Valerie Blackburn, Market Controller for CBS Radio’s six O & O stations in Los Angeles and General Manager of news/talk outlet KFWB-AM, which is owned by a divestiture trust under the management of Clark Radio, embodies the reasons we should remain optimistic about the future of broadcasting.
She also serves as a great role model for anyone who is looking to lead a successful and fulfilling career in the industry. So it’s no surprise for those who know her, either through her role at CBS or as Chair of the Alliance for Women in Media’s Board of Directors, to learn that Valerie has been named one of the “People to Watch” in 2012 by MFM – the Media Financial Management Association, and its BCCA subsidiary. I’d like to help you start 2012 on a high note by sharing a little of the profile our TFM editor, Janet Stilson, wrote about this radio dynamo.
MFM didn’t have to go too far to learn why Valerie is regarded so highly by her peers in the industry. She served on our Board of Directors in the mid 1990s, a time when the radio industry was undergoing a significant amount of consolidation. Back then, Valerie was working for Jacor Broadcasting, which expanded its station group from four to eight radio outlets as a result of the deregulation that eased the cap on station ownership.
One of Valerie’s responsibilities during this time was to create the role of market controller, which was new to the industry as well as Jacor. She was also very involved in empowering her company’s market controllers with breakthrough systems that fostered synergy between the company’s enlarged stable of outlets. As an MFM Board member during this period, Valerie was instrumental in helping many of her peers in the industry understand how to successfully handle financial issues related to consolidation.
After her eleven years with Jacor, Valerie spent seven years with Susquehanna Radio, where she started out as a market controller and was later promoted to Director of Business Operations for the company’s San Francisco holdings. She joined CBS in 2006 and has successfully guided its Los Angeles cluster through numerous challenges and the changing economic conditions that the industry has faced over these past six years.
“My current challenge is making sure that my role as general manager (of news/talk outlet KFWB-AM) gets just as much care and attention as everything else I do. And it’s also making sure that radio stays top of mind for everyone,” Valerie says. “They’ve rung the death knell for radio so many times over the last 20 years, but that’s never going to happen.”
Valerie’s experience and the insights they have engendered should help to make all us as confident about the future for radio. She notes the extensive commute times in Los Angeles, which are common to many other markets across the country, and radio’s ability to provide both information and entertainment to that huge audience, continue to be one of the industry’s greatest strengths. She also speaks passionately about how radio has played a pivotal role during natural disasters, particularly when other forms of communication have been zapped by transmission and power problems.
Valerie’s influence on accomplishing that bright future for the industry extends well beyond her roles at CBS and KFWB. Under her leadership, the 60 year-old Alliance for Women in Media has launched an ambitious new business plan that could help to transform the traditional business model for professional and trade organizations. AWM’s local chapters are no longer required to pay dues revenue to the umbrella national organization. Instead, AWM is deriving funds from sponsored educational symposia and its annual Gracie Awards, where outstanding programming for, by or about women is recognized.
The new plan appears to be working. AWM has matched the amount of revenue it garnered from dues before the plan took effect, and it is on track to soar past that milestone in 2012.
“Valerie’s been Chair during the implementation and has fearlessly embraced change. Everything about this organization looks, feels and is different than it was 18 months ago. Her leadership and support of that – and having the board so supportive of that – is a real testament to her leadership,” observed Erin Fuller, president of AWM.
Valerie’s enthusiasm for both radio and AWM is quickly recognized by anyone who has had the opportunity to work with her closely. “When Valerie commits to something, she puts 110% of her energy behind it,” says AWM’s Fuller.
“She benefits me greatly, because she’s a terrific sounding board. She’s comfortable giving me her opinion on things – especially when it comes to resources and how precious they are going forward,” added Steve Carver, the Senior Vice President/Market Manager at CBS Radio in Los Angeles.
In fact, Valerie has gained a reputation within CBS Radio as someone who’s always helpful when people reach out to her, Carver said. “There’s no agenda to it. If someone needs help, she gives it to them, and that’s the end of it.”
Valerie is also helping her colleagues in financial management by dispelling one of the myths concerning their profession. “She’s very much the opposite of what you’d expect from a numbers and finance person. She’s very warm, very engaging. What makes her special is she just sparkles,” AWM’s Erin Fuller notes.
Valerie’s warm nature is also something she shares with her industry peers who have also been singled out as MFM’s People To Watch in 2012: Lacey Lewis, Senior Vice President, Finance for Cox Enterprises; Patrick Walsh, Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer & CFO, of Emmis Communications; and William “Scott” Moody, CFO for Bonten Media Corp. “All of the people who spoke with me about this year’s honorees noted how they’re all easy to talk to — very affable,” observed Janet Stilson, editor of MFM’s The Financial Manager (TFM) magazine.
Stilson, who has served as editor for a number of industry magazines and currently writes about financial and advertising developments affecting the industry for several trade journals and national magazines, profiles our 2012 People To Watch honorees in a special section of the magazine’s January-February issue. This issue will be available on MFM’s web site for a limited time beginning in mid-January.
In addition to thanking Janet Stilson for articles that help to identify what it is we should both celebrate and emulate in Valerie Blackburn and her co-honorees, I would like to recognize and thank the member’s of TFM’s Editorial Board who reviewed the list of nominees and selected this year’s People to Watch.
The current members of TFM’s Editorial Advisory Board are Pam D’Elia, Director, Credit & Collection for Cox Broadcasting Representatives; Michael Denson, Vice President, Network Credit & Collection for Katz Media Group and a member of the MFM Board; Peter Housman, Executive Vice President, ZGS Broadcast Group, Chad Richardson, Director of Financial Planning for Cox Enterprises; Robert Rollins, Corporate Credit & Collections Manager for Raycom Media Inc, Dawn Sciarrino, Managing Member, Sciarrino & Shubert, PLLC; Meredith Senter, Principal Member, Lerman Senter PLLC; C. Robin Szabo, President, Szabo Associates, Inc.; and Thomas Twedt, a Member of Dow Lohnes PLLC.
I sincerely hope that reading the profiles of MFM’s People to Watch in 2012 leaves you agreeing that they merit more than just our watching. By adopting their leading business practices, outgoing personalities, positive outlook, and industry involvement, we can make 2012 a memorable and successful year for us all.
–Mary M. Collins (pictured above) is President & CEO of MFM – the Media Financial Management Association and its BCCA subsidiary, which provides credit reports and related services for ad-supported media businesses.
