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New York, NY – July 13, 2011 -- United Stations Radio Networks, Inc., (USRN), an independent leader in the business-to-business world of network radio programming, announced today that it has made a giant leap into the world of consumer-facing web development with the introduction of a new website, www.countrymusicontheroad.com, a site dedicated exclusively to coverage of LIVE Country music.  The most significant unique offering of the website is a full-time, internet-only radio station that is 100% programmed with live Country music recordings from some of the biggest stars of the genre, and those concert performances come from an exclusive archive maintained by United Stations primarily for its nationally distributed live music show, The Road.   Other features of the website will be concert tour schedules, Country Music news, Twitter feeds from the artists, concert photos and the ability for the public to purchase recorded music and concert tickets via the sites merchandise links.  The announcement of this new digital presence for USRN comes from the company’s Chairman/CEO Nick Verbitsky in the network’s New York headquarters.

The concept for the website was born out of a desire by United Stations to give more exposure to its library of exclusive Country concert recordings gathered for The Road, a weekly 2-hour radio show now in its eighteenth year on the air.   That show’s concert material is heard on a lineup of radio stations from coast to coast that includes KKGO (Go Country 105) in Los Angeles and WUSN (US 99) in Chicago, but the limited window of being a two-hour weekly program has meant that much of the company’s archive of original concert material has gone under-exposed.   United Stations and The Roadhave built its own archive of concert material recorded across North American via a team of talent acquisition executives and recording engineers working for United Stations.  Over the years, The Roadhad presented concert recordings from the biggest names in Country music including George Strait, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, Rascal Flatts, Martina McBride and Taylor Swift.

In discussing the new web venture, USRN’s EVP/Programming, Andy Denemark commented, “The Road has a fantastic run on over-the-air radio, but having an internet radio station that solely featuresThe Road’s exclusive live concert material means that Country music fans everywhere can now enjoy the great music that we’ve gathered.   Plus, all of the added features on the site make it, to our knowledge, the first ever website that’s exclusively dedicated to the live Country music experience.   Of course we thank all of the artists and creative executives in the Country music industry who have cooperated over the years to make these recordings possible.”

  

The host of The Road, Country radio legend Charlie Cook, also lends his voice to the internet radio station.   While best known as a broadcast executive and programming consultant, Charlie Cook has also anchored award-winning broadcasts, and earned accolades including Billboard Air Personality of the Year as well as being a CMA Air Personality of the Year finalist and most recently was inducted into the Country DJ Hall of Fame in Nashville.  

Additionally, affiliates of The Road will be able to add access to the new, live music internet radio station on their own websites as bonus content for their local web visitors.  The 24/7 streaming radio station was developed in conjunction with Boulder, Colorado-based CustomChannels.net, LLC.

United Stations Radio Networks, Inc. is the largest independently owned and operated radio network in the U.S.  The company maintains offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington and Nashville and services programming to over 5,000 rated radio stations across the country.  Other Country programming in the network’s arsenal includes The Country’s HotList with Shawn Parr,Powered by Country with Fitz, Thunder Road, 25 Years of Hits, Country Giants, The American Christian Music Review, various seasonal specials, Country Comedy and Country Morning Show Prep from its Pulse Content division.  The New York-based company was founded in 1994 by radio pioneers Dick Clark and Nick Verbitsky.