She’s spent time in New York and in Philadelphia, and the majority of her career in radio — including today — in the heart of Ohio’s Miami Valley. Now, the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame has formally honored Radio + Television Business Report and Radio Ink Publisher Deborah Parenti with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Parenti received the honor at a Thursday evening event, held in Dayton, where Parenti is based. “Your achievements in the field of broadcasting have not gone unnoticed,” Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame members Retha Phillips, Sharon Howard and Jim Johnson shared in a congratulatory note to Parenti.
On hand to celebrate with Parenti was Heather Cohen, Executive Vice President of broadcast talent firm The Weiss Agency; and veteran Adult Contemporary formats programming consultant Mike McVay.
Parenti offered an acceptance speech that also served as a plea to broadcasters. She noted, “Our industry, like others, has changed over the years. We operate in an environment that today includes unlicensed and unregulated competition amounting to an uneven playing field. The NAB gives us a voice in DC and at the FCC, but yours is needed, especially among Ohio legislators. The Local Radio Freedom Act, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, and reinstatement of the Tax Certification Program, critical to bringing diversity to the industry, are just three areas that should be important to every broadcaster.”
Parenti is a 2009 inductee into the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
The 2022 inductee class includes, from the Radio industry, Kevin Fodor (Jason Michaels) of Cox Media Group’s WHIO Radio; Raymond Graham, associated with heritage stations WDAO/WAVI; Edna Howell-Parrish of heritage stations WCXL/WAVI/WDAO; Robert Moore Jr., of heritage stations WDAO/WING; and (posthumously) Jackie Roberts of Cox Media Group.
Television industry inductees include Mark Allan and Brian Davis of WDTN-TV; Mike Campbell of WHIO-TV; Steve Ross of DATV; and (posthumously) Sandy Patton of WKEF-TV.
Deborah in September 2021 was elevated to the role of President of the Radio, TV & Podcasting Division for Streamline Publishing, parent of RBR+TVBR, Radio Ink and the Podcast Business Journal.
Parenti has served as EVP/Publisher of what was formerly known as Streamline Publishing’s
audio division since joining the company founded by Chairman/CEO B. Eric Rhoads in January 2007. She assumed leadership of Radio + Television Business Report with its acquisition by Streamline Publishing in February 2013. The company launched Podcast Business Journal in the late 2010s.
Parenti’s career in the radio broadcasting industry started at “high-flyin’” WING-AM in Dayton, where she rose to VP and Assistant General Manager following roles in promotion, marketing, and research. She later joined Stoner Broadcasting, serving as General Sales Manager at Stoner’s WDJX-FM 99.7 in Louisville before returning to Dayton in 1990 as VP/General Manager of WWSN, as the first woman to manage a radio station in that market. Under her leadership, the station would become WMMX “Mix 107.7,” a station that today remains one of Dayton’s most listened to FM radio choices.
Later, Parenti would become VP/GM of American Radio Systems’ Dayton group, earning a
major profile in the February 1997 issue of Working Woman magazine for her role in
developing one of the first consolidated radio sales platforms, “Radio First!” In September
1997, Parenti would leave her hometown of Dayton for a position as VP/GM of Beasley
Broadcast Group’s country-formatted WXTU-FM in Philadelphia. From 1999-2010, Parenti was a board member of Vox Radio.
Streamline Publishing and its products play a substantial role within two industries:
radio/television/on-demand audio and the world of art and art collecting. It prides itself on
seeking innovative solutions that break traditional molds. In addition to its radio, TV, and
podcasting titles, it is the publisher of Fine Art Connoisseur and PleinAir. The art division is also the organizer of various events closely aligned with its art brands.
