan 26, 2026 ICYMI: The first Netflix-available episode of Bobby Bones Presents: The BobbyCast (CAT 12/16/25) features an interview with Kenny Chesney and&... Read full story
Jan 26, 2026 Holiday 2025 PPM Ratings: Day one of Nielsen Audio's Holiday 2025 (12/11/25-1/7/26) PPM ratings are below. Ranks (in parentheses) are among ... Read full story
Jan 23, 2026 Emily In CA: Connoisseur KBAY/San Jose afternoon personality Emily Harlan has been promoted to MD. Harlan, who also does weekends on ... Read full story
Jan 23, 2026 Kyle On The Dial: Former KBEQ/Kansas City morning co-host Kyle Matthews has joined Hubbard WIL/St. Louis for weekends/swing. He will ... Read full story
Jan 23, 2026 Genni From The Block: Former Academy of Country Music Mgr./Creative & Content Production Brittany Uhniat has joined creator marketing company ... Read full story
Jan 23, 2026 One's On The Way: Cumulus has moved its six-station Topeka, KS cluster, including KTOP, into its Kansas City operations, nearly 61 miles away. A ... Read full story
Jan 23, 2026 Weather Watch: As the Southeast, and much of the rest of the country, braces for severe winter weather this weekend, the Grand Ole Opry has cancelled ... Read full story
Jan 23, 2026 Bits & Pieces: Jelly Roll will make his voice acting debut in the animated film Goat, hitting theaters Feb. 13, where he plays the character ... Read full story

 

 

 

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The Year End Print Special

featuring: 
The Year In Music:
Morgan, Ella & More

CMA Radio Winners
Recap The Week

Label Of The Year
Big Loud Turns 10

BMG's Jon Loba:
The Interview



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The 2026 Grammy
Voter's Guide
A quick reference guide to the 2026 Grammy Nominees



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Inside This Issue: 

Exstream: What Is Mainstream Country?

You Never Forget Your First … Cousin

Survey Says: NuVoodoo Research



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