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February 5, 2018, Issue 1

What Makes You Country?

There are a lot of good answers to that question, as Mr. Bryan sings, but at least one of them is this right here: Country Radio Seminar. No other radio format, no other segment of the music business puts as much energy into education, networking, communication and community. And, yes, a healthy dose of fun will be administered along with all that music. So this week is a great time to be proud of what makes you country. And that’s some hometown truth. Welcome to Nashville.

Something For Everyone

One of the best aspects of Country Radio Seminar – now in its 49th year – is its varied mix of content offerings. CRS 2018 is the accumulation of decades of experience and a year of committed agenda wrangling, resulting in a tightly focused two-and-a-half day event. Opening this afternoon (see The Day Ahead, page 4), attendees will see the heart of the format on display in humanitarian presentations to an artist and radio vet Dan Halyburton. Then Dierks Bentley takes the stage as the day’s featured speaker. Looking beyond Monday, there’s a deep well of information for all the data-heads out there. The nerd-out begins with Edison’s CRS Research Presentation Tuesday morning and its focus on radio and smart speakers. CMA’s country streaming study is set for Wednesday morning, and the Matrix of the Metrics panel follows with an incredibly organized look at factors that influence airplay (see story page 4).

Omni Potent: A CRS contingent already in Nashville Sunday afternoon includes WGTY/York’s Mak McKeehan, WGNA/Albany’s Matty Jeff, WKKT/Charlotte’s Meg Stevens, WMZQ/Washington’s Jeff Kapugi and EMI Nashville’s Mike Krinik.

Creativity is embraced not just in Monday’s session with Bentley, but with a talent mentoring happy hour (Tuesday), talent coach Randy Lane as a featured speaker (Wednesday) and an in-depth interview with Brad Paisley Wednesday afternoon. There are full meals of ideas for small markets, promotions, social media and, of course, the highly rated mentoring sessions at various times throughout CRS. Hot topics include a workshop on sexual harassment with Shelley Greenwald, intentional living with expert Miles Adcox and the can’t-miss conversation with Cumulus CEO Mary Berner on Tuesday.

February 5, 2018

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And if anyone comes away from CRS 2018 without having been deeply immersed in the best music on the planet, they’re doing it wrong.

Nashville’s Country Stations

WSIX

What visiting Country radio pro hasn’t scanned the dial to see what their favorite format sounds like in Music City? That’s especially true during CRS – and Country Aircheck is pleased to offer some context. With roughly 2,000 industry specialists descending on Nashville this week, here is a data-driven look at the market’s Country stations, their recent ratings histories and the musical presentations they use to distinguish themselves. Market & Ratings: Nashville, Nielsen market 43 with a 12+ metro population of 1,465,700, touts three full-signal Country subscribers as of the Holiday 2017 survey, each a 100kW Class C. They are Cumulus’ WSM-FM (Nash Icon at 95.5) and WKDF (Nash FM at 103.3), and iHeartMedia’s WSIX (The Big 98 at 97.9). iHeartMedia also offers Classic Country via HD/ translator combo WSIX-HD2 & W252CM (98.3), as does Ryman Hospitality, which operates storied 50kW Class C WSM-AM (650 AM). Not counting WSM-AM, which wasn’t listed as a subscriber in the most recent survey, the stations accounted for 13.0 shares of listening. That number hovers closer to 15.5 during non-Holiday surveys and those that have included WSM-AM, however. The ratings story has changed some since last year. As detailed in Country Aircheck last February (CRS 2017 Daily Buzz), WSM-FM was dominant for most of 2016 Persons 12 when the station won all but one survey. WSIX was the dominant Country radio station in 2017, however, winning nine of its 13 surveys. Averaged, WSIX, WSM-FM and WKDF were at 5.3, 4.8 and 3.8 on the year, respectively. (See a month-to-month picture below) MusicWKDF & Programming: Musically, WSM-FM WSM-FM appears to have changed more from 2016 than WSIX. A recent seven-day Mediabase analysis shows a shift in WSM12 FM’s playlist from 8% current, 25% recurrent and 67% at this point last year to 14-14-73% gold today. WSIX, by comparison, is at 45-3618%, just a few percentage points from where it was last year. WKDF’s playlist percentages are also relatively close to last year’s. The station 10

6.1

6.0 5.5

5.4

WSM-AM

WSIX HD

5.6

WSIX HD

5.5

5.1

5.6

4.2

4.8 4.2 8

WSM-AM

5.4

5.9 5.5

5.3

3.7

3.9

4.0

5.1

4.6

4.4

4.3 3.8

3.9

3.3

WSIX HD

4.1

4.5

4.3

5.1

4.9

4.3

4.1

3.7

3.2

3.3

Oct

Nov

3.6

3.9

Dec

Hol

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

2.3

WSIX

WKDF

WSM-AM

1.8

1.7

WSM-FM

1.6

1.8

1.7

1.6

1.0

1.1

1.0

Jun

Jul

Aug

1.1

1.3

1.5

0.8

1.0

0.9

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

0.8

WSIX-HD2 & W252CM

0 1.9

Jan

0.7

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Hol

1.9

2.3

February 5, 2018

today is at 44-42-15% compared with 51-35-14% last year. There are only slight differences year over year with regard to song quantity and unique titles on the stations. WSM-FM is still the leader when it comes to most songs played in a week (2,420), followed again by WSIX (2,161) and WKDF (2,083). WSM-FM plays the most unique titles of the three stations with 510, followed by WSIX at 299 and WKDF at 278. As for vintage, WSIX’s average is 2014, WSM-FM’s is 2003 and WKDF’s is 2015. Last year those numbers were 2015, 2006 and 2015, respectively. The playlist of WSIX-HD2 & W252CM, which generally delivers a 1.0 share, is 100% gold with 2,600 songs played weekly. Roughly 420 of them are unique to the station. On-Air & Online: Change may have defined many of the market’s Country morning shows in recent years, but 2017 offered stability. Premiere’s The Bobby Bones Show is still heard on WSIX, it’s home base; as are Cumulus/Westwood One’s Marty McFly and Ty, Kelly & Chuck on WSM-FM and WKDF, respectively. Country Radio Hall Of Famer Gerry House and former partner Mike Bohan deliver a mixture of archived content from the House Foundation’s time on WSIX, as well as new, original content that’s been described as “on-air Twitter.” “He thinks it, he says it and we all laugh,” SVPP Gator Harrison told Country Aircheck last year (CAT 5/22). iHeartMedia’s Bob Delmont plays host to the effort, handling song talk-overs and content setups. Mornings on WSM-AM continue to be helmed by Country Radio Hall of Famer Bill Cody, who’s been in place since 1994. The only thing left do now, of course, is listen. Check out WSIX here, WSM-FM here, WKDF here, WSIX-HD2 & W252CM here and WSM-AM here. Be sure to say hello to Nashville’s programmers at CRS, too. They are Gator Harrison (WSIX and WSIX-HD2 & W252CM), Charlie Cook (WSM-FM), John Shomby (WKDF) and Jonathan Shaffer (WSM-AM). –CA Staff

On CRS

Dierks Bentley will be speaking Monday afternoon, but before he gets there, here are his thoughts on his favorite CRS memory: “It’s such a big deal for country singers, having all these people who hold the key to the gate, come to your city,” Bentley says. “I remember really well playing New Faces over at the old convention center, which has since been demolished. You’d hear

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stories about how Tim McGraw got up there and played ‘Don’t Take The Girl,’ which launched his career. So you know how important it is. But my favorite memory is when my ‘90s country band Hot Country Knights played at The Stage during CRS. The place was packed full of people I’ve known a long time – lots of PDs and other friends from radio. It wasn’t just cover songs, we had a whole bit. It might be generous to call it a Broadway production, but it was definitely theater. There was some acting involved, bottles were broken and blood was spilled onstage that night. I was hearing from programmers for the next several years, hoping we’d do it again.” One change this year will be no attendees from CBS Radio. That’s because they’re all now employees of Entercom. Here’s the newly merged company’s country format captain Mike Moore: “There are tremendous programmers at these stations, many I’ve known and even worked with over the years,” Moore says. “Country radio and country music are close-knit families and I’m fortunate to know a lot of great folks. Hopefully that helps the process, and beyond that it’s a matter of getting to know each other, adopting best practices and getting everyone marching in the same direction so we can do the best for our local markets and our companies will hold. Finally, a peek inside the aforementioned Matrix of the Metrics panel with Stone Door Media Lab’s Jeff Green: “The big story is that programmers are increasingly focusing on sales and streaming consumption, as well as the artist’s recent airplay history and current chart data,” Green says. “For instance, sales ranked first (fourth overall), but moved up from 74% to 82% year-to-year as having a ‘very likely’ or ‘somewhat likely’ influence on add decisions. Proof of performance also gained in significance, as the artists’ success or failure with their prior single jumped from 71% to 80% importance.” All of the above are excerpted from Country Aircheck’s CRS print issue, available on site at CRS 2018.

The Day Ahead

8:30am-5pm Music Row Rooms SSM Nashville In2une Music Nashville Parenting Today’s Teens Omni, Level 2, Legends Pre-Function 8:30am-3pm St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Internet Cafe Coffee, beverages and free wifi Omni, Level 2, Music Row 4

February 5, 2018

8:30am-5pm Shakti Mediation Room Omni, Level 3, Mockingbird 1

11am-2am Rebel Engine Lobby Bar Omni Lobby

8:30am-4pm ABC Radio: On The Record With The Stars Omni, Level 3, Mockingbird 4

11am-12pm Yoga Class by Shakti Power Yoga Omni, Level 3, Mockingbird 1

8:30am-5pm The Row Riser House, Westwood One, Jamtraxx Media, Yellowtec, vCreative Omni, Level 2, 5th Ave. Pre-Function 8:30am-11am St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Juice Bar Omni, Level 2, 5th Ave. Pre-Function 9am-3pm Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Omni, Level 3, Mockingbird 1 9am-3pm Visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Free admission for registered CRS attendees 9:30am MV2 Entertainment Terry McBride, David Fanning, Nora Collins, Eric Dodd Omni, Level 2, Grandview Terrace 10am-4pm Hocatt USA Email Megan Zarling at megan@hocattusa. com to schedule your appointment for the Hocatt steam sauna. Omni, Level 3, Mockingbird 2 10am-5pm CRS Media Center Sponsored by Parenting Today’s Teens Omni, Level 2, Broadway Hallway

12:15pm CRS 2018 Kickoff Party Hosted by DJ Ty Street Sponsored by Encore Technologies Omni, Level 2, Broadway Pre-Function 3pm Opening Ceremonies Sponsored by Sarah Cannon Cam, Mayor Megan Barry Omni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G 3:30pm Artist Humanitarian Award Presentation Sponsored by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Omni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G 3:30pm Tom Rivers Award Presentation Dan Halyburton Omni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G 4pm Featured Speaker: Dierks Bentley Sponsored by DAV Omni, Level 2, Legends Ballroom D-G 5pm Black River CRS Show (invite only) Kelsea Ballerini, Jacob Davis, Abby Anderson Bell Tower, 400 4th Ave. S.

Page 5 5pm SSM Nashville Happy Hour Alexandra Demetree and Branch & Dean Omni, Level 2, Music Row 1 5pm Yoga Class by Shakti Power Yoga Omni, Level 3, Mockingbird 1 5:30pm Welcome Reception Sponsored by CMA & Live Nation Omni, Level 2, Broadway Ballroom 5:30pm BBRMG Live at CRS (Invite Only) Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, Chase Rice, Granger Smith, Parmalee, Joe Nichols, Lindsay Ell, Trace Adkins, Randy Houser, Chase Bryant, Runaway June, Walker McGuire, Jimmie Allen Country Music Hall of Fame Event Hall 6pm Bar Frog Music and Friends Amber Hayes, Bailey James, Mark Bray, Nick Hickman, Rick Monroe, Smith & Wesley, Tony Jackson, Williams Honor The Studio Nashville (3315 Charlotte Ave) 7pm Amazon Music & CRS Monday Night Showcase featuring the Radio Ink Best Country PD Awards Sponsored by Amazon Music Performances powered by Live Nation Jason Aldean, Jordan Davis, Jimmie Allen Omni, Level 2, Broadway Ballroom