EDMONTON – “We’re looking forward to dropping our ‘r’s’ and learning a new national anthem,” Newcap Broadcasting’s vice-president of programming Steve Jones told www.cartt.ca this morning.
Jones (right) has just accepted a position with Entercom Boston as program director for 93.7 Mike FM (WMKK). Jones is wrapping things up quickly at his base in Edmonton since he begins his new role July 15th. Mike FM is a Jack/Bob format, which just re-launched a few weeks ago.
“I had been discussing a number of positions with Entercom but this one was the best fit,” he said.
While his Newcap position was “a great job – and not one I was eager to leave,” the new spot is, “a chance to go up against a new set of competitors will be fun,” he added.
Plus, the chance at a PD position in the number nine U.S. market doesn’t come open very often to Canadians. Entercom is the fourth-largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., operating in Boston, Seattle, Denver, Portland, Sacramento, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Norfolk, Buffalo, Memphis, Providence, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Rochester, Madison, Wichita, Wilkes Barre/Scranton, Gainesville-Ocala, and Longview/Kelso, WA.
The Halifax-born Jones has worked with Newcap for seven years and prior to that was with Maritime Broadcasting. Moving is no biggie for him (or for many in radio) as he’s lived and worked in Moncton, Sudbury, Kitchener, Thunder Bay and Edmonton. He got his on-air start at CFNO in Marathon, Ont.
After a few years of heading up programming for Newcap’s 65 stations, where he worked “a mile wide and an inch deep”, Jones told www.cartt.ca that he’s very much looking forward to “focusing every minute of every day on one radio station.”
“Entercom is just ecstatic to infuse Mike FM with Steve Jones’s enthusiasm and expertise,” said station general manager Amy Caplan. “His incredible knowledge of programming and passion for music will make him an invaluable asset to us here at Entercom, and to the Boston radio market as a whole.”
