iHeartMedia is realigning its Markets Group structure as Tom McConnell will retire as Region President after a three decade tenure at the company.
McConnell will remain in a consulting role. During his run at iHeart/Clear Channel, McConnell has run markets including Hartford CT and Springfield MA and held corporate roles as Executive Vice President of Operations for major markets, Division President, and Region President. In a staff memo, CEO Bob Pittman and President/COO/CFO Richard Bressler said, “Many of us have worked closely with Tom over the years; we truly appreciate his many contributions to our company and our communities during his wide variety of roles and we look forward to continuing our relationship going forward.”
Pittman and Bressler addressed the restructuring saying, “The media world continues to change rapidly, and we are fully committed to leading, not following — continually strengthening our position as the audio industry leader by evolving our assets and our cutting-edge technology solutions, and nimbly pivoting to meet the ever-changing needs of our marketing and advertising partners. With that in mind, we are realigning our Markets Group structure under the leadership of Hartley Adkins. The new structure, combined with an effort to move more decision-making responsibility from the center to the Division level, will ensure our organization is equipped to react quickly to customer needs – utilizing the full range of our unparalleled reach and scale and our new technology and support tools.”
As part of the restructuring the company has promoted Houston Region President Eddie Martiny to Division President overseeing Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans.
Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships John Karpinski will become Division President overseeing Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Memphis, Louisville and Lexington. He will also continue to lead the Market Tier 3 Automotive business.
Pittman and Bressler said, “With our leadership in every aspect of the audio industry, this further modernization of our organizational structure, matched with our new technology and support, positions us even more strongly to take full advantage of our unparalleled range of assets, technologies and platforms. We’re excited for this next stage of our development and growth, and we thank you all for your dedication to our shared goals and mission.”
