Chicks’ Noms Don’t Mean Airplay

The Dixie Chicks have received five Grammy nominations, including album, record and song of the year, but many country radio stations still won’t play the group’s music.

Country fans haven’t forgiven or forgotten Natalie Maines’ comment about President Bush on the eve of the Iraq war in 2003, leaving station programmers playing it safe to protect revenue.

“I love the Dixie Chicks’ music, but you have to know your audience and know your marketing model,” Cox Radio Inc. country format coordinator Gerry McCracken told the Dallas Morning News.