Capsule Pitch Description: Radio countdown program of the week's top 40 mainstream pop hits.
Implementation:AT40 had been the standard-bearer for radio countdown programs when Los Angeles radio personality Rick Dees began his own Top 40 radio countdown program (in the aftermath of his station, KIIS-FM losing AT40 to a rival station. The presentation was somewhat similar, although Dees used the Radio & Records chart as its source and had different features, including (then-novel) interview clips of artists (during Dees' stretch stories on various songs), songs predicted to make the top 10 and a recap of the top 5 from a past year.
Capsule Pitch Description: Radio countdown program of the week's top 40 mainstream pop hits.
Implementation:AT40 was created in 1970 by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany and Tom Rounds, and became radio's most popular countdown program. In 1988, Kasem had a falling-out with ABC Networks and was fired; in retribution, Norm Pattiz of Westwood One createdCasey's Top 40, which debuted in January 1989. ABC Networks, meanwhile, hired Shadoe Stevens, who took over the week after Kasem's last AT40 program, and the show continued for another 6-1/2 years.
Capsule Pitch Description: Radio countdown program of the week's top country music hits.
Implementation:ACC was created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany and Tom Rounds in 1973 as a country music spinoff of American Top 40. Hosted today by Kix Brooks (half of country music's mega-duo Brooks & Dunn), the show was hosted for years by Los Angeles radio personality Bob Kingsley (who began as the show's producer during original host Don Bowman's run). When ABC Networks decided to take the show in a different direction and Kingsley balked, he was given his walking papers. Kingsley quickly took his vision of the format – which had worked for 27 years – and took it to Jones Radio Network (now Dial Global) to begin the Country Top 40.
American Country Countdown (1973) and Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 (2006) / Other radio countdown programs – including The Weekly Country Music Countdown (1981) & The Crook & Chase Countdown (1983) & CMT's Country Countdown USA (1992) & The Foxworthy Countdown (1999)
Capsule Pitch Description: Radio countdown program of the week's top country music hits.
Implementation: See above for ACC and Country Top 40. Country Countdown USA, hosted by journalist Lon Helton, debuted in April 1992. Each program co-hosted by a current country music artist, who provides insight into the songs and artists. Crook & Chase – hosted by longtime country music television personalities Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase – is a fixture in medium to small markets, and premiered three months before Country Countdown USA. Along with their homespun humor, this program includes interviews and other songs. The Weekly Country Music Countdown debuted in 1981 and was the first major rival to ACC. Hosted by Chris Charles, this program presented the top 30 songs of the week as ranked by Radio & Records magazine; in addition to an artist profile (two of a current artist's older hits per hour), features included interviews with other artists, the "calendar" (with birthdates and important milestones in country music) and for a time, the "Dusty Diskfile" (the top 5 songs from that week in a past year).
