Programming Pro Bill Hess to Retire at Year’s End
Cumulus Media announces that WMAL-FM, Washington program director Bill Hess will retire on December 31 after a radio career spanning 48 years. Hess launched his career in 1977 as an air personality on WCBG, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In addition to his work in the news and talk formats, Hess programmed WASH-FM and WBIG-FM in Washington, DC. He served SVP of programming for the progressive talk network Air America and was vice
president of news/talk for Cumulus Media for nine years. Cumulus Media chief content officer Brian Philips states, “Bill is an esteemed leader, teacher and journalist. He possesses intellect, a gift for talent development and strict high standards. It has been our good fortune to work in the trenches with Bill during the overheated recent news cycle. Bill will always be our trusted advisor. We wish Bill great things in retirement and thank him for his uncountable accomplishments with Cumulus Media and our high-performing news/talk stations – particularly for his work programming our news/talk flagship, WMAL. His legacy is forever secure.” Hess comments, “I am grateful for these 48 years in the business I love, programming both music and spoken-word stations, and working with the most exciting and entertaining teams in radio. Concluding with the past 15 years at WMAL and Cumulus Media has been a true highlight.”
acquisition of AMFM, took on an EVP role at Premiere Networks. He was the president of the fledgling liberal talk radio company Air America and joined Westwood One after Air America shut down in 2006. TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison states, “This is a devastating loss to the radio industry. I had the privilege of working with Gary all the way back to my music radio days when he was a young executive at the old MJI Broadcasting with major industry players like Julie Talbott and Josh Feigenbaum in the early days of our careers. He has subsequently worn a number of key management and entrepreneurial hats in the business – all reflecting his dedication to professionalism and quality. He was very well liked and respected by broadcasters on both sides of the Atlantic. He will be missed.” A service will be held on January 26, 2025 at Riverside Memorial Chapel at 180 West 76th Street, New York, NY 10023. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Gary Krantz’s memory.
in London, Springer got a law degree from Northwestern University, served on the Cincinnati City Council before exiting in a prostitution scandal, returned to the Council a year later and eventually served as mayor of Cincinnati. He ran unsuccessfully for governor of Ohio as a Democrat. He moved into television news and won regional Emmy Awards before debuting his own soon-to-be-a-hit TV show that began as an issues-oriented program. Springer was part of the Air America liberal talk radio experiment during the early 2000s in which he hosted the 9:00 am to 12:00 noon ET show. In 2005, TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian (who then was special features editor for Inside Radio) interviewed Springer.