JOHN DICKEY: Nash Icon Is To Mainstream Country As Hot AC Is To AC

THE MOUTH, AUGUST 27TH, 2014 –– John Dickey told trade reporters on Monday that historically, very little has been understood about the Country format and Country music, and there have been stereotypes about Country music and artists. Now, Country is one of the most explosive formats for nearly 100 million people in the U.S. (which is the unduplicated cume of all Country stations in the U.S.). The size of the Country marketplace is massive. Cumulus, through its newly launched NASH Icon format, is modernizing the Country format. Cumulus launched the new format, which originates from Cumulus’ NASH Campus in Nashville, across 15 of its stations last in the last week. NASH is Cumulus’ Country lifestyle and entertainment brand.

Until now, Country’s watershed moment was the famed Class of ’96-’97, when Garth Brooks was featured on the cover of Time magazine and Country stars like Garth, Shania and Reba churned out hit after hit and Country music was embraced by people across the spectrum. 20 years have passed, and Country is the last format of its size that has not fragmented. Rock is so fragmented now that it is in a state of emergency; Talk has fragmented over the last 10-12 years; Sports has fragmented; etc. The time has come for Country to fragment. Cumulus will take the Country music of Country’s most popular artists from the mid- to late-‘80’s, the ‘90’s and early 2000’s and bring those artists into a modern era of Country Music through the new NASH ICON format.

Today on mainstream Country stations, it’s a very current-driven format. The Country format we hear on most Country stations today is one of the last multi-generational formats programmed like Top 40. NASH ICON is to mainstream Country as Hot AC is to AC. Everything on mainstream Country stations today is new, fresh and current. There are 125-150 songs in active rotation in Country today. Mainstream Country has a very tight library, similar to Top 40, which rotates around 100 songs. As a result, there are Country artists who have a huge fan following, but have no home on mainstream Country radio today. There is a pent up demand for new music from those artists, because they are not represented in the format today.

Over the next 1-2 years, we’ll see more stations that are tired of being 3rd in ratings and revenues for Rock or Talk, and losing that battle in their markets. They will go to a “JACK”-like Country format (but less gimmicky) that is a catch-all for Country music over the last 25 years.

Based on the metrics of the Country artists and the low burn of the artists that are not present on country stations today, it’s time for Country to fragment. This fragmentation will not cannibalize Country, but it will grow Country’s share (e.g. CBS and Cumulus Country stations in Detroit, where total share of Country listeners has grown). NASH ICON will accelerate the process of growing Country’s share of ratings and revenues. It is exciting to have hit artists that will now have a platform to create new music and to expose these artists to generations and groups of people who have never been exposed to them on the radio.

By the 4th Quarter of this year, Westwood One will offer NASH ICON programming to radio stations across the industry. Stations will be able to localize and customize the NASH ICON programming. We believe that lots of stations across the country will be converting to NASH ICON by the end of the year.

For NASH ICON, the breakdown of Country music played is about 25% current driven, and that should increase as artists like Reba and Alan Jackson have a platform for new music that they will create moving forward. The format features a few artists from the ‘80’s, but it mainly features artists from the ‘90’s and 2000’s…“Face card artists”, mixed in with compatible artists from today. Not a lot of Tailgate Country or Bro Rock, for example. The artists from today must have the right feel, tonality and lyricism to be included on NASH ICON playlists.

The ratings success of NASH and Country, and the regenerative nature of the format are driving this programming progression for Country radio. Cumulus is building out that parallel platform to bring Country’s best artists of the last 25 years back to radio and creating new music for an expanded and growing audience.

Country artists have phenomenally welcomed NASH and NASH ICON. They are touring and interacting with large audiences and they’ve been frustrated with the difficulty of participating in Mainstream Country radio today.

NASH ICON is not about nostalgia—This is not about retro. For mega-artists like Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney, NASH ICON allows them to be properly contextualized and to build new listeners. The opportunity of NASH ICON is about the current state of the Country format and flanking that with this new format. These are artists that have a lot of music they haven’t put out because there’s no place that will play it. It will only snowball and pick up more steam, particularly after we get a couple of ratings books and case studies.

Artists like Shania, Lorrie Morgan, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, the Judds, Reba, and Alan Jackson still have lots to say. We are not looking in the rear-view mirror with NASH ICON. The format is not defined by retro. This is Hot AC, in that it will be competitive among 25-34, with a sweet spot of 35-50, and 50/50 male/female, with maybe a few more female.

Cumulus’ NASH ICON record label, in partnership with Big Machine is up and running. Jim Weatherson and Scott Borchetta could tell you more about it, but there will be announcements about the progress of our label in the next 30-60 days. The label will be another great place for unsigned ICON artists and will stimulate artists to create new music. When this plays out, NASH ICON could play 25-45% new music. This is right up the alley of Hot AC.

There will be a NASH ICON morning show. It will be more of a living room setting and will be more interview-driven by the artists. The show will provide a good opportunity for artists to interact with their fans. We’ll be rolling out the new NASH ICON morning show between now and the end of the year.

There will be a NASH ICON weekend show rolling out for Mainstream Country later this year.

Through the rollout of NASH ICON stations and programming, we’re ensuring artists will have a long career, versus “get it while you can”. We are helping listeners to connect with artists long-term, in a way that creates yearning, demand and loyalty.

NASH ICON will be delivered via the Storq platform, which allows stations to take any daypart or part of any daypart and customize that locally (versus plug and play). That level of customization and localization will give it a very competitive sound and a local feel—and conversations we’ve had tell us there’s a demand for that. We bought Storq technology when we bought Westwood One. It allows for real-time customization, enabling us to customize up to five breaks within an hour.

We expect stations will be interested in a 25-54 format, with the ability to mix and match and to keep the equity of local talent in their programming. We will invite trade reporters to another call in 90-120 days to see how far we’ve come in this exciting endeavor and look forward to reporting our progress and to keeping the conversation going.