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In This Issue (5/18) 

"He walked to every single bandmate, thanking and congratulating them one-by-one. That’s real star power."

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Radio Vision

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Roulette Him In Anyway: Wheelhouse's Blake Shelton invites radio to his Vegas residency ACM Awards weekend. Pictured (back, l-r) are KSCS/Dallas' Al Farb, Georgetown Masters' Andrew Mendelson, the label's JoJamie Hahr, Audacy's Tim Roberts, the label's Ken Tucker, Shelton, Audacy's Justin Cole, iHeart/Rockies' JoJo Turnbeaugh, KUZZ/Bakersfield's Brent Michaels, the label's Steve Pleshe and Peter Strickland and WGTY/York's Scott Donato; (middle, l-r) the label's Katie Kerkhover, guest Gage Farb, the label's Shelley Hargis, KUZZ's Ness Heraldez, KBAY/San Jose's J. Love, the label's Jon Loba, WGTY's Mak McKeehan, guest Marie Marchisotto and WDSY/Pittsburgh's Mark Anderson; (front, l-r) guest Sarah Crane and KONO/San Antonio's Jenny Law.

Shaboozey51826.jpg Schmoozey: Empire/Magnolia's Shaboozey with radio partners in Las Vegas. Pictured (l-r) are KYGO/Denver’s Brian Michel, Audacy's Tim Roberts, Justin Cole and Mark Anderson, Shaboozey, Anderson's wife Marie, Magnolia's Heather Propper and Steadfast's Nick Hartley.
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95.5 The Pull: Leo33's Trey Pendley, KWNR/Las Vegas' MoJoe Roberts, Quartz Hill's Matt Cooper and MCA's Kenny Whitmire (l-r) at KWNR's ACM Awards Week Guitar Pull.

Kenny-Whitmire51926.jpg Signage: Speaking of Whitmire, he signed with The Neal Agency. Pictured (l-r) are TNA's Adi Sharma, Ryan Beuschel and Simone Chretien, Whitmire, TNA's Evan Kantor and River House's Zac Brooks and Zebb Luster.
mccoy51926.jpg Florida Man: Sony Music Nashville's McCoy Moore plays songs from his upcoming album Sunshine State for the Country Aircheck team. Pictured (l-r) are Aircheck's Chuck Aly, Caitlin DeForest and April Johnson, Moore, Aircheck's Phyllis Stark and Lon Helton and Track Mgmt's Drew Magid.
Lainey-Wilson51826.jpg 4X4XHappy Birthday To U: Broken Bow's Lainey Wilson celebrates her birthday (5/19) at the label's ACM brunch. Pictured (l-r) are manager Mandelyn Monchick, the label's Jon Loba, Wilson and Audacy's Tim Roberts.
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Swing Music: Nashville Harbor's Greylan James draws a crowd during ACM Lifting Lives' Country On The Green at TopGolf in Las Vegas Friday (5/15). Pictured (l-r) are Audacy's Mark Anderson and Justin Cole, James, and the label's Scott Borchetta, Jimmy Harnen, Ryan Dokke and Jay Cruze.

Scotty-Kay51826.jpg Dan + Kay: WUSN/Chicago's Scotty Kay (c) with Dan + Shay's Shay Mooney (l) and Dan Smyers at the ACM radio remotes.
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Poolaroid: The Opry NextStage Class of 2026 at ACM Next Wave: Country’s Beach Bash. Pictured (l-r) are ACM's Kylie Goudreau, the Opry's Dan Rogers, Dasha, Vincent Mason, Emily Ann Roberts, Tyler Braden, Hudson Westbrook, Alexandra Kay, Graham Barham, Willow Avalon, host Ashley Cooke, the Opry's Jenn Tressler, ACM's Haley Montgomery and the Opry's Lexi Lampkin.

B-Dub51826.jpg Dub Step And Repeat: ACM Award winners Riley Green (Music Event) and Bryan "B-Dub" Washington (National Daily On-Air and Weekly Personality) at the radio remotes.
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All I Have To Offer: Honoree Stephanie Davenport (Warner Records Nashville) with past honoree Shannon Sanders (BMI) at the I’m Just Me: A Charley Pride Celebration of Inclusion brunch hosted by Amazon MGM Studios, Amazon Music and the ACM in Las Vegas last week. Additional honorees (not pictured) were MTSU's Beverly Keel, Compton Cowboys, Warner's James Marsh, Rolling Stone's Joseph Hudak and artist Moriah.

Tucker-Wetmore51826.jpg She's A Casino: ACM Best New Male Artist of the Year Tucker Wetmore (l) with Country Top 40 With Fitz at the ACM radio remotes in Las Vegas.
Neil-Medley51826.jpg Re-Signage: Songwriter Neil Medley renews his deal with River House Artists and Sony Music Publishing Nashville. Pictured (l-r) are RHA's Lauren Lieu and Zebb Luster, Medley and RHA's Kayla Adkins.

Top Stories

Eight To Radio Hall Of Fame
rhof51926.jpg iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman and Sun & Fun Media/Key Networks COO Dennis Green are among the eight broadcasters selected for inclusion this year in the Museum of Broadcast Communications' national Radio Hall of Fame. They will be joined by Urban One/Reach Media's Rickey Smiley, WFAN/New York's Boomer Esiason, SiriusXM's Shotgun Tom Kelly, WLTW/New York's Helen Little and radio veterans Charlie Van Dyke and Fred Winston. Van Dyke worked on-air in Dallas, L.A., San Francisco, Detroit, Boston and Chicago. Winston's iconic status in Chicago radio includes almost four decades at WLS, WFYR, WMAQ and WJMK, among others. Six inductees were determined by an industry voting panel of more than 950 professionals, two were selected by the Radio Hall of Fame 2026 Nominating Committee. Their induction is set for Oct. 8 at Chicago's Fairmont Hotel; tickets here.
May 20, 2026 Share
Damico Succeeds Razz At WXTU
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Beasley/Philadelphia Active Rock WMMR & Classic Rock WMGK PD Chuck Damico will add programming responsibilities for the cluster's Country WXTU on May 23. He succeeds PD/midday host Mark "Razz" Radziewicz, who is retiring May 22 after 20 years with the station (Breaking News 5/5).

"Chuck is an exceptional programming leader with a deep understanding of the Philadelphia market and a strong track record of building powerful brands and teams," says VP/MM Paul Blake. "As we celebrate Razz’s incredible legacy and contributions to WXTU, we are confident Chuck’s passion, creativity, and leadership will help guide the station into its next chapter." Adds Damico, "Razz built something truly special, and I look forward to building on that success while continuing to serve Country fans throughout the Philadelphia community."

May 20, 2026 Share
Tampa's Thomas Stepping Down
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Beasley/Tampa cluster Brand Manager and WQYK PD Rick Thomas is stepping down June 1 to spend more time with family. Thomas joined Beasley in 2023, and also programmed Classic Hits WRQB. "From leading nationally as a format leader at Summit Media and guiding successful multi-format brands in Tampa, New York, and Los Angeles, Rick brought an incredible depth of experience and strategic vision to Beasley," says Beasley Chief Content Officer Justin Chase. Adds Thomas, "I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished together and deeply appreciative of the relationships built along the way. At this point in my life, I’m looking forward to focusing on family and what comes next." Until his departure, reach him here.

May 19, 2026 Share
Riser House Adds Allen As EVP, Ups Three
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Industry veteran Shane Allen has joined Riser House as EVP/Promotion & Artist Brand Strategy. The company has also promoted nine-year company veteran Megan Stottlemyer from Label Manager to VP/Label Operations, VP/Streaming & Strategic Partnerships Alex Heimerman to Head/Marketing & Label Strategy and Dir./Business Affairs Jason VanAuken to VP of that department.

Most recently with Eric Church's SiriusXM channel, Outsiders Radio (CAT 11/28/22), Allen previously spent six years at Columbia, where he was SVP/Promotion, joining from the VP/Promotion role at Capitol/Nashville. Allen joined Capitol in 2007, left for a short stint with Red Light Management at the begining of 2009, then returned to Capitol in August of that year. When the label merged with UMG/Nashville in 2012, he held that title for all four of UMGN's imprints. Reach him here.

Stottlemyer joined Riser House full-time from an intern position in Jan. 2017, was named Product Mgr./Marketing Head that July and promoted to Label Manager in 2022 (CAT 11/18/22). Reach her here. Heimerman joined Riser House last year from The Trenches (CAT 6/3/25), with previous stops at MCA and Red Light; reach him here. VanAuken has been with the company since its launch in 2017; reach him here.

May 13, 2026 Share
CMA/Disney Extend Broadcast Relationship Through 2032
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The Mouse That Built Me: The CMA and Disney have extended their broadcast relationship through 2032 for The CMA Awards, and the CMA Fest and CMA Country Christmas annual specials. The six-year extension on the companies' existing 20-year relationship adds a live Disney+ stream to this year's 60th Annual CMA Awards (11/18), alongside the ABC telecast. The CMAs were previously available to stream on Hulu the day after the broadcast. "As I prepare to retire at the end of the year, ensuring CMA is strongly positioned for the future has remained one of my highest priorities, and I’m incredibly proud of what we've built together," says CMA CEO Sarah Trahern.

May 12, 2026 Share
March CDM Ratings
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Rocket City Rise: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for March 2026 (three-month rolling average, 1/8-4/1/26) compared with January and February. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Chattanooga, TN
(Market 93)

WUSY Audacy
13.0 (1) - 10.7 (1) - 8.6 (1)
WUUQ Bahakel Classic Country
3.8 (5) - 3.8 (4) - 3.3 (5t)
WOGT Cumulus 
Does not subscribe.

Huntsville, AL
(99)          

WDRM iHeartMedia
8.3 (1) - 11.0 (1) - 11.9 (1)
Largest share since Winter 2017.
WWFF Cumulus
Does not subscribe.

Jackson, MS
(125)
WMSI iHeartMedia
2.8 (9) - 3.7 (8) - 4.0 (6)
Largest share since Oct. 2024.
WUSJ New South
3.8 (7) - 3.4 (9) - 3.3 (8)
WHJT New South Classic Country
2.1 (11) - 2.0 (11) - 2.0 (10)
Madison, WI
(88)   
WMAD iHeartMedia
6.5 (3) - 5.9 (3) - 5.9 (2t)
WWQM Mid-West Family
1.7 (13) - 2.5 (11) - 3.1 (8)
WJVL
Big Radio
N/A - N/A - 1.4 (12t)
May 12, 2026 Share
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2026 ACM Voter's Guide
A quick reference guide to the 2026 ACM Nominees



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The CRS 2026 Print Special featuring: Hey-Hi, AI: Emerging Uses
Best CRS Takeaways Ever
Label Contacts
New Faces
Travis Daily: The Interview



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Inside This Issue: 

MC-Yay At Ryman Lunch
Disruption Junction
You Look Like You Love Me
The Day Ahead

 

 

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