January 25, 2010

» Cheese, Rater: 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. Additional stations with ratings released Jan. 20-22 will appear in Country Aircheck Weekly tonight.
  • Nashville: Clear Channel's WSIX scored its best book in two years, rising 5.7-6.1 (5-3). Cumulus' WSM-FM posted its highest numbers in more than two years, climbing 4.7-5.3 (7t-5). Citadel's WKDF was up 4.5-4.9 (9-9), beating last Fall's 4.8. Gaylord's Classic Country WSM-AM slipped 3.0-2.6 (14-14t), but easily topped its 1.6 from a year ago.
  • Oklahoma City: After two strong sweeps, CC's KTST fell 7.0-5.6 (1-3), slightly below its 5.7 from 12 months back. Co-owned KXXY earned its best results in more than three years, gaining 4.1-5.1 (9-7), pushing ahead of Tyler Media's KKNG, which was down 4.5-4.0 (8-10), but nipped Fall '08's 3.9.
  • Ft. Myers: Renda's WWGR declined 5.6-5.1 (5-6), matching its ratings from the previous autumn. After two consecutive 2.9 surveys, CC's WCKT eased to a 2.6 (11t-12).
  • Tulsa: Following a particularly strong Summer, Cox's market leader KWEN slipped 9.0-8.4, but is still No. 1 by nearly a share and beat its 8.1 from a year ago. After rising three of the past four books, Journal's KVOO decreased 6.7-6.3 (4-4). Its co-owned Classic Country sister station KXBL was steady at a 3.4 (11t-12).
  • Knoxville: Citadel's market champ WIVK dipped 19.0-18.3 (1-1), and holds a lead of more than nine shares over the competition. In its third book as Country, Journal's WCYQ shifted 2.7-2.6 (9-9). Ron Meredith's WMYL was level at a 1.5 (12-14).
  • Johnson City, TN-VA: Bristol Broadcasting's metro monster WXBQ stepped up 20.6-20.9, and is more than 12 shares in front. Citadel's WIVK/Knoxville gained 1.1-1.5 (13t-11t), while Yeary's WXLZ-FM bumped up 0.9-1.3 (15t-13) and Glenwood's WMEV/Bluefield, WV declined 1.6-1.1 (11-14).


 

» Taking His Rixx: CBS Radio's KILT-FM/Houston weekender Steve Rixx has picked up nights following last week's exit of Ed Chandler, who spent almost four years with the station. Chandler can be reached at 832-851-0977 or here.
 

» McFly Away: Lincoln Financial's KYGO/Denver night host George McFly left last week just over five months after joining the station. He is expected to take an undisclosed morning gig in Colorado Springs. Prior to KYGO, McFly was in afternoons at crosstown Rhythmic AC KPTT.
 

» Covering The Lower 48: Nine-year Entravision Radio Division President Jeffery Liberman has inked a new three-year deal through 2012 with the Santa Monica, CA-based company. Liberman previously ran Latin Communications Group's 17 stations before they were acquired in 2000 by Entravision, which owns Country station KNTY/Sacramento among its 48 radio properties.
 

» Try Heat: RadiOhio/Columbus Dir./Sales Chris Crawford has taken the same post at CBS Radio/Phoenix, which includes Country KMLE. Crawford will also serve as GSM for Classic Hits KOOL. He succeds Mike Kennelly, who left the company two weeks ago. Crawford starts tomorrow (1/26); reach him here.
 

» A Track Of The Clones: Hall's WCTK/Providence MD/morning co-host Jessica Tyler is voicetracking middays on Clear Channel's WPKX/Springfield, MA. The addition allows middayer Jen Arra to concentrate on her morning co-host duties. Tyler was MD/mornings at 'PKX before joining WCTK.
 

» No Open Container Laws Were Violated: While most artists prefer to crisscross the country in their Prevosts, Josh Thompson takes us on an exclusive walk-through of his transportation of choice: Van-A-White. Along the way you'll meet the lucky antenna ornament deemed Van Wilder, learn the multiple uses of a five-gallon bucket, and see how the "Beer On The Table" singer is preparing for his upcoming Jagermeister tour slot. Watch here. His debut album Way Out Here hits stores Feb. 23 and is available for pre-order here.

 

» Keg In The Joint: BNA's Kenny Chesney will play four dates at Hard Rock Café Las Vegas' The Joint May 14-15 and July 2-3, bringing Chesney's show total to 10 this year. The concerts, staged in a room that holds approximately 4,000, are expected to be more akin to his Keg In The Closet tour stops. "The beauty of The Joint is not only is it a great rock 'n' roll room, but they'll let us get up there and play, and play, and play," he says. Get a complete list of Chesney's 2010 dates here.
 

» Rowdy Crowd: The Rowdy Friends Tour 2010 featuring headliner Hank Williams, Jr., Eric Church, Jamey Johnson and the Grascals begins April 2 in Charleston, WV. Other markets include Louisville, Bossier City, LA and Lafayette, LA, with more to be added soon. Details here.
 

» Meet The Parent: There's a new, or at least bigger, live entertainment daddy in town. After nearly a year of negotiations, the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster has been approved by the Department of Justice. Live Nation Entertainment is headed by Chairman Barry Diller, CEO/President Michael Rapino and Executive Chairman/Front Line CEO Irving Azoff, who collectively will manage the interests of 350 artists and exclusive booking/promotions with more than 125 venues worldwide, as well as ticketing for non-music events. To secure the deal, some concessions were made: Ticketmaster will license its ticketing software to AEG Live, the country's No. 2 concert promoter. Ticketmaster also will divest its Paciolan ticketing firm to Comcast-Spectacor or another buyer. And for 10 years LNE will be prohibited from retaliating against venues that choose to sign ticket-selling contracts with rivals. It also will not bundle ticket services with concert promotions. The news today sent stocks of both Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster (TKTM) soaring about 15%.
 

» Haitian Efforts: Compassion International is offering stations free Country-specific resources, information, spots and liners as part of its Help Haiti with Compassion campaign. The effort is intended to help radio raise funds for the children and families affected by the country's earthquake. 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.
 

» Life Note: Get-well-quick wishes to former KUPL/Portland morning personality Lee Rogers, who suffered a stroke last Friday. The 40-year radio vet, who spent the last 15 years at KUPL, retired last month and was driving from Portland to his home in the Phoenix area when he had the stroke. He is currently in a Redding, CA hospital. We'll keep you posted and pass along any contact info as soon as we get it.
 

» Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for the week ending Jan. 23. Look for the full chart in tonight's Country Aircheck Weekly.
  1. MIRANDA LAMBERT/White Liar (Columbia)
  2. TIM MCGRAW/Southern Voice (Curb)
  3. JASON ALDEAN/The Truth (BBR)
  4. DIERKS BENTLEY/I Wanna Make You Close Your... (Capitol)
  5. BRAD PAISLEY/American Saturday Night (Arista)

All daily airplay data is from Mediabase 24/7.

 

» Country Aircheck Today Top 5 Downloads: Here are Play MPE's Top 5 for Jan. 22:
  1. DARRYL WORLEY/Best of Both Worlds (Stroudavarious)
  2. JOHNNY CASH/Satisfied Mind (American/Lost Highway)
  3. JOHNNY CASH/I Don't Hurt Anymore (American/Lost Highway)
  4. JOHNNY CASH/Cool Water (American/Lost Highway)
  5. JOHNNY CASH/Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream (American/Lost Highway)
 

» Tomorrow's Birthdays (1/26): Maria Brunner, Mike Martin, Dave Smith.
 

» Tube Check Tomorrow (1/26): Reba, Invitation Only (re-air) (CMT).
 


» Justice League: WPOC/Baltimore staffers wish Lee Ann Womack good luck before her debut performance on the Reba/George Strait tour Saturday (1/23). Pictured (l-r) are MCA VP/Promotion Van Haze, APD/MD Justin Cole, PD Meg Stevens' daughter Julia, Womack, Meg, Promotion Dir. Steve Reuss, AM driver Laurie DeYoung and MCA Northeast rep Joe Putnam.
 

» Big Dig: BBR's James Wesley and VP/Promotion Carson James (r) stop by WKLB/Boston to play Wesley's single "Jackson Hole"  for PD Mike Brophey (l) and MD Ginny Rogers.
 

» Heart Appreciation: Crazy Heart star Jeff Bridges (l), co-star/singer Ryan Bingham (second from l) and producer T Bone Burnett discuss the film's soundtrack with American Country Countdown's Kix Brooks (r). The flick's theme song, "The Weary Kind," is performed by Bingham.
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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