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In This Issue (3/16) 

“They trusted me enough to put me behind a microphone, and I fell in love with the storytelling, community, connecting with listeners and creating moments that resonate.”

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Radio Vision

aldean32026.jpg She's Country ... Radio Seminar: Broken Bow's Jason Aldean (c) celebrates 31 No. 1s with the label's Jon Loba (l) and labelmate Blake Shelton last night (3/19) at the label's CRS event. Performers included Alabama, Travis Tritt and – together for the first time in four years – Florida Georgia Line.
Red-Street-pic32026.jpg Suite & Greet: Red Street's Walker Montgomery and Taylor Austin Dye with radio partners at the label's suite.
Warren32026.jpg Live, Laugh, Lounge: Warner Records/WRN's Warren Zeiders (c) with Audacy’s Scott Roddy (l) and Tim Roberts at CRS.
Triple-Tigers32026.jpg Long Live Country Radio Seminar: Triple Tigers' Shane Profitt (l) with KSSN/Little Rock's Jess Jennings and the label's Kevin Herring at CRS.
marci32026.jpg Whadya Say: Country Radio Hall of Fame inductee Marci Braun casually gets her name up on Wrigley Field.
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The Good No. 1s: Warner/WAR's Gabby Barrett (l) celebrates the platinum (5x) certification of "The Good Ones” and “I Hope” (9x) with the label's Cris Lacy at yesterday's (3/18) Warner luncheon.

Ian-Munsick31926.jpg Suite Dreams: West To The Rest/Triple Tigers' Ian Munsick with WHKO/Dayton's Nancy Wilson at CRS.
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Friends In Lo Places: KKBQ's Lauren "Lo" Sessions-Barker with Wheelhouse's Blake Shelton (l) and Big Loud's Hardy at CRS '26.

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Pre Haw: Sony Music Nashville’s Zach John King at the label's PreRS event at Losers. Pictured are Ken Robold, Larry Santiago, Christy Garbinski, Dan Nelson, Dennis Reese, King, Jansen Morgan, Bo Martinovich, Ali O’Connell, Anna Widmer, Nicole Walden and Mallory Michaels.

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What Kinda Fan: MCA's Parker McCollum unveils the ACM Radio Award winners for On-Air Personality and Radio Station of the Year during CRS '26. Pictured (back, l-r) are WUBE/Cincinnati's Jesse Tack, WYCT/Pensacola's Brent Lane, the ACM's Damon Whiteside, McCollum, CRB's RJ Curtis, KSCS/Dallas' Mike Preston and Al Farb and WLFP/Memphis' Chris Michaels; (front, l-r) WUBE's Anna Marie, KFRG/Riverside's Heather Froglear, KEEY/Minneapolis' Chris Carr and WUSY/Chattanooga's Greg "StyckMan" Owens.

Top Stories

Country Hall Adds Three
halloffame26.jpg The newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame are: in the Modern Era Artist category, Tim McGraw; in the Veterans Era Artist category, The Stanley Brothers; and in the Songwriter category, Paul Overstreet. Details regarding induction at the annual Medallion Ceremony will be forthcoming.
Mar 20, 2026 Share
Carter Adds WQIK Programming
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iHeartMedia WNOE/New Orleans PD Casey Carter has added WQIK/Jacksonville programming duties. She succeeds Scot "Froggy" Langley, who remains with the company's Elvis Duran Morning Show and WQIK's The Big Show. Additionally, WAVW/Ft. Pierce PD Heath West is taking over WQIK afternoons. He's held the WAVW PD position since 1999. Carter has been with iHeartMedia since 2012. 

Mar 19, 2026 Share
January CDM Ratings
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It's A Mad, 'MAD World: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for January 2026 (three-month rolling average, 10/16/25-2/4/26) compared with November and December. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Chattanooga, TN
(Market 93)

WUSY Audacy
9.6 (1) - 11.5 (1) - 13.0 (1)
Largest share since May 2020.
WUUQ Bahakel Classic Country
3.6 (6t) - 3.3 (6) - 3.8 (5)
Largest share since Dec. 2024.
WOGT Cumulus 
2.4 (9t) - N/A - N/A
Does not subscribe.

Huntsville, AL
(99)          

WDRM iHeartMedia
6.5 (1) - 7.4 (1) - 8.3 (1)
WWFF Cumulus
1.6 (11t) - N/A - N/A
Does not subscribe.

Jackson, MS
(125)
WUSJ New South
4.8 (5) - 4.2 (6) - 3.8 (7)
WMSI iHeartMedia
2.5 (8) - 2.4 (9) - 2.8 (9)
WHJT New South Classic Country
1.0 (14t) - 1.4 (12) - 2.1 (11)
Madison, WI
(88)   
WMAD iHeartMedia
4.6 (3) - 4.7 (4t) - 6.5 (3)
Largest share in station's 20 years in the format.
WWQM Mid-West Family
2.0 (9t) - 1.9 (13t) - 1.7 (13)
Mar 17, 2026 Share
January CDM Ratings
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Twist-chita: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for January 2026 (three-month rolling average, 10/16/25-2/4/26) compared with November and December. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Colorado Springs, CO
(Market 91)

KCCY iHeartMedia
4.3 (6) - 4.0 (7) - 3.2 (8)
KATC Cumulus
4.1 (7t) - N/A - N/A
Does not subscribe.

Des Moines, IA
(70)       

KHKI Cumulus
7.4 (1) - N/A - N/A
KJJY Cumulus
5.3 (5) - N/A - N/A
Do not subscribe.

Mobile, AL
(100) 
WKSJ iHeartMedia
6.0 (3) - 5.6 (2) - 5.9 (2)
Spokane, WA
(90) 
KDRK Stephens
2.6 (7) - 2.6 (7t) - 2.2 (10t)
KICR 
Blue Sky
2.2 (9t) - 2.0 (12t) - 2.0 (12)
KXLY QueenB
Does not subscribe.
Wichita, KS
(104)
  
KFDI SummitMedia
5.9 (2) - 5.3 (4t) - 5.9 (2)
KZSN
 iHeartMedia
5.7 (3) - 5.3 (4t) - 5.4 (3t)
KVWF
 Murfin
3.2 (11t) - 2.5 (15t) - 3.7 (9t)
Largest share since entering the format in June 2023.
KFTI-AM SummitMedia Classic Country
0.9 (18) - 0.7 (19t) - 0.7 (19t)
Mar 16, 2026 Share
January CDM Ratings
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Rate And Hook: Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for January 2026 (three-month rolling average, 10/16/25-2/4/26) compared with November and December. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Columbia, SC
(Market 89)

WCOS iHeartMedia
6.3 (3) - 7.5 (2) - 6.8 (2)

Little Rock, AR
(94)   
KSSN iHeartMedia
7.2 (4) - 7.6 (2) - 6.6 (2)
KMJX iHeartMedia Cl. Country
3.1 (10) - 3.0 (5) - 2.5 (5t)
Springfield, MA
(102)
WRNX iHeartMedia 
4.7 (4) - 4.2 (4) - 4.3 (4)
Toledo, OH
(108) 
WCKY iHeartMedia Classic Country
1.3 (12) - 1.3 (8) - 1.2 (7)
WKKO Cumulus
8.6 (2) - N/A - N/A
Does not subscribe.
Mar 13, 2026 Share
Recent Stories
Mar 20, 2026 CRS/Country Aircheck Award winners honored at the CRS '26 New Faces Show at the Omni Nashville (3/20) are: Station Large Market: WUSN/... Read full story
Mar 20, 2026 Birds & Bees: “We’re a medium that programs in formats, but the audience doesn’t listen that way anymore," said iHeartMedia's Alissa Pollack&... Read full story
Mar 20, 2026 LaPlume Departs: Sandbox Entertainment VP/Management, Production & Development Chandra LaPlume has departed after five years with ... Read full story
Mar 20, 2026 Core Strength: The Core Entertainment has added former Columbia Records Associate Dir./Marketing Sarah Pfeiffer as Head/Marketing, and former 7s ... Read full story
Mar 20, 2026 Every Thorn Has Its Rose: Jelly Roll received the CRS Artist Humanitarian Award Friday (3/20) for his extensive support of ... Read full story
Mar 20, 2026 Hoodoo Voodoo: A 600-person music test by NuVoodoo principals Carolyn Gilbert and Leigh Jacobs presented at CRS Friday (3/20) found that those ... Read full story
Mar 20, 2026 New Face Book: Vulnerability, mentorship and self care were among the topics addressed at Friday morning's "Lead Me Like You Mean It" CRS panel. The ... Read full story
Mar 20, 2026 Bits & Pieces: Radney Foster will receive the Living Legend Award at the 16th annual T3R Texas Music & Radio Awards March 23 at... Read full story
Mar 20, 2026 Crib Note: Bobby Bones and his wife, Caitlin Estell, recently welcomed their first child, daughter, Billie Celine Estell. Bones noted on social media ... Read full story
Mar 19, 2026 Risk Management: At a time when radio programmers largely play it safe, panelists at Thursday’s CRS panel “The Disruptors: What If You Took A Risk?” ... Read full story
Mar 19, 2026 Click Rate: The second of three CRS research panels presented Thursday (3/19) by Strategic Solutions Research found that two thirds of those... Read full story
Mar 19, 2026 Fixed Assets: Mental health was the focus of Thursday morning’s CRS session “Protect Your Assets: 20 Micro Actions For Resilience." When stress ... Read full story
Mar 19, 2026 Bits & Pieces: Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, Inc. is accepting applications for its third annual Country radio mentorship program, ... Read full story

 

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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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The 2026 Grammy
Voter's Guide
A quick reference guide to the 2026 Grammy Nominees

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