The program director for the second largest country radio station in the country said it will be a cold day in hell before his station plays any song by Beyonce.

Beyoncé released two new country singles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” which prompted calls from fans for country radio stations to play her music.

One station, KYKC 100.1 FM in Oklahoma, initially refused to play Beyoncé’s song, citing its focus on country music.

However, after receiving an overwhelming amount of support for the track, including emails and phone calls, the station changed its stance and added “Texas Hold ‘Em” to its playlist.

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“Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” were No. 2 and 3, respectively, on the Apple Music charts as of Wednesday, the former holds a spot on Spotify’s Global Top 100 and on Tuesday Beyoncé became the first Black woman to top the Apple Music Country Chart.

The two visualizers—video content that does not have the production of a full music video— released with each song have racked up millions of views on YouTube: “16 Carriages” has been viewed 2.25 million times and “Texas Hold ‘Em” had 2.7 million views as of Wednesday afternoon.

But despite the accolades, the songs have lagged behind in radio play—especially in country music.

As of Tuesday, only eight of the 150 stations that report to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart reported having played “Texas Hold ‘Em” in its first day—one station played it twice—and none said they had put the slower “16 Carriages” on the air.

Neither of Beyoncé’s new singles made it onto Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, with the publication reporting that “Texas Hold ‘Em” was played “over 200 times” though mostly on pop stations, while “16 Carriages” didn’t receive much air time at all.

Billboard warns that just because country music stations aren’t playing Beyonce en masse yet doesn’t mean they won’t—Columbia Records serviced “Texas Hold ‘Em” to country radio on Tuesday (meaning it was sent to stations labeled as belonging in the format), which the publication thinks could help move the needle.

Traditionally, programming directors at specific stations or radio conglomerates like iHeart Media, Cumulus Media and Townsquare Media (which together own roughly 300 country radio stations) make airplay decisions; the companies haven’t responded to a request for comment from Forbes. – Source

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