Veteran Media Executive Bob McCurdy has announced his retirement as Vice President of Corporate Sales at Beasley Media Group. McCurdy has been writing a weekly Monday morning sales column for Radioink.com that he will continue to write.
In announcing his retirement to the radio world, McCurdy said his 45 years in the radio business have been glorious. “I am retiring to focus on my health.” Bob has been has been battling a serious medical issue over the past two years.
Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley said “Bob’s thoughtful insight, professional wisdom and unlimited dedication have been truly instrumental to our company’s success since joining BMG back in June of 2016. He has been a trusted confidant, a valued advisor and an incredible ambassador on behalf of our organization and the radio industry. It has been an absolute privilege to have him on our team.”
McCurdy added: “Bruce (Beasley), Brian (Beasley) and Caroline (Beasley) have been amazing throughout this entire ordeal and I will be forever grateful. Beasley is a great company. I have loved working with everyone and want you to know that you have made the past five years of my career extremely rewarding and satisfying. Good luck, be the best and continue to hustle!”
McCurdy began his professional career selling radio locally in Richmond, Virginia, before moving on to working in sales and management in Indianapolis, Indiana. The media veteran eventually joined Katz Radio, where he held sales and management positions in Chicago, Minneapolis, and New York. Mr. McCurdy was named President of the company in 1990 and went on to become President of Sentry Radio under the Katz Radio Group umbrella, before being named Regional President for Clear Channel Radio Sales upon Clear Channel’s purchase of the Katz Media Group. In 2009, he became the President of Katz Marketing Solutions, a division of the Katz Radio Group.
McCurdy served as a consultant for Beasley Media Group and Alpha Broadcasting from 2014-2016. He was named Vice President of Corporate Sales for the Beasley Media Group in 2016.
Sending Virtual Hugs, Prayers & Love to Our Special Friend & Hero. Thank God you’re still going to writing McCurdy-ISMS For RadioInk during these Unsettling Times.
I’m sorry to hear of Bob’s health issues and sorry to hear of his retirement but I’m very happy he will continue to write for Radio Ink. I’m 63 years old and I learn something from Bob almost every time he writes and article. He or his articles have been the subject of many sales meetings. This industry is much better for Bob generously giving his knowledge to all. Thanks Bob and I wish you good health. Doug Wilber WOBL/WDLW Radio.
Bob is a class act. All the points Dave Dillon made in his post regarding why Bob was a success is spot on. I’m now retired myself but I am thankful for the opportunity to have had the chance for Bob to speak to my Sales team when I was in Amarillo. Take care Bob, God Bless.
I’m saddened to learn that Bob’s health has prompted him to retire and I sincerely wish him a complete and expedient recovery. It’s impossible to summarize his contribution to the radio industry in this comment section and do it any justice. The guy always managed from the front lines, in the trenches, leading by example to be every client’s most trusted resource of honest, useful information to make high quality marketing decisions. Plenty of sellers and managers think that’s exactly what they’re doing right now, but few ever reach the full potential of what that mindset can deliver. Bob is a genuine master at it. It earned him the deep respect of his sales teams and his clients—and Bob built a lot of sales teams and served a lot of clients over the years. It’s no coincidence that his clients were genuinely more successful by working with him. His sales teams were too. Many of his “sellers” went on to run radio sales divisions, run radio stations, run entire media companies and generally run the score up in whatever path they chose. The Fortune 500 is peppered with esteemed executives who were once on Bob’s team. Why? Because Bob didn’t teach “closing techniques” or “selling gimmicks” or pass out ridiculous, unattainable sales goals. He taught how to become indispensable to the client by empowering them to succeed. When you can do that, there’s pretty much nothing you can’t do…in any industry on the planet.
Bob, thank you for your dedication to common sense and sound reasoning. Your voice is an encouraging, calming and focusing presence in our hyper-communicated, media-saturated, focus-fractured, attention-deficit-disordered world.
My prayers for your health (Isaiah 41:10, James 5:14,15); and may your continued contributions in Radio Ink continue to open up existing and new ways of thinking to help our industry better serve our advertisers, for the greater profitability of all.
As a voice of reason and sound, critical thinking, Bob has few if any peers.
I sincerely hope Bob prevails with his medical challenges while forging new sabres for his campaign to improve radio’s lot.