WKML in Fayetteville Nominated for CMA Station of the Year For Second Year in a Row

Big news for the Big 95.7 KML in Fayetteville this morning, as the station was nominated for the Country Music Association Small Market Station of the Year award.

"I'm so proud of our entire team here at the Big 95.7 KML," said Sarah Weaver, Programming Director and co-host of The Big Wake Up With Don Chase & Sarah. "The dedication this team has to this community, and to working hard to be the best country music station for the best listeners in the world, is unparalleled."

WKML is up against four other stations for Small Market Station of the Year. WXBQ in Johnson City, Tennessee; KCLR in Columbia, Missouri; WBYT in South Bend, Indiana; and WYCT in Pensacola, Florida were the other three finalists.

"It's such a joy to celebrate this alongside our listening family, who help to make us the best we can be," Weaver said. "We're honored to bring Fayetteville and the rest of our region the best music and entertainment we possibly can."

Stations are selected based on a number of criteria, including community service, station ratings, Country Music industry leadership, digital presence, and how the on-air talent sounds on the station.

"Our team is so good at making sure our listeners truly feel a part of our family," Weaver said. "And we're so proud to be such a key part of Country Music in this community."

Team KML on air is led by Sarah Weaver as Programming Director. Don Chase, KC Atkins and Minda Kistner represent the station on air. Tee Gentry is Operations Manager.

The winners will be announced on November 8 in the CMA's annual awards show, though broadcast winners are announced in advance. The full list of today's musical nominees is available here.

Over the weekend (6/8-11), CMA Fest 2023 took place in Nashville. With fans coming from all over the world, the festival featured four sold-out nights at Nissan Stadium, with many acts taking the stage, including Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, and many more.

Also, throughout the day, many artists played the small stages set up around Nashville, and even more stars piled into Fan Fair X to chat with and sign autographs with fans.

It was a big deal, as this marked 50 years of CMA Fest, which started as Fan Fair, back in 1973.

We gathered several photos from the action from the CMA Fest 2023 Nissan Stadium stage in four nights of country music heaven.