Industry Mourns Passing of CRN Digital Talk Founder Mike Horn
CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks founder Mike Horn has died at 74, after a long illness. Horn – then an air personality on KFI-AM, Los Angeles founded Cable Radio Network in 1983 as a service that provided commercial radio programming to local cable television systems. After 
learning that KMET, Los Angeles was earning ratings in the Phoenix market because it was airing on a local cable system, he launched the radio-on-television concept in the San Fernando Valley on cable provider King Cable. The business grew from there as Horn got more local cable systems to use CRN. Years later, Horn transitioned CRN from music to talk programming as CRN Talk and finally to CRN Digital Talk Radio in 2007. In addition to providing celebrities such as Ed McMahon, Robert Conrad and talk radio legend Barry Farber with platforms for talk shows, Horn himself hosted programs centered on his interests in food and wine. Horn’s daughter Jennifer Horn serves as the vice president of CRN Digital Talk Radio and is the host of “The Morning Answer” on Salem Media’s KRLA, Los Angeles and KTIE, San Bernardino.
TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison issued the following statement on the passing of Michael J. Horn, “Mike Horn was a true talk radio hero. He had the vision of an eagle, the ears of a programmer, and a heart of pure gold. His ingenious invention – ‘CRN’ – provided the industry for decades with an ever-evolving alternative platform for a wide variety of programs, running the gamut from undiscovered gems to pre-maturely discarded treasures.”
advertising, she co-founded and co-owned Daynet Radio Broadcasting in the early 1990s with the late Barry Farber and Alan Colmes. Daynet was one of the early independent networks established in the modern era of talk radio that had a significant influence on the business models of many syndication firms that followed it. Its initial talent roster included Farber, Colmes, Dr. Joy Browne and several other high-profile figures. Greenwald was also a theater producer on and off-Broadway, and owned theaters in New York and London. She was a member of the Lotos Club, Harmonie Club and the Friar’s Club, where she co-founded the “Gift of Laughter” philanthropy for wounded warriors. She was predeceased by her former husband James L. Greenwald, chairman emeritus of Katz Media Group. A memorial service is being planned. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the ASPCA.