Few people in the history of American radio journalism can claim a career as long, as consequential, or as decorated as Harvey Nagler. As such, Radio Ink is proud to name the former CBS News Radio GM as the recipient of our 2026 Lifetime Leadership Award.
Nagler’s career in radio spans six decades, beginning in 1966 as a reporter for WCTC-AM in New Brunswick, NJ. From there, he joined ABC Radio Networks, where he served in a variety of roles from 1968 to 1979, before moving to what was then RKO Radio Networks as director of news operations. When the network evolved into United Stations Radio Networks, Nagler rose to Vice President of News and Sports, overseeing a news operation that grew to serve 500 affiliates.
In 1987, he joined WCBS Newsradio 880 in New York as director of news and programming, a position he held for a decade. During that tenure, the station achieved record ratings and earned numerous national and local honors, with Nagler credited for developing practices like “traffic and weather together on the eights” and “guaranteed weather” that were subsequently adopted by stations across the country.
In 1998, Nagler was named Vice President of Radio at CBS News, taking the helm of one of broadcast journalism’s most storied franchises. Under his leadership, CBS News Radio won the RTDNA’s Edward R. Murrow Overall Excellence Award for seven consecutive years. He retired from CBS in January 2017.
Beyond his work at CBS, Nagler was a dedicated servant of the broader broadcast journalism community. He served on the board of the Radio Television Digital News Association and was honored with the organization’s John F. Hogan Distinguished Service Award and its Barney Oldfield Award for outstanding contributions to the RTDNA Foundation. In 2010, he received the Radio Television Digital News Foundation’s First Amendment Service Award.
Radio Ink President and Publisher Deborah Parenti said, “Harvey Nagler is a consummate professional whose career accomplishments are reflected in the numerous and prestigious awards he and his team amassed in the 18 years he spent at the helm of CBS News Radio. But more than that, it has been his caring nature and career nurturing of the many who have had the enormous fortune to work with and under his direction. That’s the mark of a lifetime of achievement, and we are honored to be able to celebrate him as this year’s Radio Ink Lifetime Leadership recipient.”
Nagler joins a distinguished list of previous Lifetime Leadership Award recipients that includes Jeff Smulyan, Gordon Smith, and Randy Michaels.
Radio Ink will feature Nagler in a special interview in the July issue alongside the annual 40 Most Powerful People in Radio list. He will be formally presented with the award at Forecast 2027 in New York City this November.
