Format
Landis' concept was simple: A DJ and a country star co-host would count down the week’s top 30 and talk about the songs and artists in the chart. Gary first began looking for talent. Numerous DJs were considered, before they decided on Radio & Records' Country Editor, Lon Helton. Gary called Lon directly and offered him the job. The country star was a more difficult decision. No single country star was willing to commit to a 52-week schedule. So the decision was made to have a different country star act as co-host every week. It would be a three-hour show, playing the week’s Top 30. Unlike other syndicated shows at the time, the show featured only three commercial breaks per hour, and a music sweep at the top of the hour, based on the formats of most country radio stations.
Landis then looked for a producer to oversee the program. Mutual Broadcasting System Senior Producer George Achaves quickly jumped at the chance. George had worked with Lon on a short-lived weekly country show called “Listen In.” He also did Mutual’s holiday country specials with WHN DJ Lee Arnold. Lon’s office manager, Jo Pincek, was tapped to handle artist relations. The show became the first Westwood One show to be delivered exclusively on compact disc.
Read more about this topic: CMT Country Countdown USA