August 31, 2020, Issue 720
PD Crosses Country From Couch
Ed. Note: Veteran programmer and CRB board officer John Shomby recently took a stationary road trip through Country radio at Country Aircheck’s behest. Here’s what he found: During my years as a day-to-day PD, I rarely had enough time to spend with my own radio station, let alone others in my market or across the country. But with unexpected time on my hands (who can relate?), I have been afforded the chance to sample Country stations in various markets from the comfort of my home office. I heard lots of good, solid and safe Country radio, but is that where we want to be heading into 2021 – considering everything that’s changing around us? Methodology: In partnership with Alexa, I set a goal of listening to at least one Country station in each of the top 50 markets. I managed to actually get through the top 55 John Shomby markets, making sure to get a balanced crosssection of stations owned by various companies. The dayparts or portion of dayparts I heard depended on the time zone. I would start four or five hours of listening each day around 10am ET, finishing between 3pm and 5pm. That window was intentional, as I thought it would offer a better feel for imaging, local feel, promotion and personality. Talk, With Personality: The patterns that emerged were interesting and undeniable. Across 55 markets, all but two stations had a woman in middays and only three had a female in PM drive. Those three stations had a male voice in middays. No station had back-to-back female personalities. For the most part, the on-air approach was very basic – back-selling or frontselling a song, a promo liner or typical show prep and country/ pop culture news. Surprisingly, I heard very little about the pandemic or anything related to it. I could only single out three personalities in the top 55 who sounded extremely connected to their audience. Each had something to say every time the mic opened, giving their stations a much stronger local feel. Overall, lots of “live” but not a lot of “local” from the personality side. (continued on page 7)
Nauti By Nature: Warner/WAR’s Chris Janson (r) receives a plaque commemorating “Buy Me A Boat” being certified 3x platinum from the label’s Ben Kline Friday night (8/28) during Live at the Ryman.
ACM Remotes Go Virtual
Moving from April in Las Vegas to Sept. 16 in Nashville, the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards are setting more than a few precedents. Hailing from the Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium and Bluebird Café, this year’s event won’t be its typically busy and boozy industry gathering. One of the biggest differences is in reimagined radio remotes. ACM Radio Row will be held Sept. 14-15 in an Opryland Hotel ballroom with radio stations and groups represented virtually, and a pared-down list of artists moving through a widely distanced, no-touch experience. Getting to that plan was an evolution, however. “It’s been constant change,” says ACM Sr. Mgr./Marketing Melissa Moldovan. “We’d get something set, and safety
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