June 20, 2011
Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey says of Jerry Lee: "?I?ve always admired Jerry for his unwavering commitment to R&D. He has consistently been an innovator in our industry and has demonstrated against the odds, that a well-run stand-alone operation can be competitive against the industry?s largest operators.? Radio Ink has named Jerry Lee the 2011 recipient of the Lifetime Leadership award. Radio Ink publisher Eric Rhoads said "Jerry Lee is always ahead of the pack in his thinking. He is admired by many in our industry and we are proud to select him for this award." Lee has been a part of radio for over five decades. He will receive the award at Forecast 2012 which will be held in New York City on December 6th.
Jerry Lee needs very little introduction. He began his radio career in 1961. Today, he's part of a small fraternity of
independent operators. He owns WBEB-FM in Philadelphia. Lee is a consistent leader in revenue and ratings in the number eight market, giving his competition fits with the amount of money he spends on marketing and researching his station. And, he attributes a lot of his success at WBEB to the money he spends on marketing and promoting the station. "You could sum it up in a word: research. We do more research than any station in the country. We probably do more research than all of the radio stations in Philadelphia, combined."
Lee now dedicates a lot of his time, and money, on projects outside of radio. These days, Lee is passionate about changing the way government operates. He does a lot of work trying to put an end to poverty and working with the Office of Management and Budget to reform government, in addition to his criminology work that everyone has heard him speak about.
Robert Shea was a colleague of Lee's at the Office of Management and Budget in Washington. Lee is the founding funder of the Coalition for Evidence-based Policy in Washington. Shea said the following about Lee: "Jerry is energetic and optimistic ? a delight to work with. He is a problem solver. One doesn?t often find private sector benefactors with an interest in things like program evaluation. But he?s committed to it, because he knows in order to fix things, government must identify what works. Jerry has invested his time, energy, and money in changing the government?s policy regarding program evaluation. Today, in part because of Jerry?s leadership, the government is taking a long, hard look at its programs and investing in programs that have been proved to work. I?ve learned a lot from Jerry and am proud to have worked with him while I was in government."
Check out our feature on Jerry Lee in the July 11th issue of Radio Ink. Jerry discusses consolidation, his thoughts on the Internet, why he never grew his company and much much more.
Congratulate Jerry at Jerry Lee JerryL@101-fm.com or leave a comment below
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