December 5, 2022, Issue 836
LA (Louisiana) Gold
If, as Cole Swindell sings, you’re a ‘90s country fan, you may want to visit Lafayette, LA. Not only is market No. 118 home to one of the largest concentrations of Country signals per capita, it’s also one of the few markets with multiple gold-based Country outlets. In the Spring Nielsen ratings, currentbased Townsquare KMDL “97.3 The Dawg” leapt from 7.4 to 10.0 for its best showing in six years. Cumulus KXKC slid to ninth, and on Labor Day weekend, just a month after the ratings were released, the station made Bobby Novosad a surprise shift, dropping all currents to focus on the ‘90s. Finishing 12th was Delta Media KOGM “Mustang 107.1,” which was already primarily ‘90s-based. Additionally, Broadcast Partners Classic Country KPCZ “Freedom 106.7” covers the western half of the market with a ‘90s lean, and both Baton Rouge stations (Guaranty WTGE and iHeartMedia WYNK) put city-grade signals over most of Tanya Ardoin the market. Stuck In The Middle: “We felt we were just going to be stuck where we were,” KXKC PD Bobby Novosad says of his station’s Spring finish. “So, that’s why we made the change. All I hear is ‘The music is not the same.’ We decided, why battle that anymore?” Having successful gold-based sisters including KPLX/Dallas and WSM-FM/ Nashville simplified the process. “We Jude Walker used those stations to create the library with [VP/Music Partnerships] Greg Frey and [VP/Country] Charlie Cook, and from there we tweaked it,” adds Novosad. “There are only so many ‘90s songs you can play. It’s how you play them, when you play them and how often you play them that’s going to make it work, and we’ll be bringing songs in and out to keep it fresh. (continued on page 8)
Big Nick Energy: KWNR/Las Vegas‘ MoJoe Roberts/ Santa with Big Machine‘s Jackson Dean, Records‘ Matt Stell, Big Loud‘s Ashley Cooke, Big Machine/BMLGR‘s Danielle Bradbery and Harpeth 60/BMLGR‘s Shane Profitt (l-r) at the station‘s inaugural St. Jude Santa Jam.
This Shirt Makes A Comeback Coinciding with the start of the PPM Holiday Book, Country Cares For St. Jude Kids radiothons get underway in earnest Thursday and Friday (12/8-9). In fact, St. Jude has 103 partner events this month, 70 of which are Country. And making its return after a few years off – This Shirt Saves Lives. Launched five years ago, the shirt went through multiple iterations. “We went to the We Won’t Stop shirts as a response to the pandemic,” says ALSAC/St. Jude Dir./Country Cares Scott Hinshelwood. “Last year, we went to Love Music Stop Cancer, but you’d still see artists wearing This Shirts onstage or socials. We realized, we built This Shirt, we just need to keep building on it.”
Carletta Blake
Scott Hinshelwood
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