United Stations Presents ‘Backstage Country’
• United Stations announced the impending launch of Backstage Country, a daily five-hour program hosted by Country Music stars on a rotating basis, one week at a time. Backstage Country is intended to fill a daypart on Mainstream Country radio stations and will be made available beginning the week of September 14, 2020.
Beasley Media Group has signed on as the flagship group of affiliates for Backstage Country with WXTU/Philadelphia, WKLB/Boston, WQYK/Tampa, WSOC/Charlotte, KCYE/Las Vegas, WKML/Fayetteville and WKXC/Augusta, GA all joining the network lineup from launch.
Each artist will host the program for an entire five-day week, sharing their unique perspectives on music, touring, events, the media and any other topic that matters to them. Big Machine recording artist Tim McGraw will anchor the inaugural week of broadcasts while Black River artist Kelsea Ballerini, Warner Music Nashville’s Brett Eldredge and Broken Bow stars Jason Aldean and Dustin Lynch have all committed to sit behind the mic during the first month of broadcasts, with other artists TBA.
Commenting on the launch of Backstage Country, United Stations’ EVP of Programming Andy Denemark said, “We have always tried to deliver high-profile hosts for our programming so that our affiliates have something they can promote and their listeners have something special and engaging. Since Country artists have a tremendous history of accessibility and outreach to their fans, we felt that a radio show where the stars are the DJs would be a fantastic vehicle for everybody.”
Beasley’s Chief Content Officer Justin Chase added, “To deliver an audio experience that comes as close as possible to the intimacy of a backstage meet-and-greet seems perfect for the times in which we live. Country is such a star-driven format, and we’re thrilled to bring the biggest names directly to our audience.”