Following the promotion of Nicky Sparrow last week, iHeartMedia is filling its Jacksonville FL leadership role by merging the market into its North Florida region with Tallahassee and Panama City.
Paul Rogers, who has led those two markets as Area President since 2017, has been elevated to Area President for North Florida giving him oversight of all three markets. Rogers has been with iHeartMedia/Clear Channel since 1999, serving as Jacksonville based Director of Cross-Platform Sale and Vice President of Strategic Partnerships before rising to Region President in 2017.
Rogers’ broadcast sales career dates back to the early 1980s at WLAK Chicago before moving to Jacksonville in 1983 with nine years in multiple roles at WCRJ/WROO, then moved to Prism Radio Partners as General Sales Manager before moving to the same role at their Tucson AZ stations. He then worked as a Senior Account Executive at WJXT-TV Jacksonville before joining Clear Channel in 1999.
iHeartMedia announced today that Paul Rogers has been elevated to Area President for North Florida, including Jacksonville, effective immediately. iHeartMedia Jacksonville has a strong cross-platform presence and includes a number of iconic brands and franchises — both broadcast and digital — encompassing eight stations comprised of music formats in both English and Spanish.
iHeartMedia has the leading consumer reach and influence across multiple platforms and delivers more live programming than any other media company. As Area President, Rogers will be responsible for overseeing the newly configured North Florida Area, including Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Panama City. Rogers will report to Linda Byrd, Division President for iHeartMedia. He will succeed Nicky Sparrow, who was recently named the Senior Vice President of Multicultural Sales for iHeartMedia Markets Group.
“I’ve worked with Paul for over 35 years, in many different roles,” said Byrd. “His integrity, judgment, professionalism and competitiveness are what any manager would look for in a market leader. He is the perfect choice as a successor, and I have no doubt that he will take this area to the next level. I also want to thank Nicky for the great work she has done in getting Jacksonville to where we are today and congratulate her on this exciting new opportunity to expand her role in iHeartMedia.”
Rogers has been Market President for Tallahassee and Panama City since 2017, and before that served in multiple local, statewide and national roles for iHeartMedia while based in Jacksonville for 18 years. He began his career at WLAK-FM in Chicago and is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
“I am beyond excited by this new challenge and to be given the opportunity to finally lead the Jacksonville market where I have spent so much of my career and where I still have family, many dear friends, teammates and customers,” Rogers said. “We have a strong and diverse staff, and so many of iHeartMedia’s leaders and many of our industry’s greatest air personalities have come from this area. But mostly, it’s a chance to once again work with Linda Byrd, who’s been my mentor for my entire career.”