Updating The Interview: Tim Roberts...(continued on page 5) September 1 22 Issue 22 Updating The Interview: Tim Roberts When he spoke with Country Aircheck for The Interview (in the
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Country Rides Out The Cume Storm While a cursory glance at Country Aircheck’s August 2020 PPM Scoreboard (here, pg. 14) shows a drop in overall cume – down 1.37% (359,800) compared to the previous month and 21.66% year-over-year – a review of Country and all-format cume data shows a slight rebound occurring from the earlier pandemic-laden months of 2020. Rewind and revisit an in-depth analysis of the early coronavirus cume crater in the May 26 Country Aircheck Weekly, then read on for a look at how the format has performed in recent months. Wave On Wave: Taking a wide-angle look at cume numbers for all formats in PPM rated markets, including HD and streaming stations where monitored, radio listening as a whole was off 31.34% from Nov. ’19-Aug. ’20 – 477,823,000 to 328,063,200. Country’s fall-off was notably less severe, dropping 20.03% from Nov. ’19-Aug. ’20 – 33,758,800 to 26,996,900. Breaking down the all-format cume numbers into AM/FM terrestrial, HD and streaming silos, terrestrial-only decreases match the aggregated totals, showing a 31.33% decrease from Nov. ’19-Aug. ’20 – 470,600,700 to 323,167,200. Taking a look at HD-only cume numbers, the dip was less severe than terrestrial, showing a 26.65% decline from Nov. ’19-Aug. ’20 – 5,063,400 to 3,713,800 – while the segment showing the largest cume erosion is streaming, which saw a 42.96% decrease from Nov. ’19-Aug. ’20 down to 1,231,400 from 2,158,900. The long-term trend for streaming cume is far more telling than earlier views, where results from March to April showed a 2.8% increase, up from 1,683,100 to 1,729,800. Moving into 2020, radio listening as a whole was off 25.14% January-August (438,224,200 to 328,063,200). During the same period, Country formats only experienced a 12.43% dip, 30,828,200-26,996,900 compared to all other formats, which cumulatively dropped 26.10% from 407,396,000 to 301,066,300. A high-level look at all-format totals in terrestrial, HD and streaming cume numbers show 25.10%, 25.62% and 31.29% declines, respectively, from January to August. Of note is an increase in cume for terrestrial (15.24%) and HD (8.35%)
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September 14, 2020, Issue 722
Updating The Interview: Tim Roberts When he spoke with Country Aircheck for The Interview (in the September print issue here), Entercom Format Captain & VP/Country Tim Roberts was in early planning for a format-wide restructuring (Breaking News 9/10) and didn’t broach the subject. With his programming team announced earlier today (9/14), Roberts offers this supplement to The Interview. CA: How did this reimagining of Entercom Country unfold, and was it in response to audience changes brought on by the pandemic? TR: No, it’s not at all related to the pandemic. We thought it was time for a really different way of looking at the business and how it’s changing. People are consuming media differently and we wanted to adapt to what listeners want. This was all targeted to the listener.
Sweet Streams (Are Made of This): Columbia’s Tenille Townes and BMLGR’s Riley Green were surprised with their ACM New Male Artist and New Female Artist trophies Saturday (9/12) during The Opry Livestream. Watch here. Pictured (l-r) are the Opry’s Dan Rogers, Warner/WMN’s Ashley McBryde, Townes, Green, Opry member Mark Wills and the ACM’s Damon Whiteside.
The process was extremely collaborative, as well as complex, and involved a lot of people from the tech side to programming. We pulled in different brand managers and other people along the way including, of course, the senior leadership team – President/Programming Pat Paxton and EVP/Programming Jeff Sottolano. What was the listener-focused vision you all came up with? It’s really about upgrading talent on every level for a better listener experience. Katie Neal in middays will have more artist interaction, offer more fun things to listen to and lots of snackable content for listeners, clients and country fans. It’s just a better way to deliver content and lets us do things we’ve never done before. For instance, today we have Luke Bryan on every one of our radio stations. That wasn’t possible before. Breaking it out, it looks like each station will have local mornings and afternoons, with national middays and nights with Rob & Holly. Is two live-and-local and two national airshifts the model? Each brand is evaluated differently. I don’t want to make a global statement on that. We know the drive time experience is very important and understand the value of being live and local in mornings. Afternoon shows will vary by market based on its own needs. In a lot of cases that will be local, and in some there will be other great talents hosting from elsewhere. This isn’t meant to be one-size-fits-all, and we’ve kept the local brands in mind with local music, content and imaging across the platform. The way we approached this with our team, it was really important to pay attention to the needs of the market. Country music in Houston is different than New York. Your team is built around three regions, with a VP and a manager – can you lay out which stations are in each? Not sure I want to get that granular. As for the team, these are people with a good understanding of the format, how to execute ... and it’s really an expansion of resources in bringing these centers of excellence to our individual brands The best people are getting expanded roles and, in some cases, being promoted to handle more responsibility because they’re very good at what they do. There’s a lot of opportunity for strong, talented people in this company. And, I have to say, a positive opportunity for a lot of air talent, as well. Still a difficult task when it comes to people departing, though... I have to defer on questions about personnel, but I will say that as this business changes, radio means different things. There is more opportunity than before, just a different kind. The digital division at Radio.com didn’t exist at one time. Podcasting is another platform where strong personalities can be recognized and monetized. Every time we turn around there’s something new and,
if you have the adaptability, there is opportunity. Despite tough decisions and a lot of change, it sounds like you’re still bullish on Country radio and country music. I’m extremely positive about this business. Our artists are creating great music fans are excited to hear. And that means there’s tons of opportunity. Read more from Roberts in The Interview here. –Chuck Aly
Chart Chat Congratulations to Luke Combs, Shane Allen, Lauren Thomas and the Columbia promotion team on landing at No. 1 with “Lovin’ On You.” The song is the fourth single from Combs’ second studio album, What You See Is What You Get. Songwriters are Thomas Archer, Ray Fulcher, James McNair and Combs. And kudos to Matthew Hargis and the BMLGR crew on notching 88 adds for Florida Georgia Line’s “Long Live,” landing atop this week’s board for a second consecutive week.
News & Notes Sonia Leigh’s “Jack Is Back” won the Country category of the 2020 Unsigned Only Music Competition, while Buck Twenty took home second place for “All I Can Do.” Eight country artists received honorable mentions; full list here. John Berry and wife Robin’s new podcast, Faith, Family & Friends, will debut Friday (9/18) here.
The Week’s Top Stories Full coverage at countryaircheck.com.• The 2020 Fantasy Label Draft kicked off and the September print issue was previewed in last week’s (9/8) Country Aircheck Weekly.• Country Aircheck checked in with radio affected by the West Coast wildfires. (CAT 9/11)• Entercom restructured its Country format, resulting in layoffs. (CAT 9/10)• WKLB/Boston’s Dawn Santolucito was elevated to APD/Marketing Dir., and Jim Clerkin added MD duties. (CAT 9/9)• Sun Broadcast Group Pres./Founder Jason Bailey is departing; Warren Friedland is taking on Pres. role. (CAT 9/8)• Chronicle: Bill Pursell, Dave Holmes.
from May to August, while streaming cume continued to fall (down 13.37%) in the same window. Deep Dive: Drilling down on terrestrial cume statistics, the 57 Nielsen-reported formats have been aggregated into 11 broad formats: AC, Classics, Country, News/Talk/Sports, Religious, Rhythm, Rock, Spanish Language, Top 40, Urban and Misc. Looking at those aggregated formats on a terrestrial-only basis, Country – an amalgamation of stations reported as Country, New Country or Classic Country by Nielsen – ranks last in cume loss from Nov. ’19-Aug. ’20 (down 19.76%), Jan.-Aug. (dipping 12.38%) and March-Aug. (dropping 5.35%). As a format, Country
(continued from page 1)Country Rides Out The Cume Storm has maintained the greatest consistency in audience levels and has
shown the highest amount of audience retention.All aggregate terrestrial formats began to show a rebound in cume from May to August, and while Country showed the smallest percentage of growth (up 10.19%) during that time frame, the format has also experienced the least impact on cume – a total of 14.21% loss to date – during the pandemic, measured Feb.-Aug. Meanwhile, Country’s most frequent audience share competitors, AC and Top 40, have been among the hardest hit during coronavirus, as aggregate AC formats experienced a 41.51% loss – the highest among all aggregate formats – and Top 40 placed third with a 30.91% drop. Classic formats, including Classic Hits, Oldies and ‘80s, were second-most impacted with 37.42% erosion in cume during COVID-19. AC (43.79%), Classic (41.20%) and
Top 40 (35.03%) have also experienced the biggest decreases in terrestrial cume since November. Among Country’s competitors, Spanish (16.53%), Urban (17.33%), Religious (17.49%), Rock (17.91%), News-Talk (18.82%) and Rhythmic (19.81%) each experienced more leveled cume decreases from Feb.-Aug., with Rock claiming the biggest cume increase from May-Aug. with a 19.66% gain. Surf’s Up: All-format terrestrial cume reached its lowest point in April with a total of 266,190,800 but has since rebounded 15.47% to 323,167,200 in August. While no format has hit its pre-pandemic cume levels, audience has been on the rise since totals bottomed out in April and May, during which Country hit lows of 20,918,500 and 24,297,900, respectively. In a year of rapid change, Country radio continues to outperform radio as a whole, maintaining the steadiest audience levels among all formats during the most volatile months. As reported via the most recent PPM Scoreboard, aggregated Country shares for Feb. through Aug. were 349.7, 355.6, 369.1, 381.8, 387.0, 382.0 and 366.6, showing incremental growth in share throughout the pandemic, as well. Direct questions, concerns or thoughts about Country’s relative strength in the audio entertainment marketplace here.
Summit KFDI/Wichita OM Justin Case is searching for a morning co-host. See the complete posting here; send résumés and airchecks to Case here. Hubbard WIL/St. Louis OM Tommy Mattern is looking for an MD/afternoon personality with a minimum of two years on-air experience, demonstrable ratings success stories and impeccable references. See the complete posting and apply here. Federated WQHK/Ft. Wayne, IN OM Jimmy Knight is searching for a morning co-host to join incumbent Josh Michaels. Send résumés and airchecks to Knight here. Griffin KVOO/Tulsa OM Steve Hunter is seeking a morning show host or team. See the complete job description here; send résumés and airchecks to Hunter here. MacDonald WKCQ/Saginaw, MI OM/PD Jason Addams is looking to add a full-time on-air personality for nights. Send résumés and airchecks to him here.
NORTHEAST
Forever WFGI/Johnstown, PA is seeking a full-time morning co-host. Send résumés, airchecks and salary requirements here. WVRC WKKW/Morgantown, WV PD Mike Vincent is searching for part-time on-air talent for weekend and fill-in positions. Send résumés and airchecks to him here. iHeartMedia/Baltimore RSVPP Jeff Kapugi is seeking a Dir./Creative Services for Country WPOC; programming duties and weekend/fill-in airshifts are also possible. Apply here; send résumés and creative composites to Kapugi here. Pamal WKLI/Albany, NY PD Jon Reilly is
looking for a morning co-host to join incumbent Pete Kelly. Send résumés and airchecks here. Alpha/Fredericksburg, VA is looking for a Market Mgr. for the cluster, which includes Country WFLS. Interested candidates can see a complete job description and apply here. Alpha WFLS/Fredericksburg, VA Dir./Content Bill West is searching for a morning co-host to succeed the retiring Jessica Cash. Apply here; reach West here.
SOUTHEAST
Cumulus WKAK/Albany, GA PD Bill Dollar is looking for an afternoon personality/Production Dir. Apply here. Cumulus WKDF/Nashville PD Paul Williams is looking for an afternoon personality with five-plus years of experience. See the complete job posting and apply here. Cumulus/Shreveport, LA is searching for a VP/MM to succeed Aaron Criswell. See the complete job posting and apply here.
SOUTHWEST
Radio Ranch KRNH/Kerrville, TX is in need of a PD/morning host with a strategic programming mind and strong on-air skills. Send résumés and airchecks here. Townsquare KQBR/Lubbock, TX Brand Mgr. Lance Ballance is seeking an APD/on-air personality to succeed Jan Miller. Send résumés and airchecks to him here.
WEST COAST
Badlands/Rapid City, SD is searching for a GM/DOS who can build, train and motivate a team
for the cluster that includes Country KRKI. Interested parties can send résumés and references here. Ruby Radio/Elko, NV VP/Programming Tom Chase is seeking on-air talent for the cluster that includes Country KBGZ and Classic Country translator K263BD. Applicants can send cover letters, résumés and airchecks to Chase here. Bonneville KYGO/Denver PD Brian Michel is searching for a morning co-host to join incumbent Tracy Dixon. Reach Michel here, and apply here. Frontier/Juneau, AK GM Cherie Curry is seeking an OM/PD/on-air talent for the cluster that includes Country KTKU. Send résumés with references and an aircheck to Curry here. Townsquare KUAD/Ft. Collins, CO Dir./Content Brad Hansen is looking for a morning host or team to succeed Jordan Soto and Michael Mason. View the complete job description here; send résumés and airchecks to Hansen here. Marker KPLM/Palm Springs, CA PD Kory James is looking for a morning host or team to succeed outgoing 17-plus year host Randy Houston. Send résumés and airchecks to James here.
OTHER
Cherry Creek Media Group PD Mark Elliott is searching for experienced OMs and PDs for future openings. The company’s Country properties include KAAR/Butte, MT; KCIN & KIYK/St. George, UT; KMON/Great Falls, MT; KGGL/Missoula, MT; KKXK/Montrose, MT; KWCD/Sierra Vista, AZ; KYSN/Wenatchee, WA; KYYZ/Williston, ND; and Classic Country KMON-AM/Great Falls, MT. Candidates with a minimum of three-to-five years of experience and a background in programming multiple formats in small to medium sized markets can send résumés, airchecks and programming philosophies to Elliott here.
Check out his website here, connect with him on LinkedIn here and hear his demos here.
“I bring a solutions-based, can-do attitude and a focus on creative ways to get the job done, fix the problem and make it all work without getting bogged down. Creativity? Yeah, you hear that a lot. But from promotion meetings, client CNAs, programming and sales strategy meetings to station launches and events, I’m one of the people bringing new ideas, angles or approaches. I’ve been called on more than once to fix a sales promotion that wasn’t working, and I have been referred to as the ‘head of the idea department.’”
RUSSELL DICKERSON/Love You Like I Used To (Triple Tigers) 753
LEE BRICE/One Of Them Girls (Curb) 737
LUKE COMBS/Lovin' On You (River House/Columbia) 730
JASON ALDEAN/Got What I Got (Macon Music/Broken Bow) 714
MORGAN WALLEN/More Than My Hometown (Big Loud) 709
CHRIS STAPLETON/Starting Over (Mercury) 678
JON PARDI/Ain't Always The Cowboy (Capitol) 517
KENNY CHESNEY/Happy Does (Blue Chair/Warner/WEA) 448
Country Aircheck Top Point GainersFLORIDA GEORGIA LINE/Long Live (BMLGR) 5040 ✔JAMESON RODGERS/Some Girls (River House/Columbia) 2513 ✔RUSSELL DICKERSON/Love You Like I Used To (Triple Tigers) 2348 ✔JASON ALDEAN/Got What I Got (Macon Music/Broken Bow) 2346 ✔LUKE COMBS/Lovin' On You (River House/Columbia) 2328 ✔LEE BRICE/One Of Them Girls (Curb) 2271
CHRIS STAPLETON/Starting Over (Mercury) 1989
MORGAN WALLEN/More Than My Hometown (Big Loud) 1954
KENNY CHESNEY/Happy Does (Blue Chair/Warner/WEA) 1413
JON PARDI/Ain't Always The Cowboy (Capitol) 1328
Activator Top Spin GainersCHRIS STAPLETON/Starting Over (Mercury) 257
LEE BRICE/One Of Them Girls (Curb) 235
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE/Long Live (BMLGR) 188
RUSSELL DICKERSON/Love You Like I Used To (Triple Tigers) 174
B. SHELTON f/G. STEFANI/Happy Anywhere (Warner/WMN) 170
MORGAN WALLEN/More Than My Hometown (Big Loud) 161
Keith Urban The Speed Of Now Part 1 (Capitol)The 16-track project includes a collaboration with Breland and guitarist Nile Rodgers on opening track “Out The Cage,” a duet with P!nk on “One Too Many” and an alternate version of “We Were” featuring the song’s co-writer, Eric Church.
Luke Laird Music Row (Creative Nation Records)Despite Laird’s 24 No. 1 country singles and multiple Grammy, ACM and CMA awards, Music Row marks the release of his first-ever record. He penned all of the songs included, except “Branch On The Tree,” which he co-wrote alongside Lori
McKenna and Barry Dean.
RUNAWAY JUNE/We Were Rich (Wheelhouse) Moves 44-45* 2,759 points, 871 spins; no adds
PARMALEE f/B. BROWN/Just The Way (Stoney Creek) Moves 45-46* 2,663 points, 956 spins 4 adds: WBWL, WGAR, WIL, WKSJ
September 21HIGH VALLEY/Grew Up On That (Warner/WEA)MIRANDA LAMBERT/Settling Down (RCA)ELVIE SHANE/My Boy (Wheelhouse)CAYLEE HAMMACK/Just Friends (Capitol)
September 28CARLY PEARCE/Next Girl (Big Machine)
October 5REBEL HEARTS/Good To Go (RHR)LARRY FLEET/Where I Find God (Big Loud)INGRID ANDRESS/Lady Like (WMN/WEA)