Garner Leads Nash FM Mornings: As tipped last month (Hot Air 5/6), veteran Country personality Blair Garner has been tapped to lead America's Morning Show for Cumulus' WNSH (Nash FM)/New York, beginning later this month. Joining Garner are co-hosts Terri Clark, Sunny Sweeney, Chuck Wicks and Lee Ann Womack, with news anchored by HLN's Robin Meade. The show will air live before a studio audience 6-10am ET from Nashville, with Meade delivering news segments twice hourly from her HLN anchor desk in Atlanta. Also joining the team is industry vet Heather McBee as Dir./Operations. She recently spent 20 years at Sony/Nashville, rising to VP/Marketing & Web Initiatives.

Promising "a mix of country hits, in-studio interviews with country music's biggest stars and news about the country lifestyle," the show will also incorporate New York City weather, traffic and information. "The collection of talent assembled for America's Morning Show is without equal," says Cumulus EVP/co-COO John Dickey. "This show will bring the superstars of country to listeners in an authentic entertaining way not done before."

For Garner, AMS is a return to the market, where he hosted afternoon drive on WPLJ. "I am thrilled to begin waking up the New York area's Country listeners on Nash FM 94.7 with an uplifting country start to the day," he says. "New Yorkers are embracing Nash FM in an amazing way and I look forward to bringing the country music lifestyle to the Big Apple straight from Nashville."

Currently host of Premiere's After MidNite, Garner is expected to continue in that role as well, at least in the short term. There was no comment from Premiere at press time. Speculation remains that Garner's new show may be extended across Cumulus' rapidly growing Nash FM platform of stations. Representatives from Cumulus were not available for comment.

Congratulate Garner here; McBee can be reached here.