January 21, 2010

» Arb-eque Grill: Here are today's Fall 2009 Arbitron diary ratings for stations in the top 150 markets, ranked by metro size. All figures are persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight, with rankings in parentheses where applicable. Additional stations with ratings released this week will appear in Country Aircheck Weekly next Monday, Jan. 25.
  • Austin: Congrats to Clear Channel's KVET-FM, which rose 6.0-6.9 and from third to No. 1. It was "The Genuine Austin Original"'s third consecutive increase and its best book in recent years. Co-owned KASE also improved notably, up 4.8-5.9 (6-2), beating Fall '08's 4.8.
  • New Orleans: After a strong Summer sweep and two straight upticks, CC's WNOE fell for the first time in a year, 7.1-5.0 (3-6).
  • Louisville: In this subscriber-only market (therefore no rankings), CC's WAMZ declined 9.9-8.2, but topped its 7.8 from 12 months back. Cox's WQNU improved 3.8-4.3, delivering its best book since flipping to Country a year ago. 'QNU moved ahead of Classic Country cousin WRKA, which slipped for the fourth book in a row, 4.1-3.9.
  • Baton Rouge: CC's WYNK was down 5.3-4.4 (5t-7), but outperformed its 3.8 from a year ago. Following its strongest showing in two years, Guaranty's WYPY declined 4.3-3.1 (8-9). Its Classic Country sister station WTGE dipped 3.2-3.0, holding at No. 10.
» Changes At WDSY: CBS Radio's WDSY/Pittsburgh morning co-host Ally has moved to middays following Tracey Morgan's exit yesterday (1/20). Morning teamers Monty and Zeke will continue as the Y108 Country Crew.
 

» Gig Alert: Entercom's KKWF/Seattle PD Mike Preston is seeking "a strong Country music director with amazing air skills that reflect CHR and Hot AC style" following Friday's departure of MD/middayer Lola Montgomery (CAT 1/20). Preston emphasizes that recent MD experience is a must. Airchecks and resumes to him via snail mail only at 1100 Olive Way, Suite 1650, Seattle, WA, 98101.
 

» Everywhere A Sign: Husband-and-wife duo Thompson Square have signed with Stoney Creek and sister publishing company Magic Mustang Music. Keifer and Shawna Thompson were previously on the now-defunct WhiteStar, and will release their debut single "Let's Fight" this spring. Further down 18th Ave., 15-year-old singer/songwriter Jordyn Shellhart is the newest addition to the Sony Music/Nashville artist roster. The label group is distributing her first album In A Room following a summer of Best Buy @15 in-store performances. More info here.
 

» Steel Working: Songwriter and radio vet Steve Freeman has been tapped to head Blue Steel's promotion department as Dir./Promotion and Southeast rep. Also joining the company are Blake Hunter for Midwest duties and Faron Smith as West Coast rep. Freeman's career includes stops at KSSN/Little Rock and WKXJ/Chattanooga, TN; reach him at 615-478-4593 or here. Hunter also worked at KSSN, in addition to KCNY/Conway, AR and KZNN/Rolla, MO; contact him at 501-553-2982 or here. Smith has worked on promotional campaigns for BMW and Texas Motor Speedway; reach him at 505-990-9641 or here. The first single for the label is Burns & Poe's "Don't Get No Better Than That," which impacts Feb. 2.
 
 
» You Can Help Haiti: Compassion International has launched Help Haiti with Compassion, an effort intended to help radio raise funds for the children and families affected by the country's earthquake. The company is offering stations free Country-specific resources, information, spots and liners. Participating artists include Eric Church, Josh Turner, Diamond Rio, Gretchen Wilson, Carter's Chord, Fast Ryde, Clay Walker and Mica Roberts. Sign up for these turnkey plug-ins here or by contacting Mike Severson at 615-496-6023 or here.
 

» More Hope For Haiti: MTV’s Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief TV special will be available non-exclusively to all terrestrial radio stations and Sirius XM as a two-hour live radio broadcast via the MTV Radio Network and Westwood One. Keith Urban will perform with Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow during the special, and Taylor Swift is also expected to sing. The show airs tomorrow (1/22) at 8pm ET/PT and benefits Oxfam America, Partners In Heath, Red Cross, UNICEF and Yele Haiti Foundation. To pick up the broadcast, tune in to Max Receiver channel 16 (stereo 2). For more info, contact Roger Coletti at 212-846-4324 or here, or Neal Bird at 310-840-4357.
 

» Me And You ... And You: BNA's Kenny Chesney leads country artists at No. 2 with $742 million on the LA Times' "Ultimate Top 10" list, which combines the past decade's ticket and album sales revenue. Toby Keith (No. 6, $591.9m) and Tim McGraw (No. 9, $550.7m) also made the list, as well as Celine Dion (No. 1, $747.9m), Dave Matthews Band (No. 3, $627.3m), the Beatles (No. 4, $627.3m) and U2 (No. 5, $609.7m). See the complete list here.
 

» Tall Tale: Padding her lead as the best-selling digital tracks artist of all time, Taylor Swift sold 98,000 first-day copies of "Today Was A Fairytale" from the Valentine's Day soundtrack, according to her publicist. The song reached No. 1 at iTunes hours after its release Tuesday (1/19), achieving Swift's highest first-day sales to date. She will premiere the song on next Sunday's (1/31) 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, which air on CBS-TV at 8pm ET. Download the iTunes exclusive track here.
 

» Wall Bling: The RIAA has issued gold certification for Luke Bryan's single "Do I" for sales surpassing 500,000 units.
 

» Back In The Saddle: The Digital Rodeo Guilty Pleasures Show will be the unofficial close of CRS 2010 Feb. 26 at Nashville's Cadillac Ranch. The company sponsored last year's 40th Anniversary Jam, and this year's theme encourages artists to cover their "guilty pleasure" songs from any genre. The event kicks off at 10:30pm or immediately following the New Faces Show. The lineup is TBA.
 

» Dances On Hooves: Riverbend's KTHK/Idaho Falls, ID PD Dale Desmond participated in Relay For Life's Dancing with the Idaho Falls Stars last night (1/20), raising almost $5,300 for the organization. Desmond had two hours to learn a Samba with high schooler Riley Huston, which he describes as "not as easy as it looks on TV." Check out his moves here.
 

» TiK ToK: Have you cast your final votes for the 2010 CRB-Country Aircheck Awards? If not (tsk, tsk), head over CRBAwards.com before Feb. 5 to choose the industry's best in 28 radio and record categories. Winners will be announced during CRS 2010's New Faces Show Feb. 26 at the Nashville Convention Center.
 

» Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for Jan. 20:
  1. TIM MCGRAW/Southern Voice (Curb) 2270 points
  2. JASON ALDEAN/The Truth (BBR) 2269 points
  3. MIRANDA LAMBERT/White Liar (Columbia) 2222 points
  4. DIERKS BENTLEY/I Wanna Make You Close Your... (Capitol) 2139 points
  5. JOSH TURNER/Why Don't We Just Dance (MCA) 1910 points

All daily airplay data is from Mediabase 24/7.

 

» Country Aircheck Today Top 5 Downloads: Here are Play MPE's Top 5 for Jan. 20:
  1. REBA/I Keep On Loving You (Starstruck/Valory)
  2. JOHNNY CASH/Ain't No Grave (American/Lost Highway)
  3. JOHNNY CASH/Redemption Day (American/Lost Highway)
  4. JOHNNY CASH/For The Good Times (American/Lost Highway)
  5. JOHNNY CASH/I Corinthians 15:55 (American/Lost Highway)
» Tomorrow's Birthdays (1/22): Teddy Gentry, the late Tom Rivers; Jim Saliby.
 

» Tube Check Tonight (1/21): Blake Shelton, Charlie Daniels, Rodney Atkins, Crook & Chase (RFD-TV); Tim McGraw, Soundstage (PBS).

Tube Check Tomorrow (1/22): Keith Urban, Ellen DeGeneres (re-air) (syndicated); Jimmy Wayne, Country Vibe With Chuck And Becca (AMG-TV); Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Hope For Haiti Now (syndicated).


» LAW Men: MCA's Lee Ann Womack gets Up Close & Personal at KCYY/San Antonio. Pictured (l-r) are label rep Allen Mitchell, PD Randy Chase, Womack and manager Enzo DeVincenzo.
 

» Metal Rules: Big Machine's Steel Magnolia hit the Crook & Chase studios to appear on the duo's radio, TV and web programs. Pictured (l-r) are Charlie Chase, SM's Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones and Lorianne Crook.
 

» If George Would Sing My Song: Treehouse's Blaine Larsen and VP/Promotion Tony Benken epitomize "Chillin'" with Country Aircheck staffers this morning (1/21). The Washington state native played several songs including his appropriately titled single (mentioned above) and "I Gotta Get To You," which he co-wrote for George Strait's Twang. Pictured (l-r) are CA's Jeff Green and Mary Forest Findley, Larsen, CA's Lauren Tingle and Erin Duvall and Benken.
 

» Guitar Down: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (r) and Architect Evangelist Jon Box (c) present CMA Dir./Digital Media Chris Felder with a guitar signed by CMA Music Festival performers last night (1/20), honoring the trade organization for its technological leadership in the industry. The CMA partnered with Microsoft to develop new web-based applications for CMAfest.com.

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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