This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2013) |
Genre | Music chart show |
---|---|
Running time | Approx. 3 hours (including commercials) |
Country of origin | United States |
Language(s) | English |
Syndicates | Compass Media Networks [1] |
Hosted by | Lon Helton |
Created by | Gary Landis |
Original release | April 4, 1992 – present |
Audio format | Stereophonic sound |
Website | Official Website |
Country Countdown USA is a nationally syndicated weekly country music top-30 chart countdown program hosted by Lon Helton. [2]
The show premiered on the Mutual Broadcasting System in April 1992. The program began as the brainchild of Westwood One Chairman Norman J. Pattiz who assigned the project to his Programming VP, Gary Landis. Although Westwood One had several country programs mainly broadcast on its co-owned Mutual network, the company didn't have a weekly country countdown show.
At the time, the leader was American Country Countdown with Bob Kingsley (now hosted by Kix Brooks). It was a traditional countdown show modeled after Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 . Other shows on the air at the time included Unistar’s Weekly Country Music Countdown with Chris Charles (no longer on the air) and TNN’s Crook & Chase Top 40 (still on the air). The latter two included pre-recorded interview clips with artists, while ACC was strictly a scripted show (although interviews would later be added).
Landis' concept was simple: A DJ and a country star co-host would count down the week’s top 30 and talk about the songs and artists in the chart. Gary first began looking for talent. Numerous DJs were considered, before they decided on Radio & Records ' Country Editor, Lon Helton. Gary called Lon directly and offered him the job. The country star was a more difficult decision. No single country star was willing to commit to a 52-week schedule. So the decision was made to have a different country star act as co-host every week. It would be a three-hour show, playing the week’s Top 30. Unlike other syndicated shows at the time, the show featured only three commercial breaks per hour, and a music sweep at the top of the hour, based on the formats of most country radio stations.
Landis then looked for a producer to oversee the program. Mutual Broadcasting System Senior Producer George Achaves quickly jumped at the chance. George had worked with Lon on a short-lived weekly country show called Listen In. He also did Mutual’s holiday country specials with WHN DJ Lee Arnold. Lon’s office manager, Jo Pincek, was tapped to handle artist relations. The show became the first Westwood One show to be delivered exclusively on compact disc.
When Country Countdown USA began on April 4, 1992, the show had about 75 affiliates, including WYNY-FM New York and KLAC Los Angeles. The first co-host was Steve Wariner, who was enjoying his first hit on the Arista Records label, “The Tips of My Fingers.” The song ultimately went to #1. Other co-hosts during the shows first year included Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, and Brooks & Dunn. The show's unique live sound and funny conversation quickly made it a favorite with the “hot new country” stations that were becoming popular. It wasn't long before the show became one of the biggest country shows in the US, and one of the most popular syndicated shows in Westwood One's line-up.
When Amber Radio launched in the east of England in September 1995, it included the show in its line-up, country having long been popular in the region. [3] It was also taken by Century Radio in north-east England. [4]
On July 20, 2022, it was reported that Compass Media Networks would begin distributing Country Countdown USA on August 1. [1]
Regular features in the show include The Week's Hottest Song, which was originally based on a feature in Radio & Records. The newspaper eliminated the feature in the late 90s, but it was kept in the radio show, basing it on the song in the Top 5 with the most increased points. During the early years, the show also featured disc jockeys from the show's affiliates talking about upcoming concert attractions in their area before introducing a hot-breaking song at their station (always a song that had yet to reach the top 30).
One popular new element in recent years has been taking tape clips of previous co-hosts talking about artists in the chart, and playing them for those artists. This allowed listeners to get unique insights into their favorite stars.
The last two weeks of December feature CCUSA's annual year-end countdown. A "Top 70 program" split in two parts (songs 36–70 in Week 1, the top 35 in the following show), Helton features interview highlights from the past year, plus a "live" interview with the artist having the No. 1 song of the year. Stations can play each three-hour program separately, while many often will play both parts—as a six-hour program—during at least one of the two weekends.
The success of Country Countdown USA and the continued boom in country music led to the creation of several other regular country shows at Westwood One. At the time, the company did a new release show for pop radio hosted by Joel Denver called Future Hits. So, Norm Pattiz asked his staff to create a Country Future Hits. The show, also produced by CCUSA producer George Achaves, was named Country's Cutting Edge, and it debuted in 1993. The first host was Brad Chambers, program director of the influential Dallas station KPLX. That same year, Lon Helton suggested to Norm that some highlights from CCUSA could be turned into a daily 90-second show. That show was named Country's Inside Trak, and was launched as a companion to the weekly show.
Over the years, Lon Helton hosted numerous country specials for Westwood One. Country Takes Manhattan was a week-long live concert series broadcast live from venues in New York. The Country Freedom Concert was a live simulcast of the CMT concert special which raised funds for victims of 9–11.
In 2002 the show was renamed CMT's Country Countdown USA, as part of the newly launched collaboration with CMT. When Radio & Records was merged into Billboard in 2006, CMT's Country Countdown USA continued using the Mediabase 24/7 chart, which is also used by Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40. Concurrently, in August 2006 Lon exited Radio & Records to launch his own Country trade publication, Country Aircheck.
When Country Countdown USA debuted, the show used a custom jingle package from Jam Creative Productions in Dallas, which included chart number jingles that segued between songs on the show. 2 chart number jingles were used each hour.
After the relaunch as CMT's Country Countdown USA in 2002, the show switched from Jam to TM Studios. The chart number jingles were officially removed in 2001.
The show switched from TM Studios to RadioScape in 2013, and switched the show back to its original Country Countdown USA branding. Country Countdown USA continues to use RadioScape to this very day.
CCUSA host Lon Helton was named the National Air Personality of the Year by the Country Music Association in 2002 and 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2021. He won the same award from the Academy of Country Music in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. In 2006, Lon was inducted into the Country DJ Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.
Westwood One was an American radio network that was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, and was later purchased by the private equity firm, The Gores Group. Due to purchases, mergers and other forms of consolidation in the 1980s and 1990s, at one time or another, it had ownership stakes in or syndication rights to some of the most famous brands in network radio, including CBS, NBC, Mutual, CNN, Fox, and Unistar. The company was one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the United States. It broadcast entertainment, news, weather, sports, talk, and traffic programming to about 7,700 radio stations across the United States. The company was the top provider of local traffic reports in the U.S. through its subsidiaries, Metro Networks, Shadow Broadcast Services, SmartRoute Systems, and Sigalert.com. Westwood One also offers weather services; originally using Accuweather, Westwood switched to The Weather Channel in 2009.
Nashville Star is an American reality television singing competition program that aired for six seasons, from 2003 to 2008. Its first five seasons aired on USA Network, while the last season aired on NBC. Its five seasons on USA made it the longest-running competition series on cable television at the time. In Canada, the show aired on CMT through season 5, but moved to E! beginning with season 6. CMT in the United States reaired each episode in season 6.
American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacrest and presented as an adjunct to his weekday radio program, On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
WHTZ is a commercial top 40 station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia. WHTZ is the flagship station for Elvis Duran and the Morning Show. WHTZ's studios are located at 125 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, while the station's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.
Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades.
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals. Mediabase charts and airplay data are used on many popular radio countdown shows and televised music awards programs. Music charts are published in both domestic and international trade publications and newspapers worldwide. Mediabase is a division of iHeartMedia.
American Country Countdown, also known as ACC, is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 30 country songs of the previous week, from No. 30 to No. 1, according to the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The program premiered in 1973 and as of January 2006 is hosted by Kix Brooks. It is syndicated by Cumulus Media Networks.
WKTU is a rhythmic adult contemporary formatted radio station licensed to Lake Success, New York, a suburb of New York City. WKTU is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios at 125 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan; its transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.
Radio & Records (R&R) was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister trade to Billboard, until its final issue in 2009.
Dick Bartley's Classic Hits was a syndicated weekly, four-hour, classic hits program written, produced and hosted by Radio Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Dick Bartley. It was syndicated across the country by United Stations Radio Networks and internationally via Radio Express.
Michael Scott Shannon is an American radio disc jockey currently best known as the announcer of The Sean Hannity Show. He also hosted the morning show for WCBS-FM in New York City from 2014 to 2022 as well as Scott Shannon Presents America's Greatest Hits which is syndicated nationally with United Stations Radio Networks and Audacy. He previously worked for WHTZ, WPLJ, and The True Oldies Channel.
Casey's Top 40 was a syndicated radio music program that was distributed by the Westwood One radio network. The show was a vehicle for former American Top 40 host and co-creator Casey Kasem and ran for over nine years. Like Kasem's prior show, Casey's Top 40 aired on weekends, emanated from Hollywood, California, and was a countdown of the 40 biggest hits of the week on the popular music chart. Unlike American Top 40, this show is not replayed or syndicated, whilst the former is still currently being replayed and syndicated.
Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 is an internationally syndicated radio program created and hosted by American radio personality Rick Dees. It is currently heard on over 200 radio stations worldwide. It is distributed domestically by Compass Media Networks and internationally by Radio Express. It is also heard on Dees's official website for listeners in the United States only.
Edward R. Salamon is an American entertainment industry executive and radio broadcaster. He is credited as one of the people who led to country music becoming a major force in the mid-1990s. He was dubbed “country radio’s most influential programmer” while programming WHN, New York, which became the most listened to country radio station of all time in the mid-1970s, an accomplishment that led to his induction into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2006.
American Top 20 was the name given to two weekly spinoffs of the music countdown program American Top 40. They were both hosted by Casey Kasem for Premiere Networks and premiered on the weekend of March 28, 1998, the same weekend Kasem returned to host American Top 40.
Country Top 40 with Fitz, formerly known as Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40, is an American country music radio countdown show created by former American Country Countdown host Bob Kingsley, who hosted the show from its January 2006 debut until shortly before his death in 2019. Currently hosted by Fitz, the program is distributed by Skyview Networks and produced as a joint venture between Hubbard Broadcasting and KCCS Productions, the holding company operated by Kingsley's widow. It uses the Mediabase Country Singles chart as its source.
The year 1992 in radio involved some significant events.
The Lost Lennon Tapes was an American music documentary series presented by Elliot Mintz, comprising a three-hour premiere episode and 218 one-hour episodes, broadcast on the Westwood One Radio Network between 24 January 1988 and 29 March 1992. The show had about 7 million listeners weekly, and was broadcast in six countries.
American Dance Traxx was an American dance music countdown program that was syndicated by Westwood One and produced at KPWR/Los Angeles, California from March 1987 to December 1993. The three-hour program was distributed to more than 200 Top 40/CHR and Rhythmic stations internationally, including The Armed Forces Network.