Interviews

Jay Michaels is the Program Director for CBS Radio's JACK-FM (KJKK-FM) in Dallas. This 18-year PD has a radio career spanning 25 years and he is, of course, on Radio Ink’s 2017 Best PDs in America list, which is out now. Here is our extended interview with one of Radio's Best PDs...Jay Michaels

In 2017, not only is Radio Ink celebrating its 25th birthday, our Radio Wayne Awards also turn 25. The Radio Wayne Awards recognize outstanding performance in radio leadership, management, and sales. In 1994, Skip Finley won the Radio Wayne for Broadcaster of the Year and we recently caught up with Finley to discuss the award he won and what he's working on.

Jeff Catlin is the Program Director for Cumulus Media's KTCK FM/AM The Ticket and KESN FM ESPN Radio 103.3 in Dallas. The 17-year PD has a radio career spanning 25 years and he is, of course, on Radio Ink's 2017 Best PDs in America list which comes out in four days. Here's what one of Cumulus' Dallas salespeople said about Jeff...

Bruce Demps started his radio career in sales with WIVY Y103 in Jacksonville back in 1983, when it was one of four stations in the market owned by Infinity Broadcasting. He went on to work for Clear Channel and Radio One, among other companies. He told us about his long and winding road through the radio industry and beyond, and we wanted to share his story with you because we know so many of you can relate.

Keith Cunningham is the Program Director at Cumulus' 95/5 KLOS in Los Angeles. He's been a successful PD for two decades, building up quite a resume at some of the country's biggest brands including WXRK K-ROCK in New York, WKQX Q101 in Chicago, KSJO The Rock in San Francisco, WMMR in Philadelphia and WBOS in Boston, among many others.

Sue Wilson is the Vice President of Operations for Rubber City Radio in Akron. She has 36 years in the business, 30 of them as a programmer. Today Sue oversees the operations of Classic Rock WONE, News/Talk WAKR, Smooth Jazz WNWV and Country WQMX and programs WQMX. Her GM Thom Mandel tells Radio Ink, "Sue is an amazing leader who just keeps getting better. She hasn't just made us a great Country station. She has made us a great RADIO station."

Keith Hastings is the Director of Branding & Programming for Cox Media Group's KISS-FM and KTKX-FM in San Antonio, and he's CMG's Rock and Classic Rock Format Leader. He's been in radio for 40 years and 31 as a programmer. On May 8, Hastings will be featured in Radio Ink Magazine as one of Radio’s Best Program Directors in America. Here's why...

Leslie Whittles' job for Cumulus in Houston is to grow the KRBE product and brand with a focus on how the station can best serve the community. That, of course, includes all facets of what comes out of the speakers as well as the overall image of the station. The most important part of her responsibility is to make sure her entire team understands and is focused on the goals.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that's been in radio for longer than a month that Mary Quass was voted one of radio's 20 best leaders. She's respected by every executive in the industry and loved by her employees, as we found out during the voting. Our Top 20 Leaders list is out this week and the NRG CEO did pretty well this year. Here are just some of the comments we received from the people Quass leads...

(By Kelly Orchard) Congratulations, you’ve been named a market manager! Now what? You have a choice to make, right now. Do you want to be recognized and remembered by your team as the best manager they ever worked for — or the worst?