In the days before Country Radio Seminar, it was good to listen to the four 2022 ACM “Station of the Year” radio winners from a “what Country radio still means to listeners” standpoint. I heard four heritage Country stations (but three first-time winners) offering the sort of radio experience you would want from four heritage stations.
If there was a through-line between the four stations, it was promotional activity–all four gave a sense of “something’s happening.” Discussions of Country’s ratings issues of the last year have often turned to a lack of touring and concert tickets; most stations here had Country tours to talk about and tickets to concerts or other events to give away. All four were locally and enthusiastically hosted when I heard them in middays or afternoons (which, to be fair, is when you would have most expected it).
Country programmers are starting to talk about whether their stations are too narrow musically—still positioned around a tight universe of “New Country” titles in a way that is no longer a positive for all listeners, but not new enough for the streaming age. Three of the four stations I listened to were billed as “New Country,” although one had tempered that position with ‘00s and even ‘90s gold.
In general, I felt like I heard musical differences between the four stations. Only one station I listened to gave off a sense of “only playing smashes that would research well in any market.” Most had a surprise or two—at least from a national perspective—over the course of the hour. All of the stations had enough happening between the records to be an exciting listen.
Here are the four ACM Stations of the Year in the order I listened to them:
WUBE Cincinnati (Large Market)
Hubbard’s B105.1 is “New Country” but also “Cincinnati’s Home for Country Music” and, at the :00, “Born and raised on the banks of the Ohio.” PD/Middayer Grover Collins was giving away Jason Aldean tickets. The winner had just come from closing on a house. (They did not announce that they were going to go out and buy lottery tickets, however.) Here’s WUBE just before 2 p.m. on February 18:
- Dan + Shay, “Nothin’ Like You”
- Morgan Wallen, “Sand in My Boots”
- Thomas Rhett f/Maren Morris, “Craving You”
- Brett Young, “Lady”
- Carrie Underwood, “Before He Cheats”
- Jordan Davis f/Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt”
- Eric Church, “Springsteen”
- Blake Shelton, “Come Back as a Country Boy”
- Cole Swindell, “Single Saturday Night”
- Sam Hunt, “23”
- Jason Aldean, “Dirt Road Anthem”
- Kelsea Ballerini f/Kenny Chesney, “Half of My Hometown”
- Luke Bryan, “Drunk on You”
- Dustin Lynch f/Mackenzie Porter, “Thinking ‘Bout You”
- Florida Georgia Line, “Cruise”
- Luke Combs, “Better Together”
- Russell Dickerson, “Home Sweet”
- Carrie Underwood, “Last Name”
KYGO Denver (Major Market)
Bonneville’s KYGO uses “No. 1 for New Country” and at :00 “from the top of Red Rocks.” Since this was before the ACMs were announced, they were also “the CMA major-market station of the year” in that ID. I KYGO already had an ACM “pick the winners” sponsor promotion going, where listeners could win a $500 gift card for their predictions.
KYGO’s main contest is “Double Your Paycheck” and the payoff sweeper emphasizes “local cash to local winners.” This winner told p.m. driver Paul Donovan that her family had just gotten a new puppy that day. She was, indeed, on her way to buy a lottery ticket. Here’s KYGO just before 2 p.m., February 18:
- Thomas Rhett, “Slow Down Summer”
- Lady Antebellum, “Just A Kiss”
- Justin Moore, “We Didn’t Have Much”
- Kelsea Ballerini f/Kenny Chesney, “Half of My Hometown”
- Darius Rucker, “Wagon Wheel”
- Maddie & Tae, “Die from a Broken Heart”
- Hardy, “Give Heaven Some Hell”
- Ernest f/Morgan Wallen, “Flower Shops”
- Luke Bryan, “Play It Again”
- Ernest f/Morgan Wallen, “Flower Shops”
- Jason Aldean, “Blame It on You”
- Kenny Chesney, “Get Along”
- Parmalee, “Take My Name”—with an artist “about the song” sweeper
- Cole Swindell, “Single Saturday Night”
- Zac Brown Band, “Homegrown”
- Ryan Hurd w/Maren Morris, “Chasing After You”
- Luke Combs, “Even Though I’m Leaving”
- Eric Church, “Springsteen”
- Morgan Wade, “Wilder Days”
- Thomas Rhett, “Remember You Young”
WXBQ Johnson City, Tenn. (Small Market)
I tuned into Bristol’s WXBQ as middayer Marcus Brooks was breaking the ACM news to listeners. “Thanks to you for all of your support over the years,” he said. “Now we’re going to fight over who gets to go to Vegas.” (Having been before, Brooks felt that he was at a disadvantage.) WXBQ was giving away SoCon Basketball Playoff tickets. It also had something I hadn’t heard in a while, Alan Archer weather and a teaser for Noon news.
WXBQ was not “No. 1 for New Country.” It’s still “Twenty-Four Carrot Country” and using its long-ime rabbit mascot. WXBQ also had my favorite sweeper: “You’re the reason we came to work today. Thanks for listening.” Here’s WXBQ just before 11 a.m., February 21.
- Eric Paslay, “Friday Night”
- Luke Combs, “Doin’ This”
- Parker McCollum, “To Be Loved By You”
- Sam Hunt, “23”
- Luke Bryan, “Most People Are Good”
- Eric Church, “Smoke A Little Smoke”
- Brett Young, “You Didn’t”
- Thomas Rhett, “Life Changes”
- Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You”
- Lady A, “What A Song Can Do”
- Jon Pardi, “Up All Night”
- Keith Urban, “Somebody Like You”
- Cole Swindell & Lainey Wilson, “Never Say Never”
- Michael Ray, “Real Men Love Jesus”
- Kane Brown, “Lose It”
- Chris Young w/Tenpenny, “At the End of a Bar”
WHKO (K99.1) Dayton, Ohio (Medium Market)
Cox’s WHKO is the “Miami Valley’s Home for New Country,” but it’s also averaging one ‘90s song an hour, and the one I heard was just there, not behind a sweeper. (The newer songs, on the other hand, had “brand new country” or “artists tell the story”-type stagers.) Middayer Nikki Montgomery thanked listeners for the ACM award and plugged the show. The station is also giving away tickets to the forthcoming PBR Dayton Rumble bull-riding tour stop. Here’s K99.1 just before 11 a.m., February 21.
- Walker Hayes, “AA”
- Luke Bryan, “Waves”
- Parker McCollum, “To Be Loved by You”
- Trisha Yearwood, “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)”
- Chris Young & Kane Brown, “Famous Friends”
- Luke Combs, “Doin’ This”
- Maren Morris, “The Bones”
- Joe Nichols, “Tequila Makes her Clothes Fall Off”
- Morgan Wallen, “Sand in My Boots”
- Jason Aldean, “Lights Come On”
- Dustin Lynch f/Mackenzie Porter, “Thinking ‘Bout You”
- Blake Shelton, “Come Back as a Country Boy”
- Maddie & Tae, “Die from a Broken Heart”
- Miranda Lambert, “Bluebird”