Country Aircheck
 December 16, 2009

» Turn To Paige: Capitol Dir./Promotion West Coast Paige Elliott will segue to Capitol/Nashville in the same capacity Jan. 25. She will be based in San Francisco and succeeds Mike Krinik, who is now PD of KBWF/San Francisco. Elliott has been with Capitol for two-and-a-half years and before that worked for RCA/New York. "She already knows the lay of the land out West, and brings the experience of working a dynamic artist roster at our sister label," SVP/Promotion Steve Hodges says. "Plus, she loves country music!"

» Ranch Hand: LKCM Radio's Classic Country KTFW/Dallas & Country KFWR (The Ranch)/Ft. Worth Dir./Programming Mike "Crowman" Crow has been promoted to GM of sister "Ranch" stations KRVF/Corsicana, TX and KRVA/Sulphur Springs, TX. KTFW middayer Michelle Lee is moving to mornings to join co-host Ron Moore, filling the slot Crow held for the last 10 years. Crow will voicetrack middays on KTFW and continue his programming duties with the Dallas/Ft. Worth combo. Reach Crow here.


» Eight Is Enough: The ACM has upped the number of nominees for its Entertainer of the Year category from five to eight, beginning with the 45th Annual ACM Awards in 2010. Additional changes to next year's show include combining the New Male and Female Vocalist categories to make the New Solo Vocalist award, and the New Vocal Duo or Group category becoming two separate awards. The newcomer award winners will once again compete for the Top New Artist title, which will be given during the awards telecast. Also, Entertainer and New Solo Vocalist, Vocal Duo and Vocal Group will all be open to fan voting. The first ballot runs Jan. 4-15, the second Feb. 1-15 and the third March 22-April 2. Download more info on voting criteria here.

» All Together Now: The long-speculated possibility that the Radio Advertising Bureau and the National Association of Broadcasters will combine their annual radio events into one is coming to fruition in Washington, DC from Sept. 29-Oct.1 at "The Radio Show produced by RAB and NAB." The venue has not yet been announced. Although RAB and NAB have worked together since 2007, the NAB had partnered its fall conference in recent years with a convention by Radio & Records, which was shuttered this summer. RAB and NAB also are collaborating on the 2010 NAB Show in Las Vegas April 10-15, among other partnership initiatives.

» Chipping In: Following yesterday's story (CAT 12/15) about Southern Star Broadcasting's exit from its five stations in Missouri, Country Aircheck received the following comment from SSB President Chip Miller: "After consulting with the lawyers who handled the transaction, I feel Country Aircheck was severely misinformed by [acquiring principal] Fred Dockins regarding the terms of the transaction. According to [our] FCC lawyer and FCC filings, Southern Star did, in fact, sell the stations back to prior owner Dockins Broadcasting. There has been a great deal of legal maneuvers, and some ongoing dissent remains between the parties. We had an opportunity to protect the investment and returns for our investors, and we took it. The next 18 to 36 months should prove to be a great opportunity for growth for well-capitalized companies and new ventures. I personally feel that the opportunities that are on the horizon exist for me outside of ownership at this time."

» You Are My Sunshine: Radio programmers and their loved ones are featured in a video for Steve Azar's latest single "Sunshine." WKLB/Boston's Mike Brophey and Ginny Rogers, KBEQ/Kansas City's Mike Kennedy and wife Nycki, and even Country Aircheck's Mary Forest Findley and husband Mike can be seen here.





» Cover Girls: 19/Arista's Carrie Underwood graces the cover of Self's January issue, and Big Machine's Taylor Swift is on People magazine's "25 Most Intriguing People of 2009" year-ender. Read Underwood's style points here, and get details from the People piece here.

» No Reins: Lyric Street's Rascal Flatts recorded "Away In A Manger" last week and are now offering the track as a free download here.

» Life Note: Our condolences are extended to former music executive Debi Fleischer-Robin, who lost her mother Sylvia Fleischer Tuesday (12/15) to complications following a heart attack. Condolences can be sent to Fleischer-Robin at 851 Neartop Dr., Nashville, TN 37205.

» Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for Dec. 15:

  1. LADY ANTEBELLUM/Need You Now (Capitol) 2325 points
  2. REBA/Consider Me Gone (Starstruck/Valory) 2298 points
  3. LUKE BRYAN/Do I (Capitol) 1974 points
  4. TIM MCGRAW/Southern Voice (Curb) 1919 points
  5. DIERKS BENTLEY/I Wanna Make You Close Your... (Capitol) 1881 points

All daily airplay data is from Mediabase 24/7.

» Country Aircheck Today Top 5 Downloads: Here are Play MPE's Top 5 for Dec. 15:

  1. LADY ANTEBELLUM/American Honey (Capitol)
  2. RASCAL FLATTS/Unstoppable (Lyric Street)
  3. TAYLOR SWIFT/Fearless (Single Edit) (Big Machine)
  4. TAYLOR SWIFT/Fearless (Album Version) (Big Machine)
  5. TRACE ADKINS/Ala-Freakin-Bama (Capitol)

» Tube Check Tomorrow (12/17): Josh Turner, Origins (GAC).

» Tomorrow's Birthdays (12/17): Tracy Byrd, Sharon Skaggs, Duane Propes, Tim Chewning, Tom Banks, Katie Gillon, Christine Smith, J.B. Cloud.


Adios Amigos: Capitol's Dierks Bentley brought his extended label family to party with KWNR/Las Vegas PD Cary Rolfe at the House of Blues. Coincidently, the concert was West Coast rep Mike Krinik's last official event before riding off to program KWBF/San Francisco. Pictured (l-r) are Capitol's Shane Allen and Matt Hargis, Bentley, Rolfe and Krinik.

Sometimes You're The Bug: MCA's Josh Turner literally gives UMG/Nashville's Katie Dean (l) a lift during a visit with Crook & Chase's Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase (r).

"Young Horses Run Fast. Old Horses Know The Way:" The Sony Music/Nashville staff recently celebrated retiring EVP/GM Butch Waugh's 27 years with the company. Several employees even honored Waugh by wearing t-shirts adorned with his trademark "Butchisms." Along with the slug line above, these include: "The dogs will bark but the caravan will pass" and "He's on the phone? I thought he was dead." Pictured (l-r) are SMN VP/Marketing Tom Baldrica, RCA VP/ Promotion Keith Gale, Chairman Joe Galante, BNA VP/Promotion Bryan Frasher, Waugh, VP/Promotion Skip Bishop, Arista Dir./Nat'l Promotion Lesly Tyson and SMN SVP/Sales & Operations Paul Barnabee.














































 



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