On April 10, it became known that Beasley Media Group VP of Corporate Sales Bob McCurdy was departing the audio broadcasting company. Officially, he announced. his retirement.
What wasn’t publicly known was that McCurdy was in poor health, battling cancer. It became further known in mid-May that McCurdy and his wife filed a lawsuit against the Whittingham Cancer Center at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Conn.; Western Connecticut Health Network; and a physician who are accused of giving McCurdy 25% of the prescribed dose of an essential chemotherapy drug.
The outcome of that legal battle will now be in memory of McCurdy, who has passed away.
McCurdy began his radio industry career in 1976 at WLEE-AM in Richmond, in a sales role, before moving on to sales and management responsibilities in Indianapolis. McCurdy in 1980 would land at Katz Radio, where he held sales and management positions in Chicago, Minneapolis, and New York. McCurdy was named President of the company in 1990 and went on to become President of Sentry Radio under the Katz Radio Group umbrella, before being named Regional President for Clear Channel Radio Sales upon Clear Channel’s purchase of the Katz Media Group. In 2009, he became the President of Katz Marketing Solutions, a division of the Katz Radio Group, before joining Beasley.
McCurdy was also a star college basketball player for the University of Richmond Spiders, from 1973-1975. In fact, he was an All American and the nation’s leading scorer during his senior season of 1974-1975, averaging 32.9 points per game.
In comments distributed to the media late Tuesday, Beasley Media Group said, “He loved to teach and impact others, and the role with Beasley gave him a great platform from which to do so. Bob was a tremendous influence on many in the industry. His competitive drive, his thirst for knowledge, his discipline and his work ethic impacted everyone who had a chance to work with him.”
Company CEO Caroline Beasley added, “Bob was a trusted confidant, a valued advisor and an incredible ambassador on behalf of the Beasley Media Group family and the radio industry. His love and passion for the business could be seen and heard in everything he did within our company as well as the industry. Bob will be greatly missed and will be forever remembered as a beloved member of our family.”
Also offering words in memoriam: Cumulus Media Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard.
“Bob McCurdy led the way in using data to form compelling insights about the power of radio,” Bouvard said. “He and I were comrades in data driven storytelling and shared a deep fondness and respect for Erwin Ephron, the father of modern media planning. American radio has lost its sales teacher, life coach, and fierce advocate of reading more, learning more and turning that knowledge into useful counsel for our clients. Farewell my brother.”
McCurdy’s more recent accomplishments include the completion of a book about leadership, culture and sales. In it he writes, “It has often been said that one can never tell where a teacher’s influence ends. The same is true with leaders. As leaders, we are teachers and as with teachers you can never tell where an effective leader’s influence ends. That makes for an amazing legacy.”
