When Dave Crowl leaves the radio industry at the end of 2020, it will be after logging in 44 years. Crowl’s final stop was as Market Manager for Cumulus in Cincinnati.
During his career, Crowl was responsible for the operation of radio station groups in 147 markets, ranging in size from Chicago to Hillsboro, OH.
A native of Dayton, OH, he began his career in 1977 as Account Executive at WLVQ-FM in Columbus. 18 months later, he was promoted to WLVQ Sales Manager and in 1979, he rose to WLVQ General Manager at age 25.
In 1984, Crowl’s career took him to Portland, OR, where he was Vice President and General Manager of KKRZ. He then headed to Milwaukee as General Manager of WLZR-FM.
In 1991, Crowl became President of Great American Broadcasting’s Radio Division, and then President of Jacor Communication’s Radio Division after the company’s (then Citicasters) acquisition by Jacor.
In 2000, he was appointed Senior Vice President of Clear Channel Communications, before joining Cumulus in 2012 as Regional Vice President and Market Manager for Cincinnati. Crowl was also Acting General Manager of Cumulus Indianapolis from 2014-2016.
Crowl said, “A 44-year career in radio would have been challenging to achieve without the support of my family, mentors, colleagues and friends who constantly inspired me. More importantly, I could not have arrived at this moment without the foundation of all the many dynamic general managers and their market teams who delivered compelling audio content to their listeners, communities and advertisers every day 24-7.”
Crowl went on to say, “No matter the market size, I have had the good fortune of working with the very best program directors, local personalities, news people, sales managers and account executives in radio. In addition, no success ever occurred without the dedicated efforts of so many chief engineers, accounting teams, promotions people and traffic continuity managers. I am indebted and deeply grateful to you all. And to all of my national sales partners at Eastman and Katz over the years, thank you for your excellence. I also want to thank Mary Berner, Dave Milner and everyone at Cumulus for their tremendous support of the Cincinnati operating cluster these last several years. Finally, to my entire team at Cumulus Cincinnati, I will always cherish your good work and all of our accomplishments.”
Cumulus CEO Mary Berner said, “Dave Crowl has distinguished himself as one of the most respected leaders in radio, dedicating the last 44 years to making radio the best it could be for the many communities he has served so well. In the process, he has lifted up our industry and the people in it, always treating others with respect, dignity and understanding. He will be greatly missed, and we wish him all good things in his retirement.”
Crowl is a second-generation radio broadcaster. His father, H.K. ”Bud” Crowl owned radio stations WAVI and WDAO in Dayton, OH, for 30 years.
Great broadcaster. Enjoy!!
Well done, Dave!! Congrats on a great career. Enjoy the time.
Dave, What a career! He made an impact on me. He is truly of the best in our industry. A Leader who impacted so many people.
Best,
Lisa Thal
Wow! I had the pleasure working with Dave as his assigned attorney while I was at Cumulus. I learned so much from him. Many congrats to him. Truly one of the best.
A Good Man.