Lifenotes: Condolences To Kirt Webster, Dennis Banka

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candle lifenotes11
MusicRow extends its condolences to Kirt Webster and family/friends on Thursday morning’s passing of his father Charles ‘Tyke’ Webster, age 70, in Phoenix, Ariz. Tyke and Sandy Webster have attended multiple ACM, CMA and other industry awards shows, Country Thunder Arizona festivals, and the George Jones tribute concert last November. Tyke was loved and admired by many artists and industry friends.
Visitation will be held Sunday, March 16 from 4-6 p.m. at Mariposa Funeral Home, 400 South Power Road, Mesa, Ariz. 85206. The memorial service is set for Monday, March 17 at 10:30 a.m. at All Saints Church, 1534 N Recker Road Mesa, Ariz. 85205. All flowers and gifts delivered to the Mariposa Funeral Home will be delivered after visitation to All Saints in time for the memorial, if delivered by Sunday.
Kirt Webster extremely grateful for the outpouring of prayers, messages and support already received from his extended “family” of industry friends and associates.
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MusicRow sends its condolences to Dennis Banka of MusicRow reporting station WUCZ. Banka’s mother, Carol Ann Banka, died at age 77 after a long struggle with COPD.

Liberty Media Abandons Acquisition of SiriusXM Radio

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saupload_liberty_media_corpLiberty Media Corp. has abandoned plans to acquire SiriusXM Radio, in which it owns 53 percent, after reclassifying its stock into two tracking stocks, Liberty Broadband Group and Liberty Media Group, according to Billboard.
Liberty Broadband will house the company’s interests in Charter Communication, Time Warner Cable and digital security firm TruePosition. Liberty Media will house other the company’s other interests, including its share in SiriusXM.
“This is another step in Liberty’s process of offering investors greater choice, transparency and focus,” said Liberty president and CEO Greg Maffei. “We expect to complete the creation of the new tracking stocks by the third quarter. In light of the tracking stock distribution, our offer for Sirius XM is no longer applicable.”
Current shareholders will receive one share of Liberty Media tracking stock and four shares of Liberty Broadband, for each share of Liberty A and B stock they currently hold.
The company had planned on acquiring SiriusXM for $3.68 per share. This week, shares of SiriusXM fell one percent to $3.37.

Weekly Chart Report (3/14/14)

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Industry Pics (3/11/14)

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Radio personality Gerry House made his Grand Ole Opry debut on Friday, March 7. After his performance, House signed copies of his new book, Country Music Broke My Brain: A Behind-The-Microphone Peek At Nashville’s Famous & Fabulous Stars.

Pictured (L-R): Gerry House and Pete Fisher

Pictured (L-R): Gerry House and Grand Ole Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher. Photo: Chris Hollo

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The first annual Mangia for St. Jude took place Sunday, March 2, raising $18,600 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The dinner at the Cool Cafe in Franklin was attended by more than 100 members of the Nashville music publishing community. The evening was sponsored by Fifth Third Music.

Pictured (Back row, L-R): Greg Gallo, Alex Heddle, Penny Everhard, Kendall Lettow, Dave Pacula Missy Wilson, Stephanie Cox, Courtney Crist, Kevin Lamb, Brad Peterson. (Front row, L-R): Colt Cameron, Jackie Profit, Carrie Gallo, Jessica Turri, Teri Watson and Allison Buchignani

Pictured (Back row, L-R): Greg Gallo, Alex Heddle, Penny Everhard, Kendall Lettow, Dave Pacula, Missy Wilson, Stephanie Cox, Freeman Wizer, Courtney Crist, Kevin Lamb, Brad Peterson. (Front row, L-R): Colt Cameron, Jackie Profit, Carrie Gallo, Jessica Turri, Teri Watson and Allison Buchignani.

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The 10th Annual Ringside: A Fight For Kids gala was held at Liberty Hall in the Factory at Franklin on Friday, March 7. The main event featured a “Rumble on the Row” bout with Van Haze (VP National Promotion, MCA Nashville) and “Sugar” Shane Allen (VP Promotion, UMG Nashville) squaring off in the ring. Haze won the coveted Lucchese belt in a split decision.
Proceeds from the event will benefit The Charley Foundation, which helps charitable organizations benefit children throughout Middle Tennessee.

Pictured (L-R): Jay Hamby, Director of Retail, Lucchese; Van Haze; and Kristy Landers Niedenfuer, 2014 Miss Tennessee USA.Photo: Karen Will Rogers

Pictured (L-R): Jay Hamby, Director of Retail, Lucchese; Van Haze; and Kristy Landers Niedenfuer, 2014 Miss Tennessee USA. Photo: Karen Will Rogers.

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The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum recently honored Leon Rhodes in its quarterly series Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Musicians. Rhodes was a member of the 1960s lineup of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours. He is also featured on recordings by Julie Andrews, Roy Clark, John Denver, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison and Dottie West, among others.

Pictured (L-R): Bill Lloyd (program host), Leon Rhodes and Jay Orr (Senior Director of Research, Editorial and Content). Photo: Donn Jones

Pictured (L-R): Bill Lloyd (program host), Leon Rhodes and Jay Orr (Senior Director of Research, Editorial and Content). Photo: Donn Jones

Mayne Extends Term As CRS/CRB's Executive Director

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Bill Mayne

Bill Mayne


Executive Director of the Country Radio Broadcasters and Country Radio Seminar, Bill Mayne, has agreed to an extension of his term with the non-profit organization. Mayne will serve for five more years, through 2019. He has overseen the organization’s operations since 2011. Prior to that, he served on the organization’s Board of Directors.
“Under Bill’s leadership, the Country Radio Seminar has experienced a true renaissance, with annual growth in attendance, sponsorship and engagement from all involved,” said CRB/CRS President, Charlie Morgan. “His tireless dedication, boundless energy, and contagious enthusiasm for CRB/CRS have driven the success we are enjoying and we are thrilled to know Bill will continue to be our leader for the next half-decade.”
Mayne added, “I am a blessed man! To be able to work with and learn from the most united group of strong and incredibly talented core staff is humbling. Our Board and it’s leadership are extremely focused in vision and benefits for our constituents. These two factors are not only supporting of, but empower all of our efforts to provide the absolute best and affordable experience possible for all who engage at CRS!”

Radio Survey Reveals Country Factoids

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jacobs_new64Jacobs Media’s Tech Survey Ten has revealed that Christian and Country listeners are most likely to recommend their favorite radio stations to others, according to a post on All Access. Additionally, women are more likely to be recommenders than men.
Jacobs Media’s survey is the largest radio survey of all major formats, which compiles listener results concerning preferences in broadcast, digital and device. The survey will also answer questions like, “What do listeners like/dislike? What encourages listener interaction with radio on social media? What should radio do to maintain listeners?” and more.
Jacobs Media Pres. Fred Jacobs will present the entirety of the survey’s results at Worldwide Radio Summit 2014 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on April 3, 2014.

St. Jude Adds Moon In Radio Development Department

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Travis Moon

Travis Moon


Travis Moon has joined St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the newly created position of Sr. Liason/Programming in the organization’s Radio Development department. The position is based in Nashville.
Travis will remain at his job as PD of Clear Channel Country station KAJA in San Antonio until Wednesday, April 30. Travis can be reached at travismooncountry@hotmail.com.

Weekly Chart Report (3/7/14)

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Weekly Register: Bentley Rises To No. 1

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Albums

riser dierks bentley11Country album sales are down six percent week over week, while overall album sales are up five percent from last week thanks to Top 10 debuts from Schoolboy Q, Beck, Kid Cudi, Romeo Santos, The Fray, St. Vincent and Dierks Bentley.
Bentley’s Riser (Capitol Nashville) debuts as the top Country album (No. 6 overall), selling 63k units. The singer’s Riser Tour will launch on May 9 in Charlotte, N.C. with special guests Chris Young, Chase Rice and Jon Pardi. Rounding out the top five is Eric Church’s The Outsiders (EMI Nashville) at No. 2 (42k), Cole Swindell’s self-titled album (Warner Bros.) at No. 3 (19K), Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party (Capitol Nashville) at No. 4 (14k) and Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s To The Good Times (Republic Nashville) at No. 5 (13k). Swindell, Bryan and FGL are enjoying Top 5 tracks as well.
Schoolboy Q’s Oxymoron is the top overall album, debuting with 138k units sold. YTD, Country album sales are down 12.7 percent, while overall album sales are down 15.1 percent. The same week last year, Bruno Mars’ Unorthodox Jukebox was the top overall album, selling 95k units, while Taylor Swift’s RED remained the top Country album with 24k units sold.

Tracks

AlbumTracks-030514Brantley Gilbert’s “Bottoms Up” is the top Country track this week (No. 15 overall), selling 66k units (544k RTD). The top Country debut is Lee Brice’s “I Don’t Dance” coming in at No. 6 (No. 39 overall), selling 37k units. Pharrell Williams’  “Happy” remains the top overall track, selling 413k this this week (2.1 million RTD). Justin Timberlake’s “Not A Bad Thing” is the top overall debut, appearing at No. 23, with 50k units sold.
YTD, Country track sales are down 16.9 percent, while overall track sales are down 11.6 percent. The same week last year, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “Thrift Shop” was the top overall track, selling 247k units, while Blake Shelton’s “Sure Be Cool If You Did” continued as the No. 1 Country track, selling 74k units.
Next week’s numbers will include David Nail’s I’m A Fire, Eli Young Band’s 10,000 Towns, Sundy Best’s Bring Up The Sun, Bill Anderson’s Life and Kevin Fowler’s How Country Are Ya?

The Bobby Bones Show Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

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bobby bones show1111The Bobby Bones Show will celebrate the program’s one-year anniversary with “Pimpin’ Joy Week,” slated for March 3-7. The week-long celebration will feature guest appearances and live performances from Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Jake Owen, Sheryl Crow, Gloriana, Thomas Rhett, Charlie Worsham, A Great Big World and others.
Pimpin’ Joy is a movement dedicated to inspiring people to choose joy, spread happiness, and do good things for others. It was first launched to honor co-host Amy and her mother Judy, who has been battling Cancer for two years.
Bones stated, “It’s awesome to see the Country community come together for a cause that is so important to us and our listeners. There is too much negativity in the world today, and this week is all about making a conscious effort to choose joy, and promote happiness.”
The Bobby Bones Show launched nationwide in February 2013, and is aired on more than 60 stations.