Programmer Michael Albl EXITS iHeartMedia

Michael Albl, one of radio’s most prolific innovators, has announced he has completed 31 years with iHeartMedia and is free to help any organization seeking someone with high-level experience in strategic planning, product innovation, sophisticated marketing, research, national promotions, systems development, and cost control.

Michael Albl

Albl spent the last 13 years as VP of Programming building and managing all aspects of iHeartMedia’s Custom Programming operations, which provides daily programming to over 500 stations in 123 markets.

Albl also managed the Custom Operations Team, iHeartMedia’s first center of excellence, which he built to provide 24/7/365 programming and technical support nationwide for 1,100 iHeartMedia stations, Premiere Radio and iHeartRadio.

Albl also innovated new business best practices implemented by iHeartMedia/Clear Channel, including knowledge management, data tracking, centralized production, procurement, sales prospecting, and other initiatives that have resulted in tens of millions of dollars in cost savings over the years. And he garnered nine US patents.

In 2006, Albl created The Format Lab, which was radios first large-scale programming think tank for Clear Channel. Its 84 formats were used on hundreds of company AM, FM, HD, XM, and Stream stations. In 2009, the Format Lab split into two services, known as Premium Choice and iHeartRadio. Albl continued with the development and daily management of Premium Choice under then EVP Darren Davis.

He also conceived and managed Clear Channel’s national contesting platform. In 2000, Albl joined the Clear Channel HQ team as Vice President of Programming and the lead product strategist reporting directly to then CEO Randy Michaels and EVP Tom Owens.

In 1992, Albl transitioned from Jacor to Critical Mass Media as EVP of Marketing, where he built Nest Marketing, the most sophisticated omnichannel marketing program in radio history. And he created the ‘Listen-At-Work’ programming and marketing concepts still used by hundreds of stations today.