NEW YORK (CMA) - Final nominees for the nation's top Country radio stations and broadcast personalities were announced today when Curb Records duo
Blue County and Epic Records artist
Miranda Lambert teamed up to reveal the 2005 CMA Broadcast Personality and
Radio Station of the Year finalists during the CMA Awards Press Conference at Time Warner Center in New York City.
This year's winners will be recognized during "The 39th Annual CMA Awards," broadcast live Tuesday, Nov. 15 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the CBS Television Network from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Broadcast finalists were announced just before the announcement of the final nominees for the 2005 CMA Awards.
"It's important for CMA to recognize these stations and broadcast professionals for the work they do expanding the appeal of Country Music and helping to develop the careers of our artists," said Ed Benson, CMA Executive Director. "These nominees have shown creativity and strength in their markets and are applauded for being at the top of their trade."
Eligibility for the National Broadcast Personalities category included syndicated, short-form and hub voice-tracking personalities heard in at least three markets with a minimum of 40 shows per year. The judges narrowed the field to three among the entries for this category.
Five finalists are selected for Broadcast Personality of the Year and Station of the Year in four categories (Small, Medium, Large and Major Markets). The categories are established by market size based on population as ranked by Arbitron. In 2005, ties resulted in six finalists for Major Market Broadcast Personality of the Year, Large Market Broadcast Personality of the Year and Major Market Station of the Year.
CMA members who are full-time air personalities and CMA member radio stations in the U.S. and Canada were eligible to enter. Personalities who were not individually CMA members were also eligible if employed by a CMA member station.
CMA Broadcast Award winners are not eligible to enter in consecutive years; therefore, those who received trophies in 2004 were not eligible in 2005.
The entries are judged by a panel of distinguished broadcast professionals, representing all market sizes and regions. Entries for Broadcast Personality of the Year are judged on aircheck, ratings, community involvement and biographical information. Stations are judged on airchecks, ratings history, community involvement and format leadership.
An aggregate score of the first round of judging and the second round (which is done by a different panel of judges) determines the winners. The international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP tabulates scoring by the judges.
The winners will be notified by phone and on the air by a Country Music artist in mid-October. The nominees are:
BROADCAST PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
National
"After Midnite with Blair Garner" (Blair Garner) - Premiere Radio Networks
"The Crook and Chase Countdown" (Lorianne Crook, Charlie Chase) - Jim Owens Entertainment
"The Lia Show" (Lia Knight) - Jones Radio Networks
Major Market
"Big John and Ray" (John Howell, Ray Stevens) - WUSN, Chicago, Ill. Bob Delmont - WPOC, Baltimore, Md.
"Cadillac Jack Afternoon Drive" (William Hyde Choate) - WKHX, Atlanta, Ga.
"Dave Pratt in the Morning with Stacey Brooks" (Dave Pratt, Stacey Brooks) - KMLE, Phoenix, Ariz.
"The Laurie DeYoung Show" (Laurie DeYoung) - WPOC, Baltimore, Md.
Lisa Dent - WUSN, Chicago, Ill.
Large Market
"Country Lovin with Darren Tandy" (Darren Tandy) - WFMS, Indianapolis, Ind.
"The Eddie Stubbs Show" (Eddie Stubbs) - WSM-AM, Nashville, Tenn.
"Gerry House & The House Foundation" (Gerry House, Mike Bohan, Duncan
Stewart, Al Voecks) - WSIX, Nashville, Tenn.
"Jim, Deb & Kevin" (Jim Denny, Deborah Honeycutt, Kevin Freeman) - WFMS, Indianapolis, Ind.
"The Original Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning Show" (Bill Dotson,
Ed Skura, Aunt Eloise) - WTQR, Greensboro, N.C. Vicki Murphy - WFMS, Indianapolis, Ind.
Medium Market
"Andy & Alison & The Morning Crew" (Andy Ritchie, Alison West, Jimmy Holt) - WIVK, Knoxville, Tenn.
"John Flint, Tammy Lee and the Q106 Morning Crew" (John Flint, Tammy Lee, Tim Morrisey, Pam Jahnke) - WWQM, Madison, Wis.
"Neal and Reese, The Moy'nin Boys" (Neal Dionne, Reese Rickards) - WBCT, Grand Rapids, Mich.
"The Ride with Gunner" (Ted Ousley) - WIVK, Knoxville, Tenn.
"WIVK at Night" (Jack Ryan) - WIVK, Knoxville, Tenn.
Small Market
"Barrett, Fox & Berry" (Bill Barrett, Tim Fox, Tracy Berry) - KKNU, Eugene, Ore.
"Dan, B.J. and Dude Show" (Dan Austin, BJ Stone, Dude Walker) - WQHK - Fort Wayne, Ind.
"Dex and Kim" (Bill Poindexter, Kim Carson) - WUSY, Chattanooga, Tenn.
"McFly and The Ride Home" (Marty McFly, Stewart James) - WGSQ, Cookeville, Tenn.
"The Morning Waking Crew" with Mark Ericson & Danielle Carrier (Mark
Ericson, Danielle Carrier) - WOKQ, Dover, N.H.
STATION OF THE YEAR
Major Market
KEEY - Minneapolis, Minn.
KMLE - Phoenix, Ariz.
KNIX - Tempe, Ariz.
KYGO - Denver, Colo.
WPOC - Baltimore, Md.
WXTU - Philadelphia, Pa.
Large Market
KASE - Austin, Texas
WKDF - Nashville, Tenn.
WQDR - Raleigh, N.C.
WSIX - Nashville, Tenn.
WTQR - Greensboro, N.C.
Medium Market
KSSN - Little Rock, Ark.
KUZZ - Bakersfield, Calif.
WBBS - Syracuse, N.Y.
WGNA - Albany, N.Y.
WSSL - Greenville, S.C.
Small Market
KTTS - Springfield, Mo.
WGSQ - Cookeville, Tenn.
WIXY - Champagne, Ill.
WUSY - Chattanooga, Tenn.
WWKI - Kokomo, Ind.
