R.I.P.: Longtime Radio Consultant Ed Shane

Ed Shane

The radio inustry was shocked over the weekend with news of the death of longtime broadcast consultant Ed Shane, of Shane Media Services.

He died in hospice care of colon cancer, which was announced just last month.

Shane was CEO of Shane Media Services, the Houston-based advisory company that provides programming direction and custom research to radio stations and media outlets in virtually all formats.

He programmed radio stations in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago before moving to Houston as Station Manager of KRBE.

Later he was on the management team at News-Talk KTRH which led to assignments for dominant News and News-Talk stations, among them WBZ, WWL, WCCO, KOMO, WLAC, the WILK Network and a number of others.

Shane Media’s high profile in the Country format results in part from Ed’s long-time partner Pam Shane and her music analysis at Country stations in all market sizes.

Research about Country music in Texas led to the creation of the Texas Music Chart in 2000. The Chart quickly became the industry standard for tracking airplay of the new sounds of Texas. He launched the monthly tabloid, Best In Texas® Music Magazine in 2001. Those projects yielded popular web and video presences focused on Texas and Red Dirt (Oklahoma) music.

A product of the Journalism School at Georgia State University, Ed’s early career was as news anchor and reporter at WQXI, Atlanta, and News Director at WAKE, Atlanta.

He also authored the undergraduate textbook, Selling Electronic Media, adopted by more than 60 colleges and universities; the trade book, Disconnected America, a social commentary about the consequences of mass media; and 14 essays in The Encyclopedia of Radio.