Entercom Unveils New Management Team

Weezie Kramer, Chief Operating Officer of Entercom Communications, has outlined the new Entercom management structure upon the closing of the $1.7B acquisition of CBS Radio. She unveiled the new chain-of-command, in a memo to employees Monday.

Weezie Kramer

Among the appointments is the unexpected appointment of longtime Chicago veteran Jimmy DeCastro as the new senior vice president and market manager of Entercom Chicago. In his new role, deCastro will oversee the top-billing all-news combo of WBBM 780 AM / 105.9 FM, as well as sports/talk WSCR 670 AM,  Top40 WBBM 96.3 FM FM, Alternative WXRT 93.1 FM, Country WUSN 99.5 FM and classic hits WJMK 104.3 FM.

He will replace Tim Pohlman.  “As is often the case, mergers bring change and opportunity,” Kramer, told staffers in the memo. “New leadership can provide a fresh perspective and help accelerate performance.

Jimmy DeCastro

Most recently DeCastro was president and GM of Tribune Broadcasting news/talk WGN 720 AM, which he left in fall 2016 to launch After The Whistle, a sports marketing company and rep firm. But deCastro is best known for his work at legendary rocker “The Loop” WLUP-FM during its ‘80s heyday and for cofounding Evergreen Media in 1988. Along with partner Scott Ginsburg, deCastro helped transform Evergreen Media into AMFM, which grew to encompass 465 radio stations.

In her memo Kramer announced all of the combined company’s market managers will carry the title of senior VP/market manager and all Entercom regional VPs will carry the president’s title.

According to RadioInk, Kramer outlined the Regional President line-up as follows:

Joining Doug Abernethy and Susan Larkin will be Dave Alpert, Mark Hannon, and Brian Purdy.

• Abernathey will become a full time Regional President, overseeing Miami, Orlando, Gainesville, Atlanta, Denver, Greensboro, Greenville, Charlotte, Houston, Austin, Richmond, and Norfolk.
• Larkin will take on the Market Manager responsibilities for Entercom San Francisco, in addition to her regional oversight of Riverside, Sacramento, and San Diego.

The two will report to Kramer.

• In addition to his Kansas City Market Manager responsibilities, Dave Alpert will oversee Madison, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Wichita. In addition to his Dallas Market Manager responsibilities, Brian Purdy will have regional oversight of Las Vegas, New Orleans, Chattanooga, and Memphis. They will report to Bob Philips, Chief Revenue Officer/Regional President, who will also oversee Baltimore, Philadelphia, Hartford, Providence, and Springfield.
• Michael Doyle, President of Sales Operations/Regional President, will have regional responsibility for Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Rochester, and Seattle.
• Mark Hannon will report to Michael Doyle, with Market Manager responsibilities for Boston and regional oversight of Buffalo, Washington DC, and Wilkes-Barre.
• Keriann Worley, CBS’s VP/Director of Sales in Miami, will move to the SVP Market Manager position in Miami, succeeding Doug Abernethy.
• Bennett Zier gains the added responsibility of managing the Richmond market as well as Norfolk and will become the SVP Market Manager Entercom Virginia.

New additions to the Entercom Management team:

Previously Entercom announced leadership changes in Portland and New Orleans, and announced Bill Ashenden and Chris Wegmann as SVP Market Managers in each city.

There will be new SVP Market Managers in Denver, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

• John Fullam will be the new Market Manager of Entercom Denver. Fullam was the Market Manager for Greater Media Philadelphia for the past 12 years. Prior to joining Greater Media, he spent a short stint as the President and COO of CBS Radio, and close to six years as SVP/Regional NYC for Clear Channel.
• Jeff Federman returns to Entercom as the new SVP Market Manager of Los Angeles. Federman was the SVP and Market Manager of CBS in Los Angeles from 2004 – 2008. He has spent the past decade in a variety of sales and digital leadership positions.
• In Chicago, the new SVP Market Manager is longtime Chicago media executive and entrepreneur Jimmy de Castro.
• Phil Zachary will assume the SVP Market Manager role in Hartford, and oversee Providence and Springfield.
• Bob Bolinger will own the SVP Market Manager responsibilities for the combined CBS/ETM stations in San Diego.
• Peter Schwartz will join the San Diego sales leadership team as a General Sales Manager.
• In Atlanta, Rick Caffey will remain as the SVP Market Manager of the combined CBS/ETM portfolio. Mike Fowler will join him as VP Sales.
• Jack Hutchison will retain the responsibilities of SVP Market Manager in Seattle.
• Lance Richard will be SVP Market Manager in Sacramento.
• Dan Kearney will take on the SVP Market Manager responsibilities of Las Vegas.