June 21, 2021, Issue 761
PPM: Spring Upswings
As a format, Country is flat overall in May (see Scoreboard pg. 12); however, several stations have seen notable growth in recent months. Country Aircheck speaks with a few standouts below. KWNR/Las Vegas: MoJoe Roberts took over the PD role at iHeartMedia KWNR last August and, after averaging a 2.5 share for 2020, KWNR has now registered a run of five consecutive monthly increases. May’s 4.9 share is the station’s best since January 2019. In demo rank, KWNR has jumped from 17 to 4 in just two months (see graph, page 9). “Las Vegas was certainly a bit ahead of most of the country to open up again,” Roberts says. “All of this renewed energy MoJoe Roberts and excitement for the onslaught of concert announcements and tactical contesting have certainly played a factor in our growth.” There may be more to it than just re-opening, however. “We also made some key weekday staff adjustments, welcoming Lois ‘Double L’ Lewis back to the midday show in April,” Roberts explains. Lewis had previously worked at KWNR before transferring to KNIX/Phoenix in 2017. Roberts is also bullish on product right now. “We are benefiting from an increasingly strong music cycle in the format,” he notes. “Hopefully that continues.” KRTY/San Jose: Empire’s KRTY averaged a 3.9 share in 2020 and, like KWNR, has also reeled off five consecutive monthly increases. The 5.5 share for May is its best since August 2018, and the station Nate Deaton also landed a top-five finish in demo. GM Nate Deaton sees one overriding benefit from his area’s reopening. “Home schooling really affected more of the overall listening patterns than anything else,” he says. “Everyone was at home doing schoolwork and couldn’t be distracted. That’s our demo. It’s hard to underestimate how much morning traffic was related to school.” (continued on page 7)
Block And Roll: Warner/WAR’s Shy Carter and his label team at the National Museum of African American Music’s Juneteenth Block Party. Pictured (l-r) are the label’s Cris Lacy, Tim Foisset, Michael Chase, Jenni Tay and Ben Kline, Carter, the label’s James Marsh, manager Missi Gallimore and the label’s Shane Tarleton.
Preview: Women In Country
Updating and expanding Country Aircheck’s June 2015 feature story and airplay analysis regarding female artists, the June print issue is largely devoted to the broader idea of women in country music. From multiple angles, the publication is aimed at conveying a more thorough understanding, starting with a roundtable between women in different industry segments. On the subject of work-life balance, Pandora’s Beville Dunkerley says in part, Beville “Pre-pandemic, I was putting in as much Dunkerley face time at the office as everyone else, regardless of if they had children or not. I’ve had nothing but supportive bosses [but] I put a lot of pressure on myself, because I don’t want to be passed over for a project lead
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