Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40
Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 with Fitz (sometimes abbreviated as CT40) is an American country music radio countdown show created by former "American Country Countdown" host Bob Kingsley, who hosted the show from its January 2006 debut until shortly before his death in 2019. Currently hosted by Fitz, the program is distributed by Skyview Networks and produced as a joint venture between Hubbard Broadcasting and KCCS Productions, the holding company operated by Kingsley's widow. It uses the "Mediabase" Country Singles chart as its source. History. Prior to the inception of "Country Top  40" in 2005, Kingsley was the host of "American Country Countdown", a Top 40 country music countdown show based on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart. "Country Top 40" first aired January 1, 2006, on 300 affiliates, three weeks before Kix Brooks of the country music duo Brooks & Dunn took over as host of "American Country Countdown". Until 2013 it was distributed by Dial Global Radio Networks; with Cumulus Media's purchase of Dial Global, along with its purchase of ACC's network in 2011, both shows came under the same corporate umbrella. On October 9, 2019, Kingsley announced his  departure from the show to undergo treatment for bladder cancer, hoping to return if his health permitted. In the interim, he struck an agreement with the Country Music Association to provide guest hosts for the program, all of whom would be women, through the November 30 - December 1, 2019 episode. Kingsley died October 17, a week after the announcement. On December 18, 2019, it was announced that radio personality Fitz, host of "The Fitz Show", "The Hit List with Fitz", and "Nashville Minute with Fitz", would succeed Kingsley as host starting with the January 4, 2020, show, with the blessing  of Kingsley's widow Nan. Hubbard Broadcasting, Fitz's employer, is now CT40's production company, and Skyview Networks has taken over as distributor from Westwood One. Content. "Country Top 40" is a four-hour show based on the country singles charts tabulated by "Mediabase". At the beginning of each show from its inception in 2006 until 2017, Kingsley played back snippets of the previous week's top 5 hits, ending with the #1 song from the previous week. Beginning with the May 20-21, 2017 program, however, he started the show by playing in full the #1 song from  the previous week. (It had been his practice when he hosted "American Country Countdown" beginning in 1986 when "ACC" went from a three-hour to a four-hour program.) The countdown itself features the top 40 country songs of the week, played in ascending order starting with #40 and ending with #1. Each segment includes from two to four songs, with at least one of those songs having a story about the song or its recording artist; some songs are also accompanied by interview snippets from the artist. In addition, some of the songs are followed by a previous hit  from the artist. Regular and recurring features of the show include: