All of us, regardless of where we are, wonder about the songs and records heard on the radio. A recent article in Lon Helton’s Country Aircheck publication addresses “The Ears Have It: Country Vs. Pop PDs”. How much does a Country programmer’s radio background affect the music they put on their radio station? Has the influx of “pop-oriented” PDs changed the path of country music by dramatically altering what gets played, therefore changing what gets cut and perhaps even the subject matter of the songs that are written?

These are the questions as the economy has cut a lot of jobs and caused the dropping of many country PDs and many have been replaced by  programmers running the company’s Pop sister stations. Anyhow, Country AirCheck ran a poll that was inconclusive. For example, the first week of Reba’s new record “Strange” debuted on the pop PDs charts at #40 while it entered at #51 on the Country PDs chart. This seems to be an argument to which there will be no winner. It is our feeling that if you like music, go the local station of your choice. Try to steer clear of the radio conglomerates like Cumulus, Clear Channel, etc. We feel you’ll be more satisfied with both the Country and Pop stations that are programmed by a local person.

Remember next Sunday is Mother’s Day!! Do something nice for your mom, or wife, or any females with children!!