June 19, 2016, Issue 502
Fro m th e #1 selli n g d e b ut alb u m Wi ld h orse
I m pact i n g CMT Moves The Show ...
... and the needle. Driven out of Bridgestone Arena by the Nashville Predators’ Stanley Cup run, the 2017 CMT Music Awards made lemonade by winning its timeslot (non-sports) and coming in second overall to the NBA Finals. With the network touting three million simulcast viewers and big social numbers, CMT President Brian Philips has high praise for his team. CA: Watching, I forgot it wasn’t at Bridgestone for a minute. How was the transition? BP: I hope it looked like every other CMT Awards. The level of talent was greater this Brian Philips year than many and the behind-the-scenes story is one of people calmly going about the business of making radical changes. Including the artists. We did a Crossroads the night before with Keith Urban, Earth Wind & Fire and several other acts, just to give ourselves something else to do. Partying late into the night on the eve of the awards with Earth Wind & Fire seemed like the right call. How high was your stress level? Our people had taken care of most of it before we got to show day. Even turning the outdoor stage at the last minute worked out well. By the time of dress rehearsal, I was more assured of a good night going into it than I have been with many past iterations of the show. Attitude is important, especially with something as complex as our awards, but by the time I settled in the truck, people were at peace. There were fewer concerns and fewer glitches than is typical. (continued on page 5)
M o n day
Can We Get A Shrug? Warner Bros./WMN’s Cole Swindell greets a radio field trip backstage in Florida. Pictured (l-r) are WOGK/Gainesville’s Lewis Stokes, the label’s Lou Ramirez, WQYK/Tampa’s Veronica Alfaro, WCTQ/Sarasota Ryan Nelson, Swindell, WQYK’s Cadillac Jack (APD) and Kevin Ebel, Zen, and WFUS/Tampa’s Randi West and Travis Daily (Zen’s father).
Quiet Side Of Ell Controversy
CBS Radio KNCI/Sacramento’s ill-advised decision to drop Stoney Creek’s Lindsay Ell from a weekend performance because of her relationship with Premiere and iHeartMedia’s Bobby Bones has become a tale of two stories. One story is consumer-facing, with lots of chatter, moral outrage and social media buzz. The other is industry-facing and sounds largely like crickets.
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Lindsay Ell