Nash FM is a media brand and network owned by Cumulus Media the United States. The brand serves as a platform for the Country format and offers two different products: Nash FM, airing current hits, and Nash Icons, airing an adult-contemporary-focused playlist of more established artists. Its name comes from Nashville, Tennessee, the center of the commercial country music industry in the United States, which in turn was named for colonial-era politician and Continental Army General Francis Nash.
Contents
Nash FM is, as of 2014, used on FM radio stations carrying country music (typically hot country) formats owned by Cumulus, and is the primary brand. Nash FM stations, since March 2015, have included in their rotations a blend of country and acoustic-leaning pop music.
The first station to become Nash FM was 94.7 at Newark, New Jersey in the New York City area on January 21, 2013.
Syndicated programming common to stations using the brand includes America's Morning Show with Ty Bentley, Nash Nights Live with Shawn Parr and The Blair Garner Show. National news is provided through an agreement with CNN.
Former "Nash FM" stations
Nash Icon
In May 2014, Cumulus Media announced a spin-off of the Nash brand known as Nash Icon (previously announced as Nash Icons). The Nash Icon brand encompasses radio stations, content, and events oriented towards the "biggest country artists of the last two decades, who are still recording and touring but not getting enough exposure today"; Cumulus Media CEO Lew Dickey felt that there was not yet a "middle ground" between modern and classic country similarly to that of the Adult contemporary format (which lies between Contemporary hit radio and classic hits). The first Nash Icon stations were launched at 12:00 p.m. ET on August 15, 2014 with the flips of W255CJ in Atlanta and WZAT in Savannah, Georgia, followed by a number of other Cumulus stations throughout the day. In January 2015, WestwoodOne began to syndicate Nash Icon to non-Cumulus stations.
The Nash Icon brand also includes a vanity label for veteran country artists operated in partnership with Big Machine Records. On October 21, 2014, it was announced that Reba McEntire would be the first artist to be part of the label. Shortly after McEntire's announcement, Ronnie Dunn began to tease that he would be the next artist to sign. Dunn officially confirmed on December 1, 2014 that he was indeed the second artist to sign with the label. Martina McBride announced that she had signed with the label on December 29, 2014. On April 29, 2015, Hank Williams Jr announced that he had signed with the label.
Notes:
1 - Indicates a Station that is not owned by Cumulus.
Former "Nash Icon" stations
Critical reception
While there has been some good feedback on the launching of the Nash FM brand, it was a different story involving the Nash Icons' launching. In a commentary from Radio Insight, Lance Venta notes that Nash Icon's soft launch did not generate the attention that Nash FM got, adding that the stations that flipped to the format are in markets with more than 2 Country outlets (or in the case of Kansas City, 3 and Toledo, Ohio, 4) that have better ratings and more established, while others (like KQLK/Lake Charles, Louisiana) flipped from a format that had good ratings in order to cut into the ratings of a competitor (KNGT) and to protect a sister Country station (KYKZ). Venta later stated "Does this mean Nash Icon is destined for failure? Not at all. Cumulus is putting resources behind the Nash and Nash Icon brands that puts other formats to shame. This launch though has felt disjointed, rushed, and not what Cumulus and Big Machine first hyped it to be. Once the brand is fleshed out and additional features/shows are added, there could easily be additional demand for a brand to acts as the Adult Contemporary equivalent for Country listeners in a world where many of the format’s stations are evolving towards a CHR styling."
Cross-branding
Nash FM also has a Television Outlet called Nash TV, which is an American video on demand television network that is owned by Cumulus Media and operated by Music Choice through an agreement, building on Cumulus' Nash FM and Nash Icon brand. The channel launched January 26, 2015.
The magazine Country Weekly has carried the Nash brand and logo since June 2015.