Country radio, a format that rarely has an abundance of records by female stars, currently finds themselves with singles from two of the most popular female singers on the planet — Taylor Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me” and Adele’s “Easy on Me.” Both feature the newly crowned CMA Male Voc… Read More.

Jeremy “Otis” Maher returns to the afternoon slot at iHeartMedia “94.9 The Bull” WUBL Atlanta on Monday, as he resumes MD/hosting duties at the station a year after exiting in a corporate downsizing. Additionally, morning co-host Spencer Graves departs WUBL. Kristin Gates continues solo in the timeslot. Current afternoon host Lance Houston will continue to work with national programming for iHeart. Read More.

It’s the podcast country radio didn’t know it needed: Mark “Hawkeye” Louis, the Country Radio Hall of Fame morning host at Cumulus Media KSCS Dallas (96.3), has started a limited-run podcast recapping “Hawkeye,” the new Marvel Studios miniseries streaming on Disney+. Louis and his “Hawkeye in the Morning” partner Michelle Rodriguez co-host the podcast, called “Hawkeye on Hawkeye.” Read More.

Dallas Smith was crowned Entertainer of the Year at Monday’s “2021 CCMA Awards Presented by TD” in London, ON. He also won Single and Male Artist of the Year while Tenille Townes received Female Artist and Album of the Year trophies. The late Jennifer Campbell of Rogers Sports & Media “Country 106.7” CIKZ-FM Kitchener, ON, was named Country Personality of the Year. Read More.

“Sand in My Boots” is the week’s most popular country track on the Pandora Top Spins Chart this week, and “Wasted on You,” another track from Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” is also among the 10 most popular country currents on the service. Parmalee’s “Take My Name,” Cody Johnson’s “’Til You Can’t” and HARDY’s “Give Heaven Some Hell” rank among the overall Top 10. Read More.

Randy “Mudflap” Wilcox, morning co-host at Community Broadcasters WWKT Florence, SC (99.3), is recovering from a minor stroke in the occipital lobe of his brain. “I was doing a live broadcast with my morning show partner and in one break, I started slushing my words,” he wrote on Facebook. “But I couldn’t fix the issue. No matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t enunciate.” Read More.

Reba McEntire will open a restaurant, bar, live music venue and retail store called Reba’s Place late next year in Atoka, OK. The establishment, which is constructed in a century-old Masonic Temple in the singer’s home state, includes two stories of dining and a stage that will host live music. The singer announced the new venue during a concert in Durant, OK. Read More.

As Cody Johnson’s “’Til You Can’t” climbs the Mediabase chart — it’s up No. 36-No. 32 this week — the Recording Industry Association of America has certified four of the Texas singer’s songs gold or platinum. “Dance Her Home” and “Me and My Kind” from 2014, along with 2016’s “Wild as You” are gold, while his 2011 single “Diamond in My Pocket” becomes the singer’s second platinum record. Read More.

Erin Kinsey, whose single “Just Drive” has garnered more than 27 million streams and views after debuting on TikTok, has signed to RECORDS Nashville. The 21-year-old singer-songwriter will release a new single, “Better on Me,” on Friday. “Erin is exactly the kind of young, fresh artist we’re looking for at RECORDS Nashville,” RECORDS Partner/Co-Found Barry Weiss said in a release. Read More.

The deadline to make submissions for the 57th ACM Awards is today at 8pm ET. Those interested can submit entries for the main-award, industry and radio categories based on eligibility criteria. This year's eligibility period is Jan. 1-Nov. 15, 2021. The ACMs have radio-award categories that honor national daily and weekly on-air personalities, market-based on-air personalities and radio stations. Read More.

Parmalee’s “Just the Way” featuring Blanco Brown ranks atop a new list of iHeartRadio’s most popular country songs for 2021. Luke Combs and Luke Bryan were country’s two top artists on the iHeart lists and also landed among the top 10 overall artists. The just-released lists are based on total audience spins and streams across iHeartRadio stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio app. Read More.

Zac Brown Band (Home Grown/Warner/WAR) takes over the top spot with “Same Boat,” up 2*-1* and +740 spins/+2275 points. Dustin Lynch (Broken Bow) is the new runner-up with “Thinking ’Bout You,” featuring MacKenzie Porter, up 3*-2* at +425/+1693. Michael Ray enters the Top 5 with “Whiskey And Rain,” climbing 6*-5* and +286/+907. Read More.

Bill Bowen, nighttime host at Cumulus Media “99.5 The Wolf” KPLX Dallas, wrapped up a decade with the station Friday night. Bowen, who joined KPLX in September 2011, says he’s stepping away as he finishes chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Bowen had surgery in September and had continued to do his show from his home as he recuperate and began treatments. Read More.

Four country stations had 12+ AQH shares of 10.0 or higher in Nielsen Audio’s October 2021 survey, led by Audacy “US-101” WUSY Chattanooga, TN, at 11. Country’s biggest gainer in the survey was Cumulus Media KRST Albuquerque, NM (92.3), with a 1.7-point jump that turned it into a market leader. Read More.

For a second week, the Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone” provides the two top songs on Shazam’s U.S. Country chart: Shane Smith & The Saints’ “All I See Is You,” followed by Willie Nelson’s “Hands on the Wheel.” “Hands on the Wheel,” which appears on Nelson’s 1975 “Red Headed Stranger” album, was used to close the fourth episode of the show’s fourth season. Read More.

Taylor Swift keeps the top spot on Spotify’s Global Country chart for the week ending Nov. 25, with “Red (Taylor’s Version)” at No. 1. Swift holds six spots in the Top 10 — five tracks from her newly recorded version of the “Red” album plus “You Belong With Me (Taylor’s Version)” from her re-recorded “Fearless.” Walker Hayes has the top non-Swift track with “Fancy Like.” Read More.

Sixteen tracks from Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” have received new certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America. The new awards include triple-platinum recognition for Wallen’s chart-topping hit “More Than My Hometown.” Singles “7 Summers” and “Wasted on You” have gone 2x platinum, as has Wallen’s cover of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up.” Read More.

Cody Jinks’ “All It Cost Me Was Everything” holds the No. 1 spot on the CDX TRACtion True Indie Chart for a third week, also managing to nab the chart’s Greatest Spin Gainer designation. Additionally, Jinks’ “Like a Hurricane” enters at No. 25, the week’s top debut. Aaron Watson moves into the chart’s Top 10 this week as “Crash Landing” rises No. 12-No. 10. Read More.

Observation from the first night of the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Christmas in Tennessee” concerts: Santa Claus’ beard is shorter than William Lee Golden’s. Santa showed up midway through the quartet’s dinner show at the Opryland Hotel’s Tennessee Ballroom, adding an additional level of festiveness to a night of holiday tunes and a handful of the group’s best-known hits. Read More.

Mickey Guyton and Chris Stapleton lead this year’s country GRAMMY nominees with three nominations each. Jimmie Allen and Ryan Hurd receive their first nods from the Recording Academy, Allen in the all-genre Best New Artist category Hurd for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Chasing After You” with Maren Morris. Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like” earns a nomination, Hayes’ first, for Best Country Song. Read More.

A weekly streaming total topping 9 million combined with 11% airplay growth gives Chris Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave” an 8% increase in total consumption. Plus, he’s on Taylor Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me,” which has 15 million streams in less than two weeks. And he’s on the Target bonus version of Adele’s mega-hit “Easy on Me.” Read More.

In eight years of chart-toppers and platinum singles, Cole Swindell had his best-ever first week at radio with “Never Say Never.” The duet with Lainey Wilson debuted at No. 30 on Mediabase’s country chart, then snagged 89 Mediabase reporters on impact date. “I genuinely believe that this song will be a game changer for both of them,” Warner Music Nashville’s Anna Cage tells Country Insider. Read More.

In the final day of Nielsen Audio’s October 2021 survey results, iHeartMedia “MISS 103” WMSI Jackson, MS moves from a tie for seventh in the market into fourth place. The station’s 12+ AQH share rises 4.2-4.9, its greatest share since May ’20. WMSI’s previous high share in 2021 was a 4.4. Read More.

Cumulus Media “K-Bull 93” KUBL Salt Lake City more than doubled the total of its 2020 food drive last week, with listeners donating enough money and non-perishable food items to the Utah Food Bank for 118,000 meals. “This year’s jaw-dropping total was a 162% increase from last year and more than what was raised in 2019 and 2020 combined,” says PD Travis Moon. Read More.

Dustin Lynch’s “Thinking ’Bout You” feat. MacKenzie Porter had its best week of spin gains last week as it geared up for this week’s push towards No. 1 this week. “Thinking ’Bout You” was up +775 spins as it rose No. 5-No. 3, giving it a 10-week average spin increase of 504. Luke Combs’ “Cold as You” jumped +1188 spins as it reached No. 1. Read More.