9-25-2012
Radio Ink's 10th annual Forecast summit proudly presents "Radio Group Heads: Leadership Speak-Out." An annual summit highlight, this powerful panel features the leaders of the largest and most influential radio groups, speaking openly about the critical issues featuring the industry today. In Forecast tradition, no reporters are allowed. This conversation, moderated this year by Emmy-winning journalist Rita Cosby, is for the ears of Forecast attendees only.
A highly respected journalist with years of interviewing experience, Cosby can be expected to pose frank questions and provoke equally frank answers from the industry?s heavyweights about their businesses, their predictions, their concerns, what they are optimistic about, and their visions for radio in 2013 and beyond. This panel is historically conversational, candid, and occasionally heated.
"Each year the group heads step up to the plate for an industry dialogue," Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads said. "This year, with Rita Cosby moderating, we should see a whole new level of intrigue." Forecast 2013 is set for November 28, 2012 (the week after Thanksgiving) at the Harvard Club in New York.
Rita Cosby is an Emmy-winning TV host, veteran correspondent, and best-selling author who anchored highly rated prime time shows on Fox News Channel and NBC. She is currently a special correspondent for the top-rated CBS syndicated newsmagazine Inside Edition and recently hosted WOR's nationally syndicated Rita Cosby Show.
Radio Ink EVP/Radio Deborah Parenti said, "We are especially pleased to have a journalist of the caliber of Rita Cosby lead this year's group heads' super session. With the election in the rearview mirror by the time Forecast convenes, this will be the first focused opportunity to hear from the industry's joint leadership on where they see business heading over the next four years."
Industry leaders confirmed as of today:
Lew Dickey is Chairman and CEO of Cumulus Media, the second-largest radio group in station count, a revenue leader, and a company with ever-growing industry influence. Cumulus Media Networks, meanwhile, serves more than 4,500 affiliate stations nationwide. Dickey co-founded Cumulus in 1997, and earlier founded Stratford Research; his background in research and statistics remains evident in his management style today.
David Field serves as President and CEO of Entercom Communications, which owns and operates more than 100 radio stations, including newest acquisition KBLX-FM/San Francisco. Field has been with Entercom since 1987 and became CEO in 2002, and he's known as an active and high-profile advocate on a range of industry issues.
John Hogan, longtime president and CEO of Clear Channel Media + Entertainment, added the title of Chairman earlier this year. He's been with the company since 1999, when CC purchased Jacor, and now manages more than 800 stations and the top revenue generator in the radio industry. Under Hogan's auspices, Clear Channel's iHeartRadio platform is growing fast and attracting partners like Cumulus Media.
Jeff Smulyan, founder and Chairman/CEO of Emmis Communications, wields outsize influence in the radio industry as a respected industry spokesman, most recently as an advocate for FM chips in cellphones, urging their importance as a matter of public safety. After operating WNTS in Indianapolis and KCRO in Omaha, Smulyan formed and became principal shareholder of Indianapolis-based Emmis in 1980.
Peter Smyth, Chairman/CEO of Greater Media, Smyth is known an industry leader on the local, state, and national levels, working with the NAB and RAB on various industry initiatives. He joined Greater Media in 1986 as GM of WMJX-FM/Boston. He became President/COO in 2000 and CEO in 2002, and added the chairman's title in 2008.
Forecast Co-Chairs
Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman will co-chair Radio Ink's Forecast 2013. A vocal industry cheerleader, Pittman intends to focus the conversation at Forecast on radio's strengths. Before arriving at Clear Channel in 2010, Pittman's resume included stints as CEO of MTV Networks, AOL Networks, Six Flags Theme Parks, Quantum Media, Century 21 Real Estate, and Time Warner Enterprises. But he began his career in radio, as a 15-year-old on the air in his native Mississippi, and later programmed stations in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and New York.
Forecast 2013 co-chair Bill Koenigsberg is founder, President, and CEO of Horizon Media, and is highly respected for his insights into marketing and media trends. Under his leadership Horizon has become the largest and fastest-growing independent media agency in the world, with billing of $3.8 billion and clients including Geico, Capital One, United Airlines, and Kraft Foods.
Forecast 2013 is set for November 28, 2012 (the week after Thanksgiving) at the Harvard Club in New York. Attendance is limited to 200.
Register HERE
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