ed salamon - Inducted 2006

Ed Salamon was Program Director of New York City's WHN from 1975 to 1981, which is recognized as the most listened to Country radio station of all time. He was pivotal in the "crossover" phenomena of the 70s, because at that time many Country singles sold well enough from their WHN airplay to be picked up by influential top forty station WABC and thus "crossover" to pop. His Country radio career began in 1973 as Program Director of WEEP AM/FM, in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.. There, he was the first in Country radio to use consumer research such as call-out research and focus groups. In 1981 he left WHN to form The United Stations Radio Network with Dick Clark and others, where he created programming carried at one time or another by nearly every County station in America. When the United Stations was acquired by the Westwood One Radio Network, at the time the world's largest radio network, he was named Westwood One's President/Programming. In 2002, after more than twenty consecutive years as programming head of a radio network, he became Executive Director of the Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. where in 1976 he first served as an Agenda Committee member. His influence on Country radio will continue through the many network programs he created that are still on the air and the many programmers and consultants whom he mentored. Ed Salamon was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2006.