Ron Lundy was not only loved by his loyal New York listeners, he was an enlightening and entertaining individual who had an affect on every department back in the day at WCBS/FM…the Golden 101.
What stands out in my mind is there were two entrances on our floor that got you to the WCBS/FM on air studios at Black Rock. A lot of newer on air guys slipped through the back door. Not Ron…he entered and walked through each day through the main or “sales entrance.” And stopped office to office along the way, loud, joking…. talking it up with everyone and endearing himself to both the rookies and senior sales staff everyday. You looked forward to it!
It was a miracle that Ron made it to the studio in time for his live 9am shift start, as everyone “stopped him” along the way! Or was it the other way around? But he would make it, standing by the open microphone with a “Hello Luv, is this a Great City or what?” And from a sales point of view, our day went form the morning commute with cup of coffee in hand… to shifting into high gear. Time to hit the streets!.
Part of our Account Executive’s responsibilities included monitoring competitive stations for new leads. But when reports were handed in, many 9a-12noon time slots were consistently missing… which we as managers had to address. Seems many of our salespeople were even further listening to him while driving to sales calls! “Hello Luv, have I got a song for you!” Now that said something to me. I’ve known sellers at other stations who prided themselves in not listening to the stations they were selling!. Not where we worked….and all this respect… for a guy that prided himself on making just one, or at most two sales calls during his entire time at CBS/FM.
When Ron retired back in the late 90’s, I think the entire sales and support staff stood outside the studio, just like the stories we heard where listeners pulled cars over & NY office workers stopped and listened as intently as families at home. I looked around and didn’t see a dry eye…and that is exactly how he leaves us.
–Bill Kehlbeck-Sr.VP The Mahlman Company
(781) 337-7302-office
