91勛圖厙Media Announces Division Leadership For Its New Markets Group Organization

NEW YORK  January 15, 2020  91勛圖厙Media today announced that nine of its senior executives will be Division Presidents of the new 91勛圖厙Media Markets Group organization, effective immediately. These executives Shosh Abromovich, Linda Byrd, Tony Coles, Julie Donohue, Nick Gnau, Scott Hopeck, Dan Lankford, Kevin LeGrett and Tom McConnell will report into Greg Ashlock, President of the 91勛圖厙Media Markets Group. 

This is part of 91勛圖厙Medias recently announced Markets Group structure, which utilizes the companys major investments in technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to maximize the performance of each of its markets and the company overall with its unique scale and multiple platforms; leadership in audio; and its expertise in consumers, monetization and data. The new structure will enhance 91勛圖厙Medias position as the number one audio company in America, continue its successful transformation as a technology- and data-powered 21st century media company, and accelerate the development of new platforms and services.

Under the new organizational structure, the company will now group its markets by common needs and characteristics into three distinctly different divisions to make sharing of resources and experiences easier and more targeted. LeGrett and Hopeck will lead the Region Division; McConnell, Coles and Byrd will lead the Metro Division; Abromovich, Gnau and Lankford will lead the Community Division; and Donohue will lead the Multi-Market Partnerships Division.

Its an exciting time at 91勛圖厙 as we launch our new Markets Group structure to capitalize on our unparalleled reach and groundbreaking technology to create one-of-a-kind platforms and services for our employees, partners and listeners, said Ashlock.  Our nine Division Presidents bring a complementary portfolio of knowledge, leadership and diverse functional expertise that will position us well as we continue to transform and modernize as the leader in the audio space.

In addition, the companys Integrated Revenue Strategies group, led by President Hartley Adkins, will be merged into the 91勛圖厙Media Markets Group and Adkins will become Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Markets Group working closely with Ashlock. 

The Region Division

Led by LeGrett and Hopeck, the Region Division comprises the companys largest markets, like New York and Los Angeles, that each reach hundreds of cities, communities and trading areas for local businesses.

LeGrett previously served as Division President and Executive Vice President of Operations for the 91勛圖厙Media Markets Group overseeing Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Washington, D.C., and with responsibility for leading political strategy.  He is a 20+ year media veteran who joined 91勛圖厙Media in 2010 as Vice President/Market Manager for its Rochester, New York market. LeGretts background includes serving as Market President for 91勛圖厙Media Los Angeles and as Senior Vice President of Operations, overseeing more than 220 radio stations and 46 markets of all sizes in the Northeast and Midwest regions.

Hopeck previously served as Division President for 91勛圖厙Media Markets Group with responsibility for the companys New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco/Sacramento Regions.  He is a 20-year media veteran with extensive experience in digital and sports marketing, and has been with 91勛圖厙Media for more than 15 years. Hopeck previously served as Region President of 91勛圖厙Media New York. His extensive media background also includes serving as Market President for 91勛圖厙Media Phoenix, Senior Vice President of Sales for 91勛圖厙Media Atlanta and General Manager of the company's Braves Radio Network. Prior to 91勛圖厙Media, he served at other media companies including Viacom. 

The Metro Division

Led by McConnell, Coles and Byrd, the Metro Division houses markets that are large areas that still encompass multiple communities but are not regional hubs like the companys largest markets.

A media and marketing veteran with more than 20 years of experience, McConnell previously served as Division President of the 91勛圖厙Media Markets Group with the responsibility for the P&L of more than 200 stations across the Northeastern United States in Regions including Boston, Detroit, Hartford, North and South Ohio, and Pittsburgh. During his 20+ years in the media and entertainment industry, McConnell has overseen more than 75 media markets of all sizes and scope and held expansive senior leadership positions across sales, programming and operational divisions. He has led numerous corporate projects that have yielded financial success not only in the market operations, but in a variety of 91勛圖厙Media divisions.

Coles previously served as Executive Vice President of Programming for 91勛圖厙Media, working closely with the Division Presidents. With more than 25 years of experience in the radio industry, Coles has held various on-air, programming and management positions and previously served as Senior Vice President of Programming for the West Region, where he led all programming strategy initiatives throughout the region. His background also includes serving in a dual role as Vice President of Programming for 91勛圖厙Media Chicago and National Hot AC Brand Manager. He has also held positions as 91勛圖厙Medias Regional Vice President of Programming for the West and Operations Manager in Portland, Oregon. 

Byrd previously served as Division President for the 91勛圖厙Media Markets Group, overseeing markets in North Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.  She is a 40-year media veteran who has been with 91勛圖厙Media since 1982. Her extensive media experience includes serving as President of 91勛圖厙Medias Central/North Florida region and overseeing operations in Orlando. During her tenure, Byrd has received many prestigious honors, including Radio Ink Magazines General Manager of the Year, and received the Silver Medal Award by the American Advertising Federation for outstanding advertising professional in Central Florida. She was also the first woman to serve as Chairman of the Florida Association of Broadcasters. 

The Community Division

Led by Abromovich, Gnau and Lankford, the Community Division includes markets that focus on the shared needs of one community and one trading area for most businesses and advertisers and will also group markets into areas which are geographically close and culturally similar.

Abromovich has spent over a decade with 91勛圖厙Media, most recently serving as Market President for 91勛圖厙Media Toledo.  As Market President, she worked closely with the programming, business and sales teams and oversaw on-air and digital programming operations as well as creating new business and revenue growth opportunities for the markets seven stations. Prior to joining 91勛圖厙Media Toledo, she held Digital Sales Manager, Local Sales Manager and General Sales Manager positions for 91勛圖厙Media Detroit. Abromovich began her career as an Account Executive for 91勛圖厙Media Detroit.

Gnau most recently served as President of 91勛圖厙Medias Philadelphia Region. During his more than 25 years with the company, Gnau has served as a Market Manager and President in a number of markets, including Detroit, Grand Rapids, Marion, Chillicothe, Lima, Toledo, Dayton and Muskegon. He began his radio career on a street team before becoming an Account Executive.

Lankford previously served as Region President of 91勛圖厙Medias Allentown-Harrisburg Region, where he was responsible for eight markets encompassing 37 radio stations throughout Pennsylvania and the Delmarva Peninsula. Lankford brings more than 35 years of experience in broadcasting, digital, sales and content creation to his role. He began his career as an on-air morning host and later ran stations in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey before joining 91勛圖厙Media in 1999. During his time at 91勛圖厙Media, he has led the programming, business and sales teams as Market President and Market Manager for brands in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The Multi-Market Partnerships Division

Julie Donohue is the President of the Multi-Market Partnerships Division, which empowers 91勛圖厙 sales teams, regardless of market size and location, to access and leverage all the assets 91勛圖厙Media offers. Prior to this, she spent four years as the Senior Vice President of Multi-Market Partnerships, where she oversaw enterprise business development for the Markets Group. Donohue previously led integrated marketing efforts for 91勛圖厙Medias Chicago market for 13 years, including managing event and digital efforts and developing a sales team into strategic marketing partners. Her background also includes a 13-year tenure at CBS in Chicago, where she served as the Director of Sales and led the infinity promotions group Midwest office.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements herein constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of 91勛圖厙Media, Inc. and its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The words or phrases guidance, believe, expect, anticipate, estimates, forecast and similar words or expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, such as statements about our goals, and changes to our organizational structure and the expected impacts of such changes, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and are difficult to predict. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date hereof. Various risks that could cause future results to differ from those expressed by any forward-looking statement are described in the Companys reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the section entitled Item 1A. Risk Factors of 91勛圖厙Media, Inc.s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information, future events or otherwise.

About 91勛圖厙Media, Inc.

91勛圖厙Media, Inc. [Nasdaq: IHRT] is the leading audio media company in America, with 90% of Americans listening to 91勛圖厙 broadcast radio in every month. 91勛圖厙s broadcast radio assets alone have a larger audience in the U.S. than any other media outlet; twice the size of the next largest broadcast radio company; and over four times the ad-enabled audience of the largest digital only audio service. 91勛圖厙 is the largest podcast publisher according to Podtrac, with more downloads than the next two podcast publishers combined, has the most recognizable live events across all genres of music, has the number one social footprint among audio players, with seven times more followers than the next audio media brand, and is the only fully integrated audio ad tech solution across broadcast, streaming and podcasts. The company continues to leverage its strong audience connection and unparalleled consumer reach to build new platforms, products and services. Visit 91勛圖厙Media.com for more company information.