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In This Issue (11/9) 

“I consider it to be incredibly noble work getting art and people expressing themselves musically out into the world.”

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Radio Vision

locash112026.jpg LoCat: Galaxy's LoCash in Pensacola. Pictured (l-r) the duo's 
Chris Lucas, The Cat, WYCT's Brent Lane, the duo's Preston Brust and the label's John Lessard and Mara Sidweber.
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EnterStellar: Atlantic Outpost's Stella Lefty (c) with the label's Sami Yaz, KSCS/Dallas' Al Farb and Mike Preston, and the label's Stephanie Hagerty (l-r).

Joe-Noto111026.jpg Signage: Singer-songwriter Joe Noto signs with Off Road Records. Pictured (l-r) are Off Road's Madison McCay and David Fanning, Noto, and the label's Jamie Graves and Becca Bradshaw.
Blake-Tyler111026.jpg Signage: Singer/songwriter Blake Tyler signs with ONErpm Nashville. Pictured (front, l-r) are Bow to Stern's Matt McClure, Tyler and ONErpm's Ryan Cunningham; (back, l-r) ONErpm's Lindsey Terry, attorney Scott Safford and Bow to Stern's Alex Kidd and Renee McClure.
Dan-+-Shay11926.jpg Shay Cheese: Dan + Shay's Dan Smyers (l) and Shay Mooney (r) with KUZZ/Bakersfield's Ness Heraldez and Brent Michaels in Anaheim, CA.
KXKT11926.jpg On-Air Force: KXKT/Omaha's Hoss Michaels, Steve Lundy and Gina Melton (l-r) help collect more than 10,465 cards for the VA hospital and Offutt Air Force Base.
Dustin-Lynch11926.jpg Slate Expectations: Broken Bow's Dustin Lynch shares new album Clean Slate with the SiriusXM team. Pictured (back, l-r) are SXM's Emma Gribbon, Jordan Hatton and Cody Alan, Lynch, Homestead/Red Light's Brad Belanger and SXM's Alyssa LaMarsh and Allie Turchi, (front, l-r) the label's Scotty O’Brien and SXM's Lauryn Snapp.
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Lone Haul: West To The Rest/Triple Tigers' Ian Munsick at Billy Bob's Texas (top) and a KLLL-presented show in Lubbock, TX. Pictured (top, l-r) are TT's Chris Palmer, KASE/Austin & KAJA/San Antonio's Jason McCollim, Munsick and TT's Julianna Vaughn; (bottom, l-r) KLLL's Mudflap and Katie Jo, Munsick and KLLL's Jeff Scott.

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Troop, There It Is: KKBQ/Houston's 10,000 For The Troops campaign collects 11,234 items for deployed service members. Pictured (l-r) are the station's Andy "Riggs" Riggle, Katelyn Maida and Erica Rico and reps from Boots for Troops.

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Lone Stars: The Texas Radio Hall of Fame Class of 2026 (CAT 8/14), including Doug Abernethy, Dave E. Crockett, Diane Day, JoJo Cerda and James Paczkowski, Kevin Kline, Eric Raines, Clyde “Kooter” Roberson, Chrissie Roberts, J.D. Rose and Barry Wolverton, are inducted Saturday (11/7) in Kilgore, TX.

Tenille-Arts11926.jpg Signage: Singer/songwriter Tenille Arts (c) signs with MPI Talent Agency. Pictured with the company's Jordan Tubiolo and Music Creative Management's Casadie Pederson.

Top Stories

Brooks Buys 100.1-FM/Nashville
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Garth Brooks’ Sevens Network has bought the 100.1-FM frequency in Nashville, currently home to AAA WRLT from Tuned in Broadcasting, Inc/Lightning 100, pending approval from the FCC. The station will highlight local and breaking news and spin "the entire family of country music." "Our job is not to compete with the local channels in Nashville, but to promote what they have going on,” says Brooks. “We are not a reporter, we are a service to Music City and its businesses.” Upon approval, Lightning 100 will move to Cromwell Media’s 106.3-FM and 102.5-FM HD3 frequencies. Until that time, Lightning 100 will continue on 100.1 FM.

Nov 10, 2026 Share
BMG Layoffs Impact Nashville
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BMG Layoffs: Realignment from the BMG/Concord merger has impacted several in Nashville, including BMG Publishing VP/Creative Chris Oglesby, Dir./Creative Services Patricia Wittmer, Mgr./A&R Catalog Faith Beller and Mgr./Creative Layne Faltinsky. Oglesby has 23 years with the company in two stints, Wittmer has 24 years of tenure, Beller eight and Faltinsky joined in 2024. The layoffs follow last month's changes to the BMG/BBR Music Group promotion team structure (Breaking News 9/17). Reach Oglesby here, Wittmer here, Beller here and Faltinsky here.

Oct 30, 2026 Share
Lesley Named SummitMedia/Knoxville Brand Manager
Matt-“Brodie”-Lesley26.jpg Smoky Mountain Reign: Former Top 40 WNOK/Columbia, SC & WWXM/Myrtle Beach PD Matt "Brodie" Lesley has been named Brand Mgr. for the four-station SummitMedia/Knoxville cluster including WCYQ, where he will do middays. Former WCYQ Brand Mgr./midday host Matt Cooper departed last week (CAT 10/27). In addition to his former PD roles with iHeartMedia, where he worked from 2019 until earlier this year, Lesley served as the company's Music Curator for Top 40 stations in Cincinnati, Fresno and Austin. He is a veteran of more than 20 years in radio, with previous stints at KCHZ/Kansas City, WSEA & WSYN/Myrtle Beach and KQLK/Lake Charles, LA. “I’ve gone country!” he says. “I’m excited to start this new chapter with SummitMedia and WCYQ and help bring great Country radio to East Tennessee." Reach him here.
Oct 29, 2026 Share
September CDM Ratings
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High Way 101:  Here are select Nielsen Audio Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) ratings for September 2026 (three-month rolling average, 6/25-9/16) compared with July and August. Ranks (in parentheses) are among subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6am-midnight.

Chattanooga, TN
(Market 93)
WUSY Audacy
7.9 (1) - 8.8 (1) - 10.3 (1)
Largest share since February.
WUUQ Bahakel Classic Country
4.1 (5) - 3.1 (7) - 3.6 (6)
WOGT Cumulus 
Does not subscribe.
Huntsville, AL
(99)          
WDRM iHeartMedia
10.2 (1) - 9.7 (1) - 9.8 (1)
Jackson, MS
(125)
WMSI iHeartMedia
4.2 (4) - 5.5 (4) - 5.4 (4)
WUSJ New South
3.2 (7) - 2.6 (7t) - 2.6 (8)
WHJT New South Classic Country
1.7 (9) - 1.9 (9) - 2.1 (9t)
Madison, WI
(88)   
WMAD iHeartMedia
5.0 (5) - 4.4 (5) - 3.8 (5)
WWQM Mid-West Family
2.9 (9t) - 2.1 (12) - 2.3 (10)
WJVL
Big Radio
N/A - N/A - 1.4 (12)
Oct 27, 2026 Share
Recent Stories
Nov 10, 2026 Write Of Way: Former Sony Music Publishing/Nashville EVP/Creative Josh Van Valkenburg has been named President of UMPG Nashville. He will ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 No Fences: Calling the move "an opportunity to bring the entire family of country music together in one spot … the legends, the greats and the future ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 PR-esident: Nashville-based Shore Fire Media SVP Jaclyn D. Childress has been named President of the public relations firm. "Besides overseeing ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 T Time: Industry vet Tina Crawford has launched artist management company To A T Entertainment with pop artist Trinity Lake as its flagship client. ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 Social Media: The late WSM-AM/Nashville morning host, Grand Ole Opry announcer and Country Radio Hall of Famer Bill Cody has been ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 Reve-News: iHeartMedia reported Q3 revenue of $1.03 billion, up 3.3% from the prior year's $997m. Adjusted EBITDA was down from $205m to $170m. ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 Tubi Or Not Tubi: Tubi CEO Anjali Sud has been appointed CEO at SiriusXM, effective Jan. 1. The appointment follows Jennifer Witz's decision to step ... Read full story
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Nov 10, 2026 Go Farber: The application window for Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, Inc.'s third annual Erica Farber Mentorship in Management Program is ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 For The Plot: ACM CEO Andy Schuon talks about his unexpected move into country music, while iHeartMedia EVP/Programming Steve Geofferies reflects on ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 Tour Support: Travis Tritt is kicking off his 2027 tour dates March 9 in Plant City, FL, with subsequent stops in Nashville, Fort Worth, Kansas ... Read full story
Nov 10, 2026 Bits & Pieces: Tomball (TX) Memorial High School is the winner of KKBQ/Houston's "Pep Rally with Parker" contest to have Parker McCollum... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 Peachy Keen: Former Riverbend Top 40 KFTZ/Idaho Falls, ID PD/afternoon host Brenden "Peaches" Peach has been named Programming Coord./morning co-host ... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 Steele Departs: Legacy Media/Georgia Radio Alliance VP/Programming and WEKS/Zebulon, GA afternoon host Kevin Steele has stepped down, but ... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 Downtown Abby: Former Black River Mgr./A&R Abby Miller has joined management company Borchetta Entertainment Group as Head/Artist ... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 Gig Alert: Leighton Media is seeking a PD/air personality for KZPK/St. Cloud, MN to succeed Kris Valentine, who recently moved to a new... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 Sleigh Ride: Just 18% of respondents prefer radio stations to begin all-Christmas programming in early November, according to P1 Media Group's ... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 Lock, Stock & Barrel: Jason Aldean, Treaty Oak Revival and Lauren Alaina will perform at the March 5-6 stops of Bass Pro Shops' 19-date ... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 Bits & Pieces: Hubbard KPNW/Seattle morning host Tanner Chambers dedicated his show today (11/9) to a fundraising effort for Northwest Battle ... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 ICYMI: The Robin Roberts-executive produced documentary Darius Rucker: They Called Me Hootie premieres Nov. 16, on Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and Disney+; ... Read full story
Nov 9, 2026 Chronicle: Singer Mark McGuinn, best known for his 2001 Top 10 hit "Mrs. Steven Rudy" on VFR Records, died Oct, 26 at the age of 58. Funeral services ... Read full story

 



 

 

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



  

 

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The Fall 2026 Print Special featuring: 

Country Aircheck Turns 20!

Power 31: Then & Now

The Interview & More



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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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