The author is chief engineer for SummitMedia in Richmond, Va.
Jeffrey “Jeff” Loughridge was a dedicated broadcast engineer who died on Oct. 13 in Savannah, Ga., due to complications from colon cancer. He was 55.
Jeff Loughridge Photo Ed Stone/PhotographAmerica
He is best remembered for his accomplishments at CBS Radio Washington, where he last served as market director of engineering. Jeff worked with CBS Radio from 2000 until 2012.
While attending Florida Institute of Technology, Jeff began his radio career at WWBA(AM/FM), St. Petersburg, Fla.
He moved back to his hometown area of Washington, in 1983, he attended The American University, pursuing and later receiving a degree in audio technology. While attending AU, he worked for Bonneville Satellite as a video/satellite engineer. He also did contract engineering work for WPRW(AM) Manassas, Va. Jeff later worked in the engineering department for WPGC(AM/FM), Washington, where he met longtime friend Tom McGinley. Along with engineering duties, Jeff had a weekend air shift on WPGC. By Tom’s account, Jeff was a pretty good DJ.
Later in the ’80s, Jeff worked for Fine Tuning Associates, which eventually landed him in Richmond, Va. In 1989, he formed his own contract engineering company Audio Concepts and Engineering. Jeff relocated the broadcast studios for WCDX(FM) Richmond, and eventually added more stations to the Sinclair Communications Richmond cluster. He spent 11 years in Richmond with Sinclair as his largest client. Later he became an employee at the radio cluster when it was purchased by Radio One. He’s also noted for relocating the facilities of WUPV(TV).
Jeff also provided AM NRSC measurement services and for a period of time was the Virginia Association of Broadcasters FCC Technical Station Inspector. In 2000, Jeff returned to WPGC and WHFS(FM) under the ownership of CBS Radio where he later became market DOE before leaving in 2012. That was also the year his father passed away and Jeff was diagnosed with colon cancer two months later. He worked for TeleworX on the Next Generation Interconnection System project until 2014 when he accepted a position with iHeartMedia in Savannah, Ga., to live the coastal life.
Jeff is survived by his wife of 23 years, Susan Loughridge, whom he met at WPGC, his daughters, Sarah and twins Rebecca and Melissa. Family was very important to Jeff.
In recent years, he pursued his lifelong passion for scuba diving. He was also a scuba instructor and taught under the name 4Atmospheres in association with Patriot Scuba. He was a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers and Professional Association of Diving Instructors.
A memorial service will be held for Jeff at Heritage Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, Va., on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 1:30 p.m. The church is located at 8503 Fort Hunt Rd., Alexandria, Va. Following the service, attendees are welcome to join the Loughridge family back where Jeff grew up to continue the celebration of Jeff’s life.
