Location: 840 Philadlelphia Street, Suite 100, Indiana 15701
Phone: (724) 471-1052
Cell: (724) 840-4488
About Me
I started my radio career in a most unusual way, doing an ethnic show in the 1980's on a station known as WCQO FM where I bought two hours of time and sold my own advertisers. I now refer back to the WCQO days as my days in WACKO radio. It was successful, so I took a full time sales position, and really it was without any training but as a young A.E. I started to grow, and must have gained some level of respect. A competitor at WCCS made an offer that I accepted and I started as an A.E., became sales manager and then GM. In 2002, Tony Renda, who was a native of Indiana, PA purchased WCCS and WLCY here in Indiana County, PA (WLCY was formerly WCQO) and named me GM. In 2004 he purchased the other two commercial stations in Indiana County, PA, one of them, WDAD, is the heritage station in Indiana, signing on in 1945, the other WQMU (U92.5 FM) that came along in 1969. In 2009, I was named VP for the group, with some oversight responsibilities in two other small markets. My wife might say all of this nearly killed me as I suffered a near fatal heart attack in September, 2004, but have recovered. You might say, I've come full circle with radio in this market, because as a child I fell in love with radio listening to WDAD AM-1450 and WQMU FM 92.5, started my career with what is now WLCY-FM 106.3, and spent many years as a seller and manager at WCCS. Now they are all together, plus we continue to grow in the digital arena, so like everyone, I am constantly busy and trying to continue to grow professionally. I also chair our main charitable arm, something we call the Teddy Bear Fund Drive which raises money for Children's Hospital and our local hospital, Indiana Regional Medical Center. Through the years we have raised over three million dollars to help fund child health care for for those in need. I still enjoy doing high school football on Friday nights and won an award for best play-by-play from the PA Association of Broadcasters in 2020. I've been the voice of Homer-Center football for 35 years, a small school I graduated from. I used to do a lot more, but post heart attack, with some coaching from my wife Debby, I got smarter and backed away from a lot of it. I've been married to Deb since 1984 and somehow she has put up with my often chaotic schedule. I've had a hobby with a youth sports organization for nearly four decades, coached American Legion baseball for 15 years retiring in 2004 (yes the heart attack thing again made me smarter). I've helped to raise nearly one-half million dollars through the years with grants for lights, parking lots, new water lines, new field, etc. so it's been gratifying to try and give back to the community I grew up in. I'm a Pittsburgh Penguins season ticket holder, somehow still follow the Pirates, but despise the Steelers LOL and root for whoever they play. I am honored and thrilled to be a member of Idea Bank.
My Market
As regional VP I over see two markets, WHJB FM 107.1 in Greensburg PA, Westmoreland County, and four station in Indiana County. Indiana County, PA is small market, rural PA with a total population of 85,000. We are located about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. St. Pier Group, LLC, an affiliated company of Renda Broadcasting in Pittsburgh, owns and operates five radio stations, four of them here in Indiana County, and one in Greensburg, Westmoreland County about 30 miles from Indiana, PA. Indiana, Pennsylvania is known as the 'Christmas Tree Capital of the World,' and also the home of the late great actor Jimmy Stewart who starred in many movies including the still popular "Wonderful Life" movie that still airs on NBC each Christmas. The holiday parade here is known as the "It's A Wonderful Life Holiday Parade," and the Jimmy Stewart Museum is across the street from our radio stations in downtown Indiana. Indiana is also home to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, commonly known as IUP. WQMU airs IUP Crimson Hawks football and basketball. IUP plays NCAA Division II athletics and have had some outstanding teams that have completed in NCAA national championships. The coal industry used to be king but no more, and as a result the economy has never fully recovered although it continues to evolve. We have three coal fired power plants in our area that employee hundreds and hundreds and those too are in jeopardy, but I'll save editorial comment.
My Stations
My primary involvement is with the four stations here in Indiana County including News-Talk WCCS AM-1160 and 101.1 FM; Classic Hits WDAD AM-1450 and 100.3 FM, Cat Country 106.3 FM (WLCY); and U92.5 FM (WQMU), an Adult Hits Format. We are very active with social media and have approximately 50,000 followers across our four facebook pages. WCCS is 10kw day, 1kw at night and signed on in 1983, WDAD is 1kw day/night and as mentioned is Indiana's heritage station that signed on in 1945, WQMU FM is 3kw and signed on in 1969, and WLCY is 3kw and signed on in 1982. Our stations are heavily involved in the community in a variety of ways. We also do a lot of high school sports including four football games every Friday night in the fall. WCCS is home of the "almost MLB Pirates" and Pitt Panthers, WQMU is the voice of Penguins Hockey and IUP College Football and Basketball, WDAD home to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
WHJB is a Classic Hits station in Greensburg, the only commercial station in the county seat of Westmoreland County, Westmoreland County is a fairly good sized county with nearly 450,000 population. WHJB is music focused and the only time we vary is really Friday Night Lights during the HS football season.