It’s a whole new Connoisseur Media, with all of the former Alpha Media’s broadcast assets joining the company’s heritage properties on Long Island, N.Y., and along the Connecticut shoreline of Long Island Sound.
As such, new Format Coordinators are in place, reporting to SVP of Programming Keith Dakin, who was recently named to the role as Phil Becker has departed.
Louisville-based Ben Davis will lead programming for Connoisseur’s Top 40 stations. He’s the Operations Manager/Program Director of WDJX-FM and co-host of “Ben and Kelly in the Morning.”
Concurrently, WEZN in Bridgeport, Conn., PD/afternoon host Kevin Begley is now the Hot AC Format Captain; the Urban/Rhythmic Top 40 Format Captain is Darrick Brown (whose legal surname is Williams), who is based in Columbia, S.C. and serves as OM of the stations in that market.
Handling News/Talk Format Captain responsibilities is Ross MacLeod, who has demonstrated ratings prowess of late as OM/PD of News/Talk KXL-FM in Portland, Ore.
The Country Format Captain is Rob Kelley, who is the Operations Manager for Connoisseur’s stations in Lincoln, Neb., and Topeka, Ks. Kelley held the role at Alpha Media.
Lastly, the Rock Format Captain is Allan Lamberti, who is PD of WICC-AM in Fairfield County and WPLR-FM in New Haven, Conn.
“These moves today will allow us to have a dedicated group of programmers that can work with our local markets, partners, vendors, and the record community on a one-to-one basis,” said Dakin. “The idea here is that we will always have someone who can fix a problem, answer a question, and, most importantly, make a decision. Radio, to stay relevant, needs to have empowered leaders that can make things happen fast. I believe today we have that team.”
