Charlotte Radio: RIP..Danny Fontana Personality, Station Owner

Danny Fontana

Danny Fontana, who bridged the worlds of broadcasting and finance in Charlotte for three decades, died suddenly at home Friday night.

He was 65-years-of-age according to The Charlotte Observer.

Fontana had just returned with his wife, Mary, after an evening out. She found him dead in his study, according to family members.

Fontana was a bold risk-taker whose ventures sometimes wound up in bankruptcy court.

In 1985, his chain of 19 shoe stores went belly up. He had guaranteed the loans personally.

He turned his interest in the stock market into a job as a broker and earned the money to pay back his debt. It was the beginning of the bull market and a ride to riches.

In 1991, he started doing economic commentary on WBT 1110 AM. In 1995, the station gave him an afternoon show that lasted until 1999. In 2000, he joined host Al Gardner on WBT’s “Charlotte Morning News” and had the ear of Charlotte’s mover-and-shaker crowd.

After the broadcast, he would head to his day job, running Wachovia Securities’ uptown brokerage office.

In 2005, Fontana bought WDYT-AM through his CRN Communications Ltd. and turned it into a talk radio station. But when the economy soured during the recession, the station lost money and closed in 2009.