Country Countdown USA
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Country Countdown USA premiered in April of 1992. The program began as the brainchild of Westwood One Chairman Norman J. Pattiz. Although Westwood One had several country programs, mainly through its co-owned Mutual Broadcasting System, the company didn’t have a weekly country countdown show. Country music was enjoying a huge boom period, with Garth Brooks and other multi-platinum stars. So the time was right to launch a new country countdown show.
At the time, the leader was American Country Countdown with Bob Kingsley. 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 and TNN’s Crook & Chase Top 40. The latter two included pre-recorded interview clips with artists, while ACC was strictly a scripted show.
Norm’s 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. Norm assigned the project to his Programming VP, Gary Landis, who began looking for the talent. Numerous DJs were considered, before they decided on Radio & Records Country Editor Lon Helton. At the time, Westwood One owned Radio & Records, so it was an easy decision. Plus the show used the Radio & Records country chart. Norm 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 3 hour show, playing the week’s Top 30. Unlike other syndicated shows at the time, the show featured only 3 commercial breaks per hour, and a music sweep at the top of the hour, based on the formats of most country radio stations.
The company 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 4th, 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 new 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 USA, and one of the most popular syndicated shows in Westwood One’s line-up.
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.
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 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, PD 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. Among them, Country Takes Manhattan, a week-long live concert series broadcast live from venues in New York; and The Country Freedom Concert, 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.
AWARDS:
CCUSA host Lon Helton was named the National Air Personality of the Year by the Country Music Association in 2002 and 2004, and in 2006, he was inducted into the Country DJ Hall of Fame in Nashville.
WEB SITE:
Country Countdown USA launched its own website in 1996. The site was re-launched in April of 2006.
