Best Manager Profiles

That was one of the questions we asked Chris Kampmeier, iHeartMedia's veteran programmer who's retiring New Year's Eve. In the final installment of our interview with Chris, we asked him for his thoughts on the Portable People Meter technology, whether programming a radio station is easier today than it was decades ago when he started, and the skills the program director of 2017 will need to win. Here's what he had to say...

Dan Seeman is the Vice President and Market Manager for Hubbard Radio in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. He oversees KS95, myTalk 107.1, 1500 ESPN, and the 24-station Hubbard Radio Network. Seeman has led radio stations to four NAB Crystal Awards, multiple Marconi awards, a Service To America Award, and six AWRT Gracie Awards for community service. Here's why...

Marc Kaye is the Market Manager for Hubbard Radio in Seattle. He's also been chosen as one of Radio's Best Managers for 2017 and will be featured in the October 9 issue of Radio Ink Magazine, along with a small group of radio's other top managers. Kaye runs a five-station cluster for Hubbard in Seattle, leading and managing over 100 employees.

Sarah Frazier is the Market Manager for CBS Radio in Houston. She's also one of Radio Ink’s Best Managers of 2017. And that should come as no surprise, Frazier is consistently one of The Most Influential Women in Radio and on our Best Managers list. Frazier has been in radio since college, when she worked as the sales manager, traffic manager, and operations manager at KJHK at the University of Kansas.

Kurt Luchs is the Market Manager for NRG Media in Wausau-Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He's also been chosen as one of Radio Ink's Best Managers for 2017 and will be featured in the October 9 issue of Radio Ink Magazine. Luchs is responsible for four NRG FMs in his cluster and he leads about 30 NRG employees. During the nomination process, here's what one of those employees said about him, and it's what every manager hopes for. 

Alex Cadelago is the Market Manager for Cumulus Media in Houston. Last month in Orlando, Alex won Radio Ink's Radio Wayne Award for Market Manager of the Year. Cumulus VP Dan Bennett is Alex' supervisor. “What makes Alex Cadelago a great leader is first and foremost his character. He is honest and trustworthy and people want to follow people like him."

Eric Mastel is the Market Manager for Cumulus in Savannah. He's also one of Radio Ink's Best Managers for 2017. Mastel got his first job in radio as an AE, got handed the phone book and some cassettes called, “tiger tapes”, 33 years ago. His first managers position was GSM for WKFM in Syracuse in 1987.

CBS Radio DFW is having one of its best years ever, with both ratings and revenue up nicely. At the helm is Market Manager Brian Purdy. According to people who work for him, Brian is more than a numbers manager, he truly cares about his employees. One of the ways he keeps his team motivated is by holding breakfasts or happy hours where the staff celebrates its "Rockstar of the Month."

As part of our series spotlighting Radio Wayne finalists, we turn to the Sales Manager category today. Michael Tedesco fell in love with radio listening to the Real Don Steele on KHJ-AM in Southern California. Today he's helping make WAWZ-FM in New Jersey a financial powerhouse as sales manager.

Phil Zachary started his radio career on the air at WAAF in Boston. His 40-year journey in radio included positions as Program Director, Sales Manager, National Sales Manager, and GM/Market Manager. He took over the Entercom New England cluster in October 2013. And, according to one employee we spoke to, Zachary has led the group to become one of the most desired clusters to work for in New England. Ratings are up across the brands, and revenue continues to climb. Phil Zachary will appear on Radio Ink's Best Manager's in Radio list set to be released on October 24. Let's find out how and why he's been so successful.