KIX Country’s Justin Thomson has received the 2024 International Country Broadcaster Award for his outstanding contribution to the industry during this year’s CMC Rocks in Queensland.

L-R Michael Chugg (Frontier Touring, CMC Rocks Co-Founder), Justin Thomson, Jeremy Dylan (CEO, Potts Entertainment) and Natalie Waller (Head of ABC Music and Events, Chair of Aria and CMA Board member).

The Country Music Association acknowledged Justin with the award for a radio broadcaster or syndicated radio reporter outside the United States who has added to the development of Country Music in their country. Past winners include John Laws and Ray Hadley, with David Burton the last Australian to receive it in 2012.

Justin has brought KIX Country to Nashville multiple times for the likes of CMA Fest, the CMA Awards and CMA Country Christmas as well as travel to Canada to cover the CCMA Awards and to the UK to cover C2C.

Justin said:

“There is no higher honour in country music than being presented with a CMA Award and I’m blown away by the response I’ve had from industry around the world. The two things I love more than anything are radio and country music, and I feel very lucky to be able to combine the two. It’s a really exciting time for the genre and with the great team we have at ARN working on our country brands, we are leading the way in country music media. I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of growing country radio in Australia.”

Founded in 1958, the Country Music Association is the first trade organisation formed to promote a type of music. It holds six annual international industry awards to acknowledge the efforts of individuals working to develop Country Music in markets across the world. Justin is the National Content Director of KIX Country and iHeart Country. Justin can be heard doing Afternoons on Kix Country between 2pm-6pm, as well as on iHeart Country.

Images by Maclay Heriot