April 23, 2018, Issue 598
Inside The ACMs With RAC Clark
Country Aircheck unpacks the 53rd ACM Awards with Exec. Producer RAC Clark. CA: First, congrats on a show that was very well received, both by the industry and by viewers. Did you see a 12% viewership bump coming? RC: No I didn’t. We were all hopeful – CBS, DCP, the Academy – that between music, Reba and the retro moments we’d see good numbers. We were lucky to get some of the biggest hits on the charts, and I really liked all the new music, too. Having Carrie Underwood show up for the first time didn’t hurt, either. I haven’t seen the minute-by-minute [ratings], but based RAC Clark on the roughs, the 9:30, 10 and 10:30 halfhours were great. The network is happy. They’re always in search of that elusive 18-49 [demo] and having younger artists like Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina is part of that. Before we get to the show itself, what was the process of getting from October 1 to developing the dedication that opened the show? By returning to Las Vegas, I knew we would have to do something to find the right tone. And I knew we had CMAs, AMAs and the Grammys ahead of us, so we purposefully waited to see what everyone else was doing. Once the Grammys were over I reached out to [Jason Aldean’s managers] Chris Parr and Clarence Spalding to let them know we felt Jason was the most appropriate person to start off the show and address what happened. And he said yes. We went through many permutations of song choices, other people joining – including those who had been at Route 91. Eventually we came to what was said. One song can’t express what needs to be expressed. (continued on page 8)
Totes MaGoats: Stoney Creek’s Lindsay Ell (r) with WQMX/ Akron’s Sue Wilson at the station’s Goat Yoga Night.
Chesney Lets ’Er Trip
Kenny Chesney opened his 2018 Trip Around The Sun tour at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium Saturday (4/21), and several radio pros were there to soak in the moment. “Kenny Chesney is one of the only people I know who can have a monstrous stadium tour, take a year off, and come
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