Clear Channel and CMT enter partnership amid growth of country music market

Based entirely on the number of hits we get writing about various genres of music, we can attest that the country market is one of the most active in both the consumption of music and media coverage related to that genre. Clear Channel Communications must've noticed the same thing because they just announced a deal with cable television network CMT. The partnership will involve the two companies developing and sharing programming together.

Country music has certainly been the most successful when it comes to what Clear Channel wants. According to Arbitron, the genre is now the most popular radio format in the United States, occupying a 14 percent share in the market with 2,893 stations, topping even news and talk radio. At the same time, the sales of country music have continued to go up (thanks no doubt to stars such as Taylor Swift), increasing by 4.2 percent since 2012. Hip-hop-always seen as the "popular" genre-has dropped by 11.4 percent.

Immediate changes in programming that viewers can expect: CMT's Cody Alan will become the host of After MidNite, a nightly Clear Channel radio program. Alan's existing radio show, CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan, will switch syndication from Cumulus Media to Clear Channel's Premier. Both changes will begin in January.

The latter change indicates how much Clear Channel's move relates to its competition with Cumulus, especially in urban markets. Although the former still possesses more country stations than Cumulus (125 to 70), the latter has gotten the ball rolling with a multimedia brand focusing on country music, called Nash. That project involved founding WNSH, the first country format radio station in New York City in 17 years.