This article has an unclear citation style.(April 2012) |
Type | Radio network |
---|---|
Branding | Best Country Today |
Country | |
Availability | National; also distributed in Canada, Europe, Armed Forces Radio |
Owner | Westwood One |
Key people | Gary Reynolds, Alan Keith, Carl Anderson, Mark Edwards (retired), Dave Nicholson (retired) |
Launch date | 1985 |
Dissolved | 2014 |
Former names | Country Coast-to-Coast |
Best Country Today (formerly known as Country Coast-to-Coast, The Best Country Around and Today's Best Country) was one of the 24-hour live formats produced by Cumulus Media Networks. It is designed to appeal to a wide range of listeners, concentrating on a younger audience than would generally listen to traditional Country stations. It is one of two country formats produced by Cumulus, the other being Real Country, which skews toward older listeners.
Some of the featured artists were Kenny Chesney, Faith Hill, George Strait, The Wreckers and other contemporary country music artists.
Beginning as one of the original Satellite Music Network formats over 30 years ago, its studios and offices were located in Mokena, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Shortly after SMN was purchased by ABC/Capital Cities in 1990, the format was moved to Dallas, Texas, along with the other SMN formats such as The Touch, Timeless Classics, The Classic Rock Experience, Oldies Radio, Hits & Favorites, Real Country, and Today's Best Hits had previously been established at the Dallas location. In its over 20-year history, Today's Best Country/Country Coast-To-Coast has had three Operations Managers, Mark Edwards, Dave Nicholson and Gary Reynolds.
Citadel Broadcasting purchased ABC Radio Networks (now Cumulus Media Networks) and the ABC Owned and Operated radio stations from The Walt Disney Company in February 2006 and continue to use the ABC name for several years afterward. The Citadel acquisition does not include Radio Disney or the ESPN radio stations. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. [1]
Best Country Today was discontinued months after Cumulus Media Networks' merger with Westwood One as there's already a contemporary country music satellite format.
Hosts heard on Best Country Today included Charlie Derek, Darcy, Cadillac Jack, Jeremy Robinson, and Chaz Mixon. American Country Countdown is distributed on the network on weekends. Robinson's show was also syndicated outside the network as an evening show.
WKHX-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Marietta, Georgia, and serving Greater Atlanta. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a country music radio format. The studios and offices are in Sandy Springs near the Georgia Highway 400 and Interstate 285 interchange. The station features local personalities during daylight hours, but it also uses the national "Nights With Elaina" show in the evening from, syndicated by Westwood One, also owned by Cumulus Media.
WAKL is a non-commercial FM Christian Contemporary radio station licensed to Gainesville, Georgia. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation, WAKL serves the Atlanta metropolitan area as the local affiliate for the national K-Love network. Besides a standard analog transmission, WAKL broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format.
WRKN is a country music-formatted radio station serving the New Orleans area. The Cumulus Media outlet broadcasts at 106.1 MHz with an ERP of 28 kW, and is licensed to Picayune, Mississippi. Its studios are located at the Place St. Charles building in Downtown New Orleans and the transmitter site is outside Covington, Louisiana.
Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which was broken up in 2007; Cumulus owned the portion of the network that was purchased by Citadel Broadcasting that year.
Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to local stations, under several different formats.
WBAP is an AM news/talk radio station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. WBAP is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts with 50,000 watts from a transmitter site in the northwest corner of Mansfield. It is a Class A clear-channel station, using a non-directional antenna. Its nighttime signal can often be heard throughout the Southern, Central, and Midwestern states and Northern Mexico, while its daytime signal provides at least secondary coverage from Oklahoma City to Austin. The station's studios are located in the Victory Park district in Dallas just north of downtown. WBAP is one of the oldest radio stations in Texas, dating back to 1922, when stations in Texas were still given call signs beginning with "W" instead of "K."
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media owned more stations prior to Citadel's merger with Cumulus.
ABC News Radio is the radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-past the hour, to its network affiliates. ABC News Radio is the largest commercial radio news organization in the US.
KESN is a commercial FM sports radio station. It is owned by The Walt Disney Company as an ESPN Radio station. It is licensed to Allen, Texas, and serves the Dallas-Fort Worth radio market. From October 8, 2013, to October 7, 2020, Cumulus Media operated the station via a local marketing agreement (LMA), although Disney retained ownership. After Disney and Cumulus ended the LMA, Disney would retain the station and run the national feed of ESPN Radio full-time before, being one of Disney's last radio stations at a time when the company was looking to sell their investments in the business, they ultimately sold the station to Christian radio group VCY America in December of 2021.
KTCK-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to serve the community of Flower Mound, Texas. KTCK-FM, established in 1967 as KDSQ, is managed locally at 2221 East Lamar Blvd., Suite 300 in Arlington, and is currently owned by Cumulus Media. As of October 21, 2013, the station broadcasts a sports format to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area as a simulcast of sister station KTCK "The Ticket".
KSZR is a radio station serving Tucson, Arizona, United States. It is licensed to broadcast from Oro Valley, Arizona,, but its reception is generally above average in most areas of Tucson. It is owned by Cumulus Media. Its studios are located north of downtown Tucson, and the transmitter is in Marana, Arizona.
KKOB-FM is a commercial FM radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it simulcasts a News/Talk radio format with co-owned KKOB. The studios and offices are on 4th Street NW in downtown Albuquerque. KKOB-AM-FM use the FM station's dial position for the moniker "96.3 News Radio KKOB."
ABC Audio is a radio syndicator, radio network and digital audio network in the United States. It is under the ownership of The Walt Disney Company, parent company of American Broadcasting Company (ABC), with satellite distribution being handled by Skyview Networks. It launched on January 1, 2015, as ABC Radio; it was renamed ABC Audio in 2019.
Hits & Favorites, also known as ABC AC, was a 24-hour music format produced by Cumulus Media Networks. ABC AC combined a highly researched Adult Contemporary music mix targeted to women aged 25–49.
WILZ is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format in Saginaw, Michigan, owned by Cumulus Media. The station is the local affiliate of morning comedy program The Bob and Tom Show, music show Nights with Alice Cooper and Michigan State Spartans football and men's basketball games.
Red Eye Radio is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history through several predecessors, beginning with Bill Mack's overnight truck show in 1969.
KRDO is a commercial radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The station is owned and operated by the News-Press & Gazette Company of St. Joseph, Missouri and it airs a news/talk radio format, simulcast with KRDO-FM. Both stations are aided by the news department of co-owned KRDO-TV, with some TV newscasts also heard on the radio stations.
KCSF is a radio station serving the Colorado Springs area with a sports format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1300 kHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media.
KARN is a commercial AM radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas, owned and operated by Cumulus Media. It airs a sports radio format known as "920 AM The Sports Animal." The station's studios are located on Wellington Hills Road in West Little Rock. The transmitter tower is located off North Hills Boulevard in North Little Rock. KARN broadcasts at 5,000 watts, using a directional antenna at night to avoid interfering with other stations on AM 920. KARN is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast a digital HD signal.
The Nerve, was a 24-hour live radio format produced by Cumulus Media Networks. This satellite-driven format aired the latest Active rock music design to target today's 18-34 rock listeners. Unlike traditional rock stations and networks, The Nerve personalities were rock music core listeners who happened to be on the radio, instead of the DJs themselves.