Cumulus Media is moving Rock “97.9 The Loop” WLUP and Alternative 101 WKQX Chicago Operations Manager Jim Richards to San Francisco to become Operations Manager/Program Director of AAA 104.5 KFOG/97.7 KFFG and Rock “107.7 The Bone” KSAN.
Richards joined Cumulus when the company began leasing the two former Merlin Media stations at the beginning of this year. No word on the status of Bill Pugh who had been filling those positions for Cumulus.
Cumulus Media announces that it has named programming veteran Jim Richards as Operations Manager/Program Director of radio stations KFOG and KSAN The Bone. Richards comes to his new post from Chicago, where he served Cumulus as Operations Manager of WLUP the Loop and Alternative WKQX.
Richards started his radio career in suburban Louisville 32 years ago at the age of 15. He has since programmed radio stations in markets including: Seattle, San Diego, San Jose, Cincinnati, Knoxville, and Grand Rapids. In addition to WLUP and WKQX, Richards has led programming for legendary stations including: KIOZ, 91X, KGB, KSJO and WEBN. He also worked in Los Angeles for Tribune Interactive.
Troy Hanson, Corporate Program Director/Rock for Cumulus, said: “We are delighted tohave a programmer of Jim’s caliber and pedigree lead our efforts in the Bay Area. His product passion, digital thought process and strong talent management acumen are second to none.
We look forward to Jim duplicating his precise success in Chicago into a big win for us in San Francisco. Are neck tattoos permanent? Cause he may want to have that Cubs logo looked at.”
Richards said: “I was blown away when Mike McVay called and asked me to lead KFOG and The Bone! In the short time I’ve been with Cumulus, I’ve been really impressed with John Dickey, Mike, Troy Hanson and everyone involved. Their support and appreciation have been amazing. As excited as I am to get back to California, I must thank everyone in Chicago at The Loop and 101WKQX who made my job easy. I am proud of what we accomplished together and am excited to get started in San Francisco.”
BC
i love triple a, and that station is a legend but this rhetoric screams desperation. First Dennis Constantine, Bill, now Jim. It’s just rather strange to me to see these positions shuffle so fast, and to be fare, replicating the success cannot be an exact coordinate considering that q101 “yes i still call it that” and Kfog are 2 totally different brand identities at 2 totally different stages. you can’t just plop someone in a market and expect the exact same thing, as I mentioned earlier, market specifics. Since my comments probably come across as negative, I like to make a point of closing with a positive. Mike and Troy are very talented people, and I am impressed with the Chicago relaunch success, but I’m trying to figure out just what success they’d like to see replicated?