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Clear Channel Radio Secures Top Programming Talent to Long-Term Contracts; Expanded Roles for Four

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 October 2008, 15:00 CDT

Clear Channel Radio moved to further lock in its executive and senior talent today, announcing long-term contracts with its senior programming team: Alfredo Alonso, Darren Davis, Clay Hunnicutt, Phil Hunt, Tom Owens, Tom Poleman, Gene Romano and Alan Sledge. In addition, the company promoted Davis, Hunnicutt, Hunt and Poleman to positions that expand each programmer's role.

"Unique, innovative programming engages our audience and creates long-term loyalty to our station brands and this team is the best in the business," said John Hogan, President and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. "We continue to push the envelope in AM/FM, on-demand, mobile and online content and take an expanded view of radio's audience. This is the team that will lead us into radio's programming future."

The announcement comes in the wake of the signings of Clear Channel Radio president and CEO John Hogan and the entire executive management team.

AM/FM radio now attracts a listening audience of 235 million per week, according to new research from RADAR.

EVPs lead cross-platform programming efforts

Tom Owens, EVP of Content Development, oversees the acquisition and deployment of talent and other content services, such as the launches of Steve Harvey, Ryan Seacrest, and Sean Hannity. Additionally, he has supervised the rollout of HD Radio programming, including the co-development of the Clear Channel Format Lab, which created more than 75 original formats and supplied programming to more than 300 HD Radio multicast channels, numerous terrestrial signals, and Sprint mSpot wireless phones. Owens also oversees Clear Channel Radio's research units - Critical Mass Media and Broadcast Architecture - along with the Hispanic programming division. He was recently honored as Radio & Records Radio Executive of the Year.

Recently promoted to Executive Vice President of Programming, Gene Romano oversees the west major markets and helps coordinate company wide programming initiatives such as recruiting and developing top talent in programming. Romano will work directly with programming teams in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, and Minneapolis, among others. Previously serving as SVP of Programming, he developed an overall programming strategy in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, DC and Atlanta, and also created tools and systems as resources for local programming teams.

Contract expansions & four promoted to regional positions

Alfredo Alonso joined Clear Channel Radio in 2004 and currently serves as Senior Vice President, Hispanic Radio. He is responsible for leading the Spanish-language programming initiatives, including expanding the availability of Spanish-language programming into markets of all sizes.

For mid-major markets, Darren Davis is promoted to SVP of Programming for the North, South and West, guiding programmers at 148 stations across 25 markets. Davis previously served as Regional Vice President of Programming for Clear Channel Chicago and formerly held cluster programming roles in Houston and Detroit.

Also getting upped, Clay Hunnicutt serves both as SVP of Programming for the eastern region, and also Vice President of Country Programming. Within his 20-year radio career, Hunnicutt most recently served as Director of Programming for the Atlanta six station clusters, and Regional Vice President of Programming in the southeast. He was also program director for US-101/Chattanooga, the nine-time Country Music Association Radio Station of the Year.

Phil Hunt is promoted to SVP of Programming for the northeast and central regions, guiding 40 markets. Previously, he served as Regional Vice President of Programming in Little Rock, where he was responsible for strategic initiatives and programming for 19 markets of all sizes.

Expanding his role from SVP of Programming and Marketing for six major stations in New York, including Z100 (the most listened to station in the U.S.) and WKTU, Tom Poleman has been upped to SVP of Programming for Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York. He will guide programmers while continuing to serve as Operations Manager for the Clear Channel New York cluster. In the September 2008 PPM book, he helped lead the Clear Channel New York stations to become #1 through #4 among persons aged 25-54, and #1 and #2 among persons aged 18-34.

Hunnicutt and Poleman both cover the east major markets.

SVP Alan Sledge takes responsibility for markets in the South and West Regions. He has successfully created programming for radio stations in Chicago, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Detroit and, recently, helped launch and expand the popular Phoenix-based Johnjay and Rich in the Morning show to Portland, Oregon and Colorado Springs.

The promotions are effective immediately.

About Clear Channel Radio

Clear Channel Radio is a leading radio company focused on serving local communities across the U.S. with more than 110 million listeners choosing Clear Channel Radio programming each week. The company's content can be heard on AM/FM stations, HD digital radio channels, on the Internet, via iPods and cell phones and used via navigation systems from BMW, Volvo, TomTom, Garmin and others. The company's operations include radio broadcasting, syndication and independent media representation. Clear Channel Radio is a division of Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (OTCBB:CCMO), a leading global media and entertainment company. More information on the company can be found at www.clearchannel.com.

Source: Business Wire

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