Radio DJs who went into ownership?

[HLeae]

Are there quite a many other radio DJs, such as Clark Reid and Bob Anthony, who end up owning radio stations?

 

[DavidEduardo]

Are there quite a many other radio DJs, such as Clark Reid and Bob Anthony, who end up owning radio stations?

Osvaldo Vega, former morning partner at WAMR from 1995 until quite recently, owns several stations in Central Florida.

Tom Birch, formerly with stations like WQAM and then owner of Birch ratings, owns stations in the Carolinas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-birch-615b124/

 

[radio128]

JJ Jeffrey on air at WRKO, WFIL, and WLS in the 1970s is presently the owner of three stations in Portland, ME.

 

[michael hagerty]

Since this is in the L.A. forum, off the top of my head:

Roger Carroll (KABC, KMPC, off-camera voice for The Smothers Brothers and other TV shows) bought a station in Dallas, Oregon in the early 80s.

Jay Stevens/Steve Jay (KRLA, KIIS-AM, KROQ, KKDJ, KEZY, KRTH) owned at least a couple of stations, and had 49% ownership in one I was working at at the time (KIOQ-FM, Bishop 1975-76).

Tom Yates (KLOS, KWST, KLSX) has been co-owner of KOZT, Fort Bragg since 1990.

 

[radiofan2023]

Darrell Wayne (Wampler) formerly on air & PD at KROQ, owned KTHO in Lake Tahoe.

 

[Yabadabado1]

A now-retired former big shot DJ who made a LOT of money from his radio days was asked we he never got into station ownership and his response was "Because I'm not insane. I plan to keep most of the money I made, not throw it away on what may turn out to be a giant pain-in-my-ass."

 

[Kemosabe]

In the late '70s, Bruce Morrow formed a partnership with Robert F. X. Sillerman. The Sillerman-Morrow Broadcasting Group purchased eight radio stations and a television station.

Read the June 1, 1994 Radio World article at DavidEduardo's World Radio History site: Cousin Brucie Is Radio Entrepreneur

 

[kevtronics]

I was going to mention when Cousin Brucie owned 1510 WRAN. It was technically New Jersey's most powerful AM radio station -- except it was high on the band and tightly directional, so the actual coverage wasn't very good. Plus its equipment was outdated and in poor condition; he blamed the previous owners for selling him a dump. He sold it after a few years, and then a few years after that it went dark, and a fire destroyed what was left of the station.

 

[gr8oldies]

I was going to mention when Cousin Brucie owned 1510 WRAN. It was technically New Jersey's most powerful AM radio station -- except it was high on the band and tightly directional, so the actual coverage wasn't very good. Plus its equipment was outdated and in poor condition; he blamed the previous owners for selling him a dump. He sold it after a few years, and then a few years after that it went dark, and a fire destroyed what was left of the station.

I seem to remember Sillerman-Morrow plan being to "ring" NYC with rimshots.

 

[kevtronics]

And there's clearly some ex-New York City radio buff owning the station on 1450 kHz in Milford, PA (near the northwestern tip of NJ and Port Jervis, NY). Since it went on the air it's had the call letters WQCD, WDRE, and now WYNY -- all of which should be familiar to NYC-area listeners. And it currently has an AC format named "Lite" with an FM translator one channel above NYC's 106.7 "Lite FM".

 

[RadioGuy1864]

Bruce Williams from the TalkNet days bought several stations, starting with one in Longview Texas. He seemed to do well with them.

 

[gr8oldies]

A guy named Mike Beverly jocked and was production director for South Central (then Midwest) in Knoxville, TN and simultaneously owned a few surrounding small stations.