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I spent the two week holiday scene in Atlanta visiting
family and friends. As many of you may recall for over two
decades we had a consultation company (Burkhart, Abrams,
Douglas, etc) that had its headquarters in Atlanta. Prior to
that I was a GM in Atlanta.
I had the opportunity to watch Atlanta grow from a small
southern city into the giant it is now.
During the Atlanta population growth I also had the
opportunity to observe the workings and growth of Atlanta
radio. I know because I WAS THERE. During my recent stay I
had a chance to think back about the radio progress of
Atlanta…and its radio groups who are headquartered there.
Atlanta MUST BE the radio group capitol of the US the way I
have it figured. Perhaps you will agree after reading the
following.
According to history the first Atlanta based broadcast group
(major cities) was the Robert Rounsaville Group in the late
40’s, 50’s and early 60’s. They owned popular WQXI in
Atlanta, and also WFUN in Miami, and an FM in Orlando. The
group’s national program director was Joyce Monroe. This was
one of the first independent radio groups (non-network) in
the country.
Somewhere down the line…. Jefferson-Pilot moved its radio
headquarters from Charlotte to Atlanta. The current
President of Jefferson-Pilot Radio is Don Benson…who I know
very well because he worked for our aforementioned Atlanta
consulting company for a decade. Don is a very smart
broadcaster who understands programming very well…take it
from me. This super chain has done just about every thing
right…with terrific people, promotion and programming.
Also Cox radio is headquartered in Atlanta. Bob Neil is
President of their radio division, and in my opinion he is
one of the best programmers in the US. All of the Cox
stations have his personal stamp of greatness and approval.
When you listen to a Cox station you will know it is well
thought out, researched, and programmed. Super stuff!!!
Cumulus is also headquartered in Atlanta. John Dickey runs
the programming area. And I am proud to say that two former
employees of
our consulting company…Val Garris and Jan Jeffries…are
involved in programming a great number of the Cumulus
stations from the Cumulus headquarters in Atlanta. I watched
both of them grow in our consulting company, and I know how
good they are.
Radio One also has its COO, Mary Catherine Sneed,
headquartered in Atlanta. She has excellent programming
credentials and at one time worked for Cox as an employee
and as a consultant. I have never known a person who cared
as much about her company, employees and listeners as MCS.
She is a tireless worker, and has a lot of frequent flyer
miles I can assure you. I see her at airports from time to
time.
What is fun for me is that I know all the people mentioned
above…I count them all as people I like a lot!!!
Taking a birds eye view of these OUTSTANDING Atlanta radio
groups…isn’t it amazing and proper…that these chief
executives have NO-KIDDING programming credentials. They
know what our listeners demand. That is as it should be.
After all, our audience comes first.
Now, that I think about it ….is there any other city in the
US that has four major radio group companies??? I don’t
think so.
Therefore, I pronounce ATLANTA: THE RADIO GROUP CAPITOL OF
THE US!!!! And all the companies above are dedicated to
producing the best possible programming for their many
stations!!! Congratulations for not cutting corners, guys
and gal!!!!! A job well done!!!!
e-mail Kent
kent@kentburkhart.com
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