Nash FM

Nash FM is a media brand and network owned by Cumulus Media the United States. The brand serves as a platform for the Country format and offers two different products: Nash FM, airing current hits, and Nash Icons, airing an adult-contemporary-focused playlist of more established artists. Its name comes from Nashville, Tennessee, the center of the commercial country music industry in the United States, which in turn was named for colonial-era politician and Continental Army General Francis Nash.

Nash FM is, as of 2014, used on FM radio stations carrying country music (typically hot country) formats owned by Cumulus, and is the primary brand. Nash FM stations, since March 2015, have included in their rotations a blend of country and acoustic-leaning pop music.[1]

The first station to become Nash FM was 94.7 at Newark, New Jersey in the New York City area on January 21, 2013.[2]

Syndicated programming common to stations using the brand includes America's Morning Show with Blair Garner, Nash Nights Live with Shawn Parr and Kickin' It with Kix Brooks. National news is provided through an agreement with CNN.

List of Nash FM-branded stations

Callsign MHz City Market Start date Former name Notes
WNSH 94.7 Newark, New Jersey New York, New York January 21, 2013[2] WFME Originating/flagship station; former East Coast flagship for Family Radio before sale to Cumulus[2]
KAMO-FM 94.3 Rogers, Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas[3] September 6, 2013[3] "US 94"[3]
WYZB 105.5 Mary Esther, Florida Fort Walton Beach, Florida February 3, 2014[4] "105.5 The Wolf"[4]
WXBM-FM 102.7 Milton, Florida Pensacola, Florida[4] February 3, 2014[4] "Your Country 102.7"[4]
WHKR 102.7 Rockledge, Florida Melbourne, Florida[5] July 3, 2013[5] "102.7 The Hit Kicker"[5]
WKAK 104.5 Albany, Georgia Albany, Georgia May 2013[6] "K-Country 104"
KQFC 97.9 Boise, Idaho Boise, Idaho May 24, 2013[6] "98 KQFC"
WFYR 97.3 Elmwood, Illinois Peoria, Illinois[3] September 6, 2013[3] "97.3 River Country"[3]
WMDH-FM 102.5 New Castle, Indiana Muncie, Indiana[3] September 6, 2013[3] "Hit Country 102.5 WMDH"[3]
KHKI 97.3 Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines, Iowa May 2013[6] "97.3 The Hawk"[6]
WLXX 92.9 Lexington, Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky May 2013[6] "92.9 WLXX"
WRKN 92.3 LaPlace, Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana January 23, 2014[7][8] "Rock 92.3"[7] Was Alternative Rock
KSAN-HD2 107.7 San Mateo, California San Francisco Bay Area[3] March 1, 2016[9] Was Active Rock.
KXKC 99.1 New Iberia, Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana[3] September 6, 2013[3] "New Country 99.1 KXKC"
KRMD-FM 101.1 Oil City, Louisiana Shreveport, Louisiana[4] February 3, 2014[4]
WDRQ 93.1 Detroit, Michigan Detroit, Michigan December 13, 2013[10] "93.1 Doug FM"[10] Was Adult Hits
WFBE 95.1 Flint, Michigan Flint, Michigan February 3, 2014[4] "B95.1"[4]
WTNR 94.5 Holland, Michigan Grand Rapids, Michigan February 3, 2014[4] "Thunder 94.5"[4]
WKOR-FM 94.9 Columbus, Mississippi Columbus, Mississippi February 3, 2014[4] "K-94.9"[4]
KBBM 100.1 Jefferson City, Missouri Columbia, Missouri October 7, 2013 "Sports Radio 100.1 The Fan" Formerly Sports Talk
KBUL-FM 98.1 Carson City, Nevada Reno, Nevada October 31, 2014 "K-Bull 98.1"
WNNF 94.1 Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati, Ohio February 7, 2014[11] "Great Country 94.1"[11]
WSJR 93.7 Dallas, Pennsylvania Scranton, Pennsylvania[5] July 3, 2013[5] "Great Country 93.7"[5] ("JR 93.7" before that)
WZCY-FM 106.7 Hershey, Pennsylvania Harrisburg, Pennsylvania February 3, 2014[4] "Z Country 106.7"[4]
WXTA 97.9 Edinboro, Pennsylvania Erie, Pennsylvania February 3, 2014[4] "Country 98"[4]
WIWF 96.9 Charleston, South Carolina Charleston, South Carolina February 3, 2014[4] "96.9 The Wolf"[4]
WLFF 106.5 Georgetown, South Carolina Grand Strand / Myrtle Beach, South Carolina September 6, 2013[3] "106.5 The Coyote"
WHLZ 100.5 Marion, South Carolina Florence, South Carolina[5] July 3, 2013[5] "Wheelz 100.5"[5]
WKDF 103.3 Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee February 3, 2014[4] "103.3 WKDF"[4] Nominal flagship station
KAYD-FM 101.7 Silsbee, Texas Beaumont[5] / Port Arthur, Texas July 3, 2013[5] "KD 101"[5]
WPSK-FM 107.1 Pulaski, Virginia Blacksburg, Virginia[4] February 5, 2014 "107 Country PSK"[4]
WPCK 104.9 Denmark, Wisconsin Green Bay, Wisconsin[6] May 2013[6] "99.5 & 104.9 The Wolf"[6] simulcasts 99.5 WPKR
WPKR 99.5 Omro, Wisconsin Green Bay, Wisconsin[6] May 2013[6] "99.5 & 104.9 The Wolf"[6]
KATC-FM 95.1 Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado October 31, 2014 "Cat Country 95.1"[12]
KRST 92.3 Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May 30, 2014 "92.3 KRST Country"[13]

Former "Nash FM" stations

Nash Icon

In May 2014, Cumulus Media announced a spin-off of the Nash brand known as Nash Icon (previously announced as Nash Icons). The Nash Icon brand encompasses radio stations, content, and events oriented towards the "biggest country artists of the last two decades, who are still recording and touring but not getting enough exposure today"; Cumulus Media CEO Lew Dickey felt that there was not yet a "middle ground" between modern and classic country similarly to that of the Adult Top 40 format (which lies between Contemporary hit radio and classic hits).[16] The first Nash Icon stations were launched at 12:00 p.m. ET on August 15, 2014 with the flips of W255CJ in Atlanta and WZAT in Savannah, Georgia, followed by a number of other Cumulus stations throughout the day.[17][18] In January 2015, WestwoodOne began to syndicate Nash Icon to non-Cumulus stations.[19]

The Nash Icon brand also includes a vanity label for veteran country artists operated in partnership with Big Machine Records.[16] On October 21, 2014, it was announced that Reba McEntire would be the first artist to be part of the label. Shortly after McEntire's announcement, Ronnie Dunn began to tease that he would be the next artist to sign. Dunn officially confirmed on December 1, 2014 that he was indeed the second artist to sign with the label.[20] Martina McBride announced that she had signed with the label on December 29, 2014. On April 29, 2015, Hank Williams Jr announced that he had signed with the label.

Callsign MHz City Market Start date Former name Notes
WZRR 99.5 Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham, Alabama August 15, 2014 “99.5 The Vibe” Was Top 40 (CHR)
KRMW 94.9 Cedarville, Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas August 15, 2014 “Warm 94.9” Was Adult Contemporary
KLSZ-FM 100.7 Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith, Arkansas August 15, 2014 “100.7 The Ticket” Was Sports Talk
KRRF 106.3 Oak View, California Ventura, California August 15, 2014 “Classic Hits 106.3” Was Classic Hits
WNUQ 102.1 Albany, Georgia Albany, Georgia August 15, 2014 “Q102.1” Was Top 40 (CHR)
WZAT 102.1 Savannah, Georgia Savannah, Georgia August 15, 2014 “SportsRadio 102.1” Was Sports Talk
WJBC-FM 93.7 Pontiac, Illinois Bloomington-Normal, Illinois August 15, 2014 1230 AM/93.7 FM, WJBC Was previously a Simulcast of News/Talk Format WJBC-AM.
KJJY 92.5 Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines, Iowa August 15, 2014 92.5 KJJY
KQLK 97.9 De Ridder, Louisiana Lake Charles, Louisiana August 15, 2014 “Hot 97.9” Was Top 40 (CHR)
WDRQ-HD2 93.1 Detroit, Michigan Detroit, Michigan August 15, 2014 "93-1 DRQ" Was Rhythmic Hot AC
WLAW 92.5 Newaygo, Michigan Muskegon, Michigan August 15, 2014 “92.5 The Outlaw” Was a classic country station, focusing on Country hits from the 1950s-1990s
KBZU 96.3 Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico August 15, 2014 “96.3 The Mountain” Was Classic Rock
WSM-FM 95.5 Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee August 15, 2014 "95.5 WSM-FM" Nominal flagship station
WMIM 98.3 Luna Pier, Michigan Monroe, Michigan-Toledo, OhioOctober 3, 2014 "My 98.3 WMIM" Was Adult Contemporary
WVLK-FM 101.5 Richmond, Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky October 31, 2014 "News/Talk 101.5 WVLK-FM" Was previously a Simulcast of News/Talk Format WVLK-AM.
WORC-FM 98.9 Webster, Massachusetts Worcester, Massachusetts October 31, 2014 "98.9 ORC-FM" Was Classic Hits
WOGT 107.9 East Ridge, Tennessee Chattanooga, Tennessee October 31, 2014 "107.9 Big FM" Was Classic Hits
WWFF-FM 93.3 New Market, Alabama Huntsville, Alabama November 14, 2014[21] "Journey 93.3" Was 80's & 90's Hits
WCKR 92.1 Hornell, New York Elmira-Corning, New York Unknown "Your Country Home" 1
WHHT 103.7 Cave City, Kentucky Bowling Green, Kentucky February 20, 2015[22] "HOWDY 103.7" 1
WKMO 99.3 Lebanon Junction, Kentucky Lebanon Junction, Kentucky February 20, 2015 "KMO 99.3" 1
W237DE 95.3 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg, Pennsylvania March 2, 2015[23] "Sportsradio 95.3/1400" Translator of WHGB (1400 kHz)
WOMG 98.5 Lexington, South Carolina Columbia / Midlands of South Carolina March 8, 2015 98.5 Nash FM Was Oldies under the Branding of "Magic 98.5"[24] prior to switching to Nash FM,[24] On March 8, 2015, The Station shifted from the Nash FM Format to the Nash Icons Format.[25]
WKOS 104.9 Kingsport, Tennessee Tri-Cities, Tennessee / Virginia April 24, 2015 104.9 Nash FM This was the second station to flip from Nash FM to the Nash Icon format.[26] The station also maintained a Country music format known as "Great Country 104.9" before that.[5]
WYRY 104.9 Hinsdale, New Hampshire Hinsdale, New Hampshire August 3, 2015 Hot Country 104.9 1
WELJ 104.7 Montauk, New York New London, Connecticut August 31, 2015 "Nash FM" 1 Was Hot AC, then started simulcasting New York City station WNSH, and was the only Nash FM station to be not fully owned, but is operated by Cumulus, but owned by another company via a Trust Agreement.[27] The simulcast with WNSH ended on August 31, 2015 when WELJ dropped the "Nash FM" Format and rebranded as "104.7 Nash Icon", making it the third Nash FM station to switch to the Nash Icon branding.[28]
WUVA 92.7 Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia September 18, 2015 "92.7 Kiss-FM" 1 Was Urban Contemporary [29]
KTOP-FM 102.9 St. Marys, Kansas Topeka, Kansas December 22, 2015 "102.9 Nash FM" Became the fourth station to flip from Nash FM to the Nash Icon format.[30]
KARX 95.7 Claude, Texas Amarillo, Texas February 9, 2016 "95.7 The Kar" Was Classic Rock[31]

Notes: 1 - Indicates a Station that is not owned by Cumulus.

Former "Nash Icon" stations

Critical reception

While there has been some good feedback on the launching of the Nash FM brand, it was a different story involving the Nash Icons' launching. In a commentary from Radio Insight, Lance Venta notes that Nash Icon's soft launch did not generate the attention that Nash FM got, adding that the stations that flipped to the format are in markets with more than 2 Country outlets (or in the case of Kansas City, 3) that have better ratings and more established, while others (like KQLK/Lake Charles, Louisiana) flipped from a format that had good ratings in order to cut into the ratings of a competitor (KNGT) and to protect a sister Country station (KYKZ). Venta later stated "Does this mean Nash Icon is destined for failure? Not at all. Cumulus is putting resources behind the Nash and Nash Icon brands that puts other formats to shame. This launch though has felt disjointed, rushed, and not what Cumulus and Big Machine first hyped it to be. Once the brand is fleshed out and additional features/shows are added, there could easily be additional demand for a brand to acts as the Adult Contemporary equivalent for Country listeners in a world where many of the format’s stations are evolving towards a CHR styling."[32]

Cross-branding

Nash FM also has a Television Outlet called Nash TV, which is an American video on demand television network that is owned by Cumulus Media and operated by Music Choice through an agreement, building on Cumulus' Nash FM and Nash Icon brand. The channel launched January 26, 2015.[33]

The magazine Country Weekly has carried the Nash brand and logo since June 2015.[34]

References

  1. ↑ Ross, Sean (March 23, 2015). "Country Radio Goes Pop: How Formats Shift When Genres Cross". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cumulus Planning A National Country Brand". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). January 21, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Cumulus Launches Six More Nash-FM’s". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). September 6, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 "Cumulus Adds 11 More NashFM’s". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). February 3, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Cumulus’ NashFM Expansion Continues". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). July 3, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Cumulus Launches Five Additional NashFM’s". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). May 24, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2014. Source claims that change "already" happened at noon, but with a last update time of "5:00 am", it's unclear whether the article originally referred to May 23 or some other date.
  7. 1 2 "Nash Launches In New Orleans". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). January 6, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ 92.3 WRKN Flips To Nash. Format Change Archive (RadioBB Networks). January 6, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  9. ↑
  10. 1 2 "Nash Comes To Detroit". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). December 13, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Cumulus Adds 11 More NashFM’s". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). February 3, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  12. ↑ "3 More Stations Rebrand as Nash FM" from Radio Insight (October 31, 2014)
  13. ↑ "Nash Takes Left Turn Into Albuquerque" from Radio Insight (May 30, 2014)
  14. ↑ WJCL Savannah drops Nash branding to return to kix
  15. ↑ "92.3 KSJO Drops Nash For Bolly" from Radio Insight (March 1, 2016)
  16. 1 2 "Wanted for Radio: More Country Greats". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Oldies 98.9 becomes older-skewing country NASH Icon 98.9". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Media Group. August 15, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Nash Icons launches across the country". Radio Insight. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Nash Icon Gets Syndicated; Debuts In Ocean City". Radio Insight. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "Reba McEntire Becomes Nash Icon Music Label's Inaugural Signing". Billboard.com. October 21, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  21. ↑ WWFF Huntsville ends its journey & shifts to icon status
  22. ↑ Nash Icon Brand spreads through Kentucky
  23. ↑ Nash Icon Launches In Harrisburg
  24. 1 2 "Nash-FM Launches In Columbia, SC". RadioInsight (RadioBB Networks). February 28, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  25. ↑ WOMG moves from Nash to Nash Icon
  26. ↑ WKOS shifts from Nash to Nash Icon
  27. ↑ WELJ flips to Nash FM Simulcast
  28. ↑ Nash Icon comes to New London
  29. ↑ University of Virginia flips WUVA to Nash Icon
  30. ↑ KTOP Shifts from Nash to Nash Icon
  31. ↑ Nash Icon quietly expands into Amarillo
  32. ↑ "Looking At The Nash Icons Launch" by Lance Venta from Radio Insight (August 17, 2014)
  33. ↑ "Nash TV To Debut January 26" from Radio Insight (January 20, 2015)
  34. ↑ http://www.countryweekly.com/news/country-weekly-changes-name-nash-country-weekly
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