There are executives who understand programming.
There are executives who understand sales.
There are executives who understand digital.
There are executives who understand what it’s like to sit behind a microphone, manage a staff, chase revenue, deal with clients, build brands and somehow keep the entire circus moving forward at the same time.
Tommy Castor has lived on practically every side of this business.
And now he’s getting a considerably bigger playground.
iHeartMedia has named Castor Market President for Salt Lake City, bringing the veteran broadcaster west after his most recent run leading Audacy’s Wichita operation.
For me, this one is personal.
I’ve spent time working with Tommy as a programmer.
So I don’t have to wonder whether the guy walking into Salt Lake City understands what happens beyond the sales spreadsheet.
I KNOW HE DOES.
From Wichita To Salt Lake City
Castor arrives after serving as SVP/Market Manager for Audacy Wichita, a leadership position he moved into last September.
But even that promotion only tells part of his story with the company.
He originally entered the Audacy Wichita operation in 2022 with an unusual combination of responsibilities: VP of Sales while also becoming part of the morning show on Sports 1240 KFH and 97.5 K248CY.
Read that combination again.
Sales executive.
Morning personality.
At the same time.
THAT’S NOT EXACTLY THE STANDARD RADIO BUSINESS CARD.
But it tells you quite a bit about Tommy.
He understands that what happens inside the studio and what happens inside the sales office ultimately have to work together.
One creates attention.
The other monetizes it.
The best radio operations understand that neither side should exist in a vacuum.
But Programming Is In His DNA
Long before this Market President appointment, many broadcasters in Kansas knew Tommy Castor as a programmer.
For a decade, from 2006 through 2016, he programmed iHeartMedia’s Channel 96.3 KZCH in the Wichita market.
That’s ten years programming CHR.
Ten years of music meetings.
Ratings.
Talent.
Promotions.
Imaging.
Concerts.
Competitors.
Research.
Digital evolution.
And approximately 73 billion conversations about whether a record should move from power to recurrent.
WELCOME BACK TO IHEART, TOMMY.
And this time he’s coming back with considerably more responsibility.
He Has Seen Radio From Almost Every Chair
After his original iHeart run, Castor’s career continued expanding beyond traditional programming.
He moved into management with Rocking M Media’s Wellington, Kansas stations.
He later became COO of Allied Media Partners, navigating the complicated effort involving Rocking M’s six-station Wichita cluster.
And his experience isn’t limited to broadcasting.
Castor also worked with the Wichita Thunder, overseeing ticket sales and marketing for the ECHL organization.
That matters more than it might initially appear.
Sports organizations and radio stations have a lot in common.
You’re selling attention.
You’re selling emotion.
You’re selling community connection.
You’re selling sponsorships.
You’re building brands.
And ultimately you’re trying to turn an audience into a relationship.
Tommy has now done that from several different directions.
Steven Mills On Tommy Castor
This is where I’ll put the reporter notebook down for a minute.
I worked with Tommy during my own programming years, and what makes this appointment particularly interesting to me is that he understands the entire ecosystem.
Not theoretically.
Practically.
He’s programmed radio stations.
He’s been on the air.
He’s sold radio.
He’s managed people.
He’s worked in digital.
He’s dealt with clients.
He’s run operations.
He’s built promotions.
He’s worked outside traditional radio and brought that business experience back into broadcasting.
That’s a powerful combination.
Because one of the biggest mistakes we can make in this industry is putting programming people in one room, sales people in another and digital people somewhere down the hallway — then acting surprised when nobody understands what everybody else is trying to accomplish.
Tommy understands all three languages.
Programming.
Digital.
Sales.
And that’s precisely why I think he’s going to walk into Salt Lake City with a perspective that extends far beyond simply managing a group of radio stations.
He knows what it takes to make the product compelling, what it takes to extend that product beyond the transmitter and what it takes to turn all of it into revenue.
That’s not something you learn from a management seminar.
You learn it by doing the jobs.
Tommy has done the jobs.
— Steven Mills, President & Publisher, On The Dial
And Salt Lake City Is A Serious Radio Market
This isn’t a ceremonial promotion.
Salt Lake City is an important and competitive Western market, and iHeartMedia has substantial brands operating there.
Running a cluster like that means balancing legacy radio with the increasingly complicated definition of what a modern media company actually sells.
Broadcast?
Absolutely.
But also streaming.
Podcasts.
Social.
Video.
Events.
Influencer relationships.
Digital advertising.
Audience data.
Integrated client campaigns.
The modern Market President isn’t simply running radio stations anymore.
YOU’RE RUNNING AN AUDIENCE BUSINESS.
That’s exactly why somebody with Castor’s varied background makes sense.
An On The Dial Perspective
I’ve said this before, and Tommy’s appointment gives me another reason to say it.
Radio needs more executives who understand the product.
Revenue matters.
Obviously.
Without revenue, none of us gets to play radio.
But there has to be something worth selling.
The personality matters.
The music architecture matters.
The morning show matters.
The promotion matters.
The imaging matters.
The website matters.
The app matters.
The social video matters.
The client relationship matters.
The account executive matters.
IT ALL MATTERS.
The strongest radio leaders understand how those pieces connect instead of treating them as competing departments.
That’s the opportunity Tommy has in Salt Lake City.
Take everything he’s learned from Wichita…
everything he learned programming Channel 96.3…
everything he learned in sales…
everything he learned behind a microphone…
everything he learned running operations…
everything he learned navigating ownership…
and bring all of it into one office.
From Channel 96 3 To The Market Presidents Chair
There’s also something pretty cool about the full-circle nature of this.
Tommy Castor once worked for iHeartMedia as the programmer of a Wichita CHR.
Now he’s returning to the company as the person responsible for leading an entire market.
That’s growth.
That’s experience compounding.
That’s a radio career refusing to stay inside one lane.
And knowing Tommy from our time working together, I suspect Salt Lake City is about to get somebody who isn’t afraid to walk down the hallway and ask programming what’s happening, ask digital what it’s building, ask sales what clients need — and then figure out how all three can win together.
THAT’S HOW THIS BUSINESS SHOULD WORK.
Congratulations, Tommy.
Wichita’s loss is Salt Lake City’s gain.
And from one programmer who has had the opportunity to work alongside you to another:
GO KNOCK THE DAMN DOORS OFF IT.
Salt Lake City, you’ve got yourself a radio guy.
A sales guy.
A digital guy.
A management guy.
And most importantly…
A GUY WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING TOGETHER.
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