Berry Bumped To EVP for iHeart’s Spoken Word Formats

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In 1982, Chris Berry became a Producer at Southern California’s leading source for news on the AM dial: KNX-AM 1070.


Today, Berry has a resume full of highlights, including stints at ABC News Radio, Chicago’s all-News radio station, a top Talker in the Nation’s Capital and, since 2017, at iHeartMedia.

The top brass at iHeart has just cemented Berry’s place in the company by naming him Executive Vice President of News, Talk and Sports Programming, rising from SVP.

Based in Phoenix, Berry reports to Premiere Networks President Julie Talbott.

Premiere is one of several entities owned by iHeartMedia, including radio industry blog and company news source Inside Radio and radio ad detection service Media Monitors.

“Chris has tremendous programming experience and he’s been a valuable asset to our team for nearly a decade,” Talbott said. “As the spoken word format continues to grow, his leadership and vision will help ensure we’re strategically positioned to provide the best content across multiple platforms, while delivering unparalleled results for stations and advertising partners.”

While it is a newly created role, Berry will continue to provide strategic guidance for the company’s spoken-word formats and connect key advertisers with iHeartMedia’s News, Talk and Sports audiences, iHeart says.

Berry took on the SVP role in 2017, adding those duties to his role as SVP of NBC News Radio. He retains that role, along with that of iHeartRadio’s Format Brand Manager.

Berry is considered one of the foremost programmers in the News/Talk arena. For 14 years at the Walt Disney Company, he was VP/Radio for ABC News, managing the network’s global news operation along with the Paul Harvey News and Comment broadcast.

His tenure at ABC included stints as President/GM of WMAL-AM in Washington, D.C. (now WMAL-FM 105.9) and ESPN Radio O&O KSPN-AM in L.A.

He’s also been Director of News and Programming for WBBM-AM in Chicago under CBS ownership, and began his media career at WHBQ-TV in Memphis as a producer, in 1981. Berry holds a journalism degree from the University of Mississippi.