Country Music Association Reveals 2026 CMA Broadcast Awards Finalists
The Country Music Association has announced the finalists for the 2026 CMA Broadcast Awards.
These awards honor outstanding achievement among radio personalities and stations in the United States and Canada.
Any full-time, on-air broadcast personalities and radio stations in the United States and Canada were eligible to submit entries, regardless of CMA membership status.
The entries were judged by a panel of broadcast professionals, representing all market sizes and regions.
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The CMA Broadcast Award categories are established by market size based on population as ranked by Nielsen.
Entries for broadcast personality of the year are judged on aircheck, ratings, community involvement and biographical and impact information.
Candidates for radio station of the year are judged on aircheck, ratings, community involvement and leadership and impact information.
The 60th Annual CMA Awards will air live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, Nov.
18 at 8/7c on ABC, Disney+ and next day on Hulu.
Winners of the CMA Broadcast Awards will be announced in the coming weeks and recognized during the CMA Awards pre-telecast ceremony.
See below for the full list of 2026 CMA Broadcast Awards finalists.
CMA broadcast personality of the year Weekly national “American Country Countdown with Ryan Fox” (Ryan Fox) – Westwood One / Cumulus Media “The Country Top 40 with Fitz” (Cory “Fitz” Fitzner) – Hubbard Broadcasting “Crook & Chase Countdown” (Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase) – Jim Owens Entertainment “The Highway Hot 30 Countdown with Buzz Brainard” (Buzz Brainard) – SiriusXM “Steve Harmon Show” (Steve Harmon) – Westwood One / Cumulus Media Daily national “The Angie Ward Show” (Angie Ward) – iHeartMedia “Backstage Country with Elaina Smith” (Elaina Smith) – Key Networks “Big D & Bubba” (“Big D” Derek Haskins, “Bubba” Sean Powell, Carsen Humphreville, Jonathan Shaffer, and Garrett Freche) – Silverfish Media “The Bobby Bones Show” (Bobby Bones, Amy Brown, “Lunchbox” Dan Chappell, Eddie Garcia, Morgan Huelsman, “Scuba Steve” Spradlin, “Mike D” Rodriguez, “Raymundo” Ray Slater, and “Phone Screener Abby” Anderson) – Premiere Radio Networks / iHeartMedia “Katie & Company” (Katie Neal) – Audacy Major market “The Andie Summers Show” (Andie Summers, Jeff Kurkjian, Donnie Black, and Shannon Boyle) – WXTU, Philadelphia, Pa.
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