Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40
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''Country Top 40 with Fitz'' (sometimes abbreviated as CT40), formerly known as ''Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40'', is an American
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
radio countdown show created by former ''
American Country Countdown ''American Country Countdown'', also known as ''ACC'', is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 30 country songs of the previous week, from No. 30 to No. 1, according to the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard ...
'' host
Bob Kingsley Robert Gibson Kingsley (March 19, 1939 – October 17, 2019) was an American country music radio personality and a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was best known as the host of two nationally syndicated radio programs: ''American Cou ...
, who hosted the show from its January 2006 debut until shortly before his death in 2019. Currently hosted by Fitz, the program is distributed by Skyview Networks and produced as a joint venture between
Hubbard Broadcasting Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri ...
and KCCS Productions, the holding company operated by Kingsley's widow. It uses the ''
Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...
'' Country Singles chart as its source. The program is syndicated to more than 200 radio stations in the United States and Canada.


History

Prior to the inception of ''Country Top 40'' in 2005, radio host
Bob Kingsley Robert Gibson Kingsley (March 19, 1939 – October 17, 2019) was an American country music radio personality and a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was best known as the host of two nationally syndicated radio programs: ''American Cou ...
was the host of ''
American Country Countdown ''American Country Countdown'', also known as ''ACC'', is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 30 country songs of the previous week, from No. 30 to No. 1, according to the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard ...
'', a Top 40
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
countdown show based on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...
chart. ''Country Top 40'' first aired January 1, 2006, on 300 affiliates, three weeks before
Kix Brooks Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's ''American Country Cou ...
of the country music duo
Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1988 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer, Tim DuBois. Before thei ...
took over as host of ''American Country Countdown''. Until 2013 it was distributed by Dial Global Radio Networks; with Cumulus Media's purchase of Dial Global, along with its purchase of ACC's network in 2011, both shows came under the same corporate umbrella. On October 9, 2019, Kingsley announced his departure from the show to undergo treatment for bladder cancer, hoping to return if his health permitted. In the interim, he formed an agreement with the
Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...
to provide guest hosts for the program, all of whom would be women, through the November 30 - December 1, 2019 episode. Kingsley died October 17, a week after the announcement. On December 18, 2019, it was announced that radio personality Fitz, host of ''The Fitz Show'', ''The Hit List with Fitz'', and ''Nashville Minute with Fitz'', would succeed Kingsley as host starting with the January 4, 2020, show, with the blessing of Kingsley's widow Nan.
Hubbard Broadcasting Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri ...
, Fitz's employer, is now CT40's production company, and Skyview Networks has taken over as distributor from
Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...
.


Content

''Country Top 40'' is a four-hour show based on the country singles charts tabulated by ''
Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...
''. At the beginning of each show from its inception in 2006 until 2017, Kingsley played back snippets of the previous week's top 5 hits, ending with the #1 song from the previous week. Beginning with the May 20–21, 2017 program, however, he started the show by playing in full the #1 song from the previous week. (It had been his practice when he hosted ''American Country Countdown'' beginning in 1986 when ''ACC'' went from a three-hour to a four-hour program.) The countdown itself features the top 40 country songs of the week, played in ascending order starting with #40 and ending with #1. Each segment includes from two to four songs, with at least one of those songs having a story about the song or its recording artist; some songs are also accompanied by interview snippets from the artist. In addition, some of the songs are followed by a previous hit from the artist. Regular and recurring features of the show include: * The Listener Request, heard at the end of the first hour. Similar to the ACC Mailbag of Kingsley-era ''American Country Countdown'' shows (which, in turn, was based on the Long Distance Dedication of ''AT40''), listeners are invited to send requests (by e-mail or letter) for songs and provide a story about the song's meaning to them. If a request is played on the program, that listener receives a gift package (generally, a T-shirt and a copy of that particular show). * CT40 Vault, heard at the end of the second hour. "A walk down the hall to the vault for a sampling of country music history" by spotlighting clips of songs from past decades, and ending with the playing of a song in its entirety (i.e. #1 from this week 48 years ago, 28 years ago, 18 years ago, 8 years ago). This feature was likely inspired by a similar feature that was short lived on ''American Top 40'' in the mid-1980s. * CT40 Milestone, heard at the end of the third hour. Like "ACC Calendar" from Kingsley-era ''American Country Countdown'' programs, "Milestone" spotlights a classic song, birthday of a performer or songwriter, or other innovation in country music history.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Official website of ''Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40''
American record charts Music chart shows American country music radio programs 2006 radio programme debuts