Cincy Radio: Broadcasting Vet Dave Crowl To Retire

Longtime radio broadcasting executive and industry leader Dave Crowl, Regional Vice President and Market Manager-Cumulus Cincinnati, has announced his retirement after a successful 44-year career. Crowl will depart at the end of the year. 

Dave Crowl

During his career, Crowl was responsible for the operation of radio station groups in 147 markets, ranging in size from Chicago, IL, to Hillsboro, OH. A native of Dayton, OH, he began his esteemed career in 1977 as Account Executive at WLVQ-FM in Columbus, OH, after earning a B.S. degree in Journalism from Bowling Green State University. 18 months later, he was promoted to WLVQ Sales Manager and in 1979, he rose to WLVQ General Manager at age 25. In 1984, Crowl’s career took him to Portland, OR, where he was Vice President and General Manager of KKRZ, changing the station’s format from Soft C to Top 40/CHR and attaining a #2 market rank for the station in less than a year. He then headed to Milwaukee, WI, as Vice President/General Manager of WLZR-FM, flipping the station from Country to Album Rock in 1987 and debuting The Bob and Brian Show, which continues to be the #1 morning show in Milwaukee. Crowl’s career continued to ascend, and in 1991, he became President of Great American Broadcasting’s Radio Division, and then President of Jacor Communication’s Radio Division after the company’s (then Citicasters) acquisition by Jacor. In 2000, he was appointed Senior Vice President of Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia), before joining CUMULUS MEDIA in 2012 as Regional Vice President and Market Manager for Cumulus Cincinnati. Crowl was also Acting General Manager of Cumulus Indianapolis from 2014-2016.

A deeply committed media professional, Crowl served the radio industry as a member of the Radio Advertising Bureau’s Board of Directors from 1991-2006, leading the Board as Chairman from 2001-2003. He was also a member of the Ad Council’s Board of Directors from 2000-2002. He served the University of Cincinnati School of Media as a member of its Advisory Council from 1998-2010.

Crowl commented: “A 44-year career in radio would have been challenging to achieve without the support of my family, mentors, colleagues and friends who constantly inspired me. More importantly, I could not have arrived at this moment without the foundation of all the many dynamic general managers and their market teams who delivered compelling audio content to their listeners, communities and advertisers every day 24-7.”

He noted: “No matter the market size, I have had the good fortune of working with the very best program directors, local personalities, news people, sales managers and account executives in radio. In addition, no success ever occurred without the dedicated efforts of so many chief engineers, accounting teams, promotions people and traffic continuity managers. I am indebted and deeply grateful to you all. And to all of my national sales partners at Eastman and Katz over the years, thank you for your excellence. I also want to thank Mary Berner, Dave Milner and everyone at Cumulus for their tremendous support of the Cincinnati operating cluster these last several years. Finally, to my entire team at Cumulus Cincinnati, I will always cherish your good work and all of our accomplishments.”

Mary Berner, President and CEO, CUMULUS MEDIA, said: “Dave Crowl has distinguished himself as one of the most respected leaders in radio, dedicating the last 44 years to making radio the best it could be for the many communities he has served so well. In the process, he has lifted up our industry and the people in it, always treating others with respect, dignity and understanding. He will be greatly missed, and we wish him all good things in his retirement.”

Dave Milner, EVP, Operations, CUMULUS MEDIA, remarked: “I’ve had the good fortune of working with Dave multiple times throughout my career, and not only is he one of the most successful and passionate leaders in radio, he retires having helped so many others thrive. I’m excited for Dave and wish him much happiness as he enters this new chapter in his life.”

Crowl is a second-generation radio broadcaster. His father, H.K. ”Bud” Crowl owned radio stations WAVI and WDAO in Dayton, OH, for 30 years.