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In This Issue (5/4) 

"I'm 19 years in and live my life normally."

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Radio Vision

Jackson-Dean5626.jpg Airway To Heaven: Blue Highway's Jackson Dean celebrates his second No. 1, “Heavens To Betsy," at BMI. Pictured (back, l-r) are Big Machine Music’s Mike Molinar, River House's Lynn Oliver-Cline, Studio Bank’s Kari Barnhart, BMI’s MaryAnn Keen, Sony Music Publishing’s Tom Luteran, Jody Williams Songs’ Jody Williams and Little Louder’s Arturo Buenahora; (front, l-r) songwriter Benjy Davis, producer Luke Dick, Dean and songwriter Driver Williams.
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Live Laugh Liquor: Stoney Creek's Atlus opens for Russell Dickerson in Orlando. Pictured (back, l-r) are WIRK/West Palm Beach's Nick Rivers, WKRO/Daytona Beach's DJ Tremble and WWKA's Michael “Slater” Wheaton, Melissa Quinones and Sarah Sweat; (front, l-r) WWKA's Chloe Nelson, the label's Diane Monk, WKML/Fayetteville, NC's Sarah Weaver, Jordan Tremble, Atlus, guest Stephanie and the label's Lexi Willson.

coreykent5626.jpg I'm Up To Fresno Good Again: RCA's Corey Kent (c) with KSKS/Fresno, CA's Kiss Country Morning Show hosts Joe Castelan and Kris Daniels.
Riley-Green5626.jpg Re-Signage: Nash. Harbor's Riley Green re-signs with Warner Chappell Music Nashville. Pictured (l-r) are WCM's Austen Adams, Green, attorney Jess Rosen, consultant Jessi Vaughn Stevenson and WCM's Phil May.
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This One's For UT: Columbia's Luke Combs and Col. NY/Records Nashville's Ty Myers play Knoxville's Neyland Stadium. Pictured (top, l-r) WSIX/Nashville's Ryan McKiddy, WXBQ/Johnson City, TN's Nikki Thomas, WUSY/Chattanooga's Justin Cole, Combs, iHeartMedia/Nashville's Gator Harrison, WCYQ's Matt Cooper, WIVK's Heather Harrington and Rich Bailey and (front) the label's Christy Garbinski and Ali O’Connell; (bottom) Myers and Thomas.

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Left On Red: Big Loud's Charles Wesley Godwin guests on The Upload with Brooke Taylor. Pictured (l-r) are Taylor, the label's Kelley Bradshaw and Lauren "LT" Thomas, Godwin and iHeartMedia/Nashville's Gator Harrison.

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Redneck Yacht Cub: MCA's Madden Metcalf in Chicago. Pictured (l-r) are WIL/St. Louis' Marty Brooks, Sarah Mattern, WIL's Tommy Mattern, WBTU/Fort Wayne, IN's Randy Alomar, Madden, the label's Donna Jo Passuntino, WWQM/Madison's Cailynn Hensen, Albright & O'Malley & Brenner's Kenny Jay, WKLI/Albany's Pete Kelly, guest Kate, WNCY/Appleton-Green Bay's Hannah Damas, the label's Katie Bright, band members Matt and Slick, guest Peyton, WUSN's Marci Braun and Red Light's Tom Schmall.

iHeart5426.jpg iHeartCountry Club: Team Big Machine at the iHeartCountry Festival in Austin. Pictured (l-r) are Jimmy Harnen, Jay Cruze, Ryan Dokke, iHeart's Rod Phillips, Sandi Spika Borchetta and Scott Borchetta.
Shane-Profitt5426.jpg Take Me Home, Country Toads: Triple Tigers' Shane Profitt with the label's Julianna Vaughn and KSSN/Little Rock's Jess Jennings at the Toad Suck Daze Festival. Watch Profitt's game in the toad race here.
Trey-Pendley5426.jpg Pen Pals: Leo33's Trey Pendley with KNCI/Sacramento, CA's Sonia Jimenez and Chad Rufer (top) and KKBQ/Houston's Travis Moon and Lauren "Lo" Sessions-Barker.
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Saturday Night Live: Luke Combs' My Kinda Saturday Night Tour stops at Ohio Stadium. Pictured (l-r) are SMN's Dan Nelson and Dennis Reese, WJKR/Columbus' Kevin Kirschner, WQMX/Akron's Cherise Richards and Sarah Kay, WXTU/Philadelphia's Nicole Michalik, Combs, WXCY/Wilmington, DE's Charlie Maxx, WUBE/Cincinnati's Grover Collins, Audacy’s Samantha Rudnick, SMN's Mallory Michaels, KEEY/Minneapolis' Pat Knight, WCOL/Columbus, OH's Kayla Hanley, WQMX's Justina Ciraldo and WHKO/Dayton's Nancy Wilson.

Jackson-Dean5426.jpg Don't Come Cookin': Blue Highway’s Jackson Dean plays WUSN/Chicago's Low Dough. Pictured (l-r) are the station's Austin Huff, Dean, the station's Marci Braun, WSCR's Leila Rahimi and WUSN's Melissa McGurren and Scotty Kay.

Top Stories

WXTU's Razz To Retire
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Longtime Beasley WXTU/Philadelphia PD/midday host Mark "Razz" Radziewicz is retiring May 22. “It has been an incredible journey,” he says. “I am so very grateful to the listeners who welcomed me into their lives each day, and to the amazing team I’ve had the privilege to work with over the years. I want to thank the Beasley family for their support, belief, and friendship throughout my time here. Philadelphia will always hold a special place in my heart.” Razz joined the station in 2006, rose to MD in 2010, APD/MD in 2017 (CAT 6/6/17) and PD in 2019 (Breaking News 1/7/19). His previous stops include WBZZ/Pittsburgh, WAAF/Boston, WAXQ & WXRK/New York and WMMR/Philadelphia. Reach him here until May 22.

May 5, 2026 Share
Macky To Quartz Hill As SVPP
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Former Black River SVP/Promotion Bill Macky has joined Quartz Hill Music Group (QHMG) as SVP/Promotion & Marketing, overseeing radio strategy for both the Quartz Hill Records and Stone Country Records artist rosters. "He’s worked with some of the best of the best in Nashville and has had great success at each step in his career," says QHMG President/Founder Benny Brown. "As our QHMG family continues to grow, Bill will be an important part of our efforts to help our artists achieve their dreams." Macky can be reached here. 

Macky joined Black River as VPP in 2012, and rose to helm the department for the second time two years ago (Breaking News 3/14/2024). He and others from his team departed that label last month (Breaking News 4/13). Prior stops include Epic, Sony and MCA, which followed his 16 years in radio. Last week, Quartz Hill parted ways with promotion executives Will Robinson and April Rider (CAT 4/30).

May 4, 2026 Share
March CDM Ratings
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Save The Rate: 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.

Albuquerque, NM (Market 72) 

KBQI iHeartMedia
3.2 (7) - 2.9 (9) - 3.8 (6)
KBQI-HD2 iHeartMedia Cl. Ctry.
1.9 (14) - 1.7 (16) - 1.6 (13t)
KRST 
Cumulus
Does not subscribe.

El Paso, TX
(77)

KHEY iHeartMedia
5.7 (5t) - 5.2 (6) - 5.2 (7)

Harrisburg, PA
(87)
WRBT iHeartMedia
4.8 (2t) - 4.0 (5) - 3.8 (4)
May 6, 2026 Share
March CDM Ratings
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'VOO-topia: 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.

Bakersfield, CA
(Market 83)  
KUZZ Owens
10.3 (1) - 9.9 (1) - 8.5 (1)
KCWR Owens Classic Country
1.5 (16t) - 1.1 (21t) - 1.3 (19t)
KRJK 
Owens
0.9 (23) - 1.2 (18t) - 0.9 (22t)
Knoxville, TN
(71)
WCYQ SummitMedia
3.1 (7t) - 3.2 (7) - 3.3 (6)
WDKW Midwest Classic Country
3.1 (7t) - 2.9 (8) - 2.1 (9)
WIVK Cumulus
Does not subscribe.
Omaha, NE
(74) 
KXKT iHeartMedia 
9.8 (1) - 10.3 (1) - 9.5 (1)
KFFF iHeartMedia Classic Country
2.6 (13t) - 2.3 (15t) - 2.3 (16)
Tulsa, OK
(63) 
KVOO Griffin Classic Country 
5.7 (3) - 6.2 (3) - 6.3 (1)
Largest share since July 2020.
KXBL Griffin
5.5 (4) - 5.9 (4) - 4.7 (5)
KVOO and KXBL switched call letters on Jan. 5 (CAT 12/18/25), but programming and branding remained otherwise unchanged. Trending follows frequencies rather than call letters.
KTGX iHeartMedia
1.8 (11t) - 1.8 (11) - 1.7 (10)
KWEN 
Zoellner
Does not subscribe.
May 5, 2026 Share
March CDM Ratings
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Still The Ones: 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.

Albany, NY
(Market 68)
WGNA Townsquare
6.0 (3) - 5.7 (4) - 5.4 (2t)
WKLI Pamal
2.8 (12) - 2.9 (11) - 2.2 (13)
WINU Pamal Classic Country
1.2 (18) - 1.6 (17t) - 1.5 (14)
Allentown, PA
(75)
WCTO Cumulus
Does not subscribe.
Dayton, OH
(66) 
WHKO Cox
9.1 (1) - 10.0 (1) - 11.1 (1)
Largest share since Sept. 2024.
WZDA iHeartMedia
0.9 (16) - 1.1 (15) - 1.3 (11t)
Fresno, CA
(67)  
KHGE iHeartMedia
3.4 (7) - 3.5 (6) - 2.7 (9)
KSKS Cumulus
Does not subscribe.
Grand Rapids, MI (69) WBCT iHeartMedia 
8.4 (1) - 6.8 (3) - 8.6 (1)
WTNR Cumulus
Does not subscribe.
Wilkes-Barre, PA
(81)
WGGY Audacy
6.9 (2t) - 7.3 (3) - 7.4 (2)
May 4, 2026 Share
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May 5, 2026 Razz Hands: “Razz has played a major role in the success and evolution of WXTU over the years,” says Beasley Chief Content Officer Justin Chase, ... Read full story
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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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