Cumulus appears on the way towards establishing a new national Country brand.
Update 1/21: And we have our first “Nash-FM” as Cumulus debuts Country in New York.
In the Wall Street Journal, Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey has confirmed everything we’ve reported here including plans to launch a network of NASH branded stations, further syndicated content, a magazine, and look into ways to expand to cable television.
Update 1/20:A Cumulus holding company has applied for multiple “Nash” trademarks.
Applied for by the “Consolidated IP Company LLC” on November 14 were trademarks for: Nash, Nash Channel, Nash On-Line, The Nash Experience, Nash Awards, Nash FM, and Nash TV. They were accompanied on January 3 by Nash Notes, Nash Country, Nash Magazine, Nash Entertainment, and Nash Interactive. With the exception of the final one all were applied for the purpose of “Radio broadcasting services; conducting award ceremonies; printed publications, namely, entertainment magazines; providing online publications in the nature of entertainment magazines; providing a website featuring online radio broadcasting and entertainment news, events and information”.
The Consolidated IP Company LLC shares the same address as Cumulus’ corporate headquarters in Atlanta.
With “94.7 Nash-FM” likely to launch in New York on January 21, it shouldn’t be long before the brand begins expanding nationwide.
Update 11/28: Cumulus has acquired the WNSH call letters from now 1570 WMVX Beverly, MA last week. The company has parked the calls on the former 105.3 WGVY Cambridge MN for now. We should note the similarity in the WGVY calls and WDVY Mount Kisco NY, the station that Cumulus is transferring to Family Stations as part of the acquisition of 94.7 WFME Newark/New York.
Original Report 11/19: Domain registrations have been made over the past few months for every commercial FM frequency ending in NashFM.com and .net (Example 921NashFM.com) as well as NashCountry.com and NashRadio.net.
CountryAircheck recently reported that Cumulus will move all record label meetings in the Country format to the corporate level. Monthly meetings and calls will take place in their Atlanta offices with the company’s Country format captains and Co-COO John Dickey to formulate the company’s initiatives and playlists for the format.
With the company preparing to close on the purchase of a station in the largest market; one that has been without a Country station since 1996, what better way to make a splash with Country to ad agencies nationally than to redebut it in New York?
Joseph 
Joe Benjamin 
Thomas 
David 
Pete Egbert 
Garth 
radioduck 
Scott Gilbert
RT @radioinsight: RadioInsight: Is Cumulus Planning A National Country Brand? – http://t.co/5TFCMg7A
This appears to be leading towards a 24/7 satellite-fed (with time-zone delays) country-music format that would be heard on all of Cumulus’s country-music stations.
Look for lots of local DJ’s at existing Cumulus country formats to get the axe, replaced with the birdfeed format, with a handful of them from around the nation staying with the company to become the airstaff for the nationwide “Nash(ville) Radio” format.
Look for “Nash Radio 94-7” in New York to usher in 2013.
So Cumulus is now trying their hand at nationwide branding, just like how Jacor/CC took advantage of a pre-existing “KIIS-FM” trademark from a prior owner and turned that into a national CHR brand.
Should be noted that most of Cumulus’ CHR/Adult CHR outlets (WRQX, KLIF, WNFN, WWWQ, etc.) all feature similar-styled logos.
No clue about New York, so I won’t comment on that.
I thought Cumulus was using the “Great Country” moniker on many of their stations.
As for Nash County, that will likely be the new name for the Today’s Best Country (Formerly ABC Country Coast To Coast) network.
I wouldn’t be surprised seeing them use the satellite service on some of their smaller stations.
Their active rock network “The Nerve” actually requires affiliates to use “The Nerve” branding, unlike the others which can use any brand they please. I’m wondering if they have similar plans for “Nash Country” and registered some of those domains for existing affiliates.
Any type of top 40 country is needed in the ny market!!!!
I can not see it being a popular brand in Oklahoma or Texas, those places would want their country stations named after themselves such as Oklahoma County, Red Dirt Country or Big Country Texas style.
It’s gonna be a hard sale trying to convince locals that Nash-FM is not just another canned satellite format.
Who said anything about canned satellite? With digital delivery options there are plenty of ways for the stations to include local and national elements intertwined.
Dial-Global Local (formerly WAITT) is a perfect example of customized voice-tracking without the need for a satellite dish. If done right, DG-L affiliates can sound like a local station. CC’s Premium Choice method is built on a similar concept.
When done right some stations sound local, but when a station names itself after a place other than the place that it is actually broadcasting from, it sounds very “canned” KCRT from Raton NM, is an example of a satellite fed station that sounds local. However WGTO from Cassopolis MI is a station that sounds very automated. But in reality automation is hard to hide, especially for stations in small towns, where there’s a strong sense of community, yet no one has ever met the DJs from the local station.
I don’t see the “Nash-FM” brand being named specifically after a place. Yes, its derived from Nashville but its more in the vein of Jack, Bob, Hank, Blake, than Nashville.
The name says it all, a station in Texas called NASH – FM will be a laughed out of town. Why not come up with a more generic name for a nationwide country format, such as Great American Country Radio or Hometown Radio, or some name that does not point to a particular place such as Nashville. As David said, it will be a hard sell convincing locals that a station called NASH-FM in a local area away from Tennessee is actually local.
What are you saying? KLIF is flipping to country?
Not sure where you got that from this. Why would Cumulus flip an AM Talk station in Dallas to Country when they already own two Country FM’s in the market?
NASH-FM may work for country stations in the eastern united states or even Canada, it will be a hard sell in Oklahoma and Texas since several big country artists come from Oklahoma and Texas. I agree Bob-FM, Blake-FM and Jack-FM names are pretty are vein names for radio stations
Today is the day Nash FM and Country music comes to NYC.
Cumulus runs the CMT show at nights on most of their stations, they own the Kix Brooks overnight show and they are big fans of the Tony and Kris show which they carry on many Cumulus stations. That covers erything but middays and afternoons which they already have covered on their sat network. Best local possibility for any of the Nash stations would most likely be afternoon drive. Keep in mind they already all follow a national playlist so Dallas, Atlanta and even Nashville already musically sound the same as nyc anyway. Anyone in NYC that was expecting a hip, alt, city style chr country station will be very dissapointed. Its just doing what cumulus does…which I guess is still better then no country at all in Tue NYC metro.
I was not surprised to read that Cumulus is planning to have a national network with the “Nash” brand. It’s typical of how companies like this one, Clear Channel and others operate. Everything is done on the cheap.
If you work for any of the country stations Cumulus owns, I would either start planning to enter a different field for work or get ready to send samples of your on air work and production around the country and hope you get something.
As far as New York goes, Nash will get a 2.2 because while the format will do well in parts of New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester, it won’t in Manhattan.
Get ready for the blowouts to begin soon.
And people wonder why radio is a dying medium…
Because they’re not using the same ideas used in the 70’s and 80’s? That doesn’t make it a dying medium, rather one that is evolving. National programming works in every other country on earth. It was inevitable that it would be attempted here as well.