In our latest issue we celebrate Conrad Trautmann, the 21st recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award. If you have worked with Conrad you know how deserving he is of this recognition.
Meanwhile I also want to take note of the fact that the fifth recipient of our award, Jeff Littlejohn, retired from iHeartMedia last month.
One of the U.S. radio industry’s best-known and most influential engineers, Littlejohn, 58, stepped down from his role as executive VP of engineering, though he will continue in a consulting role. Steve George succeeded him.
As I wrote on the Radio World website, Littlejohn’s decision brings an end to what iHeart described as an “extraordinary 32 years” with the company. It began in 1992 with a job as chief engineer in Cincinnati for what was then American Media. It became Chancellor Broadcasting, which merged with Evergreen Media, which purchased Capstar, which was renamed AM/FM Inc. and eventually was acquired by Clear Channel, subsequently renamed iHeartMedia.
“He rose through the ranks as he helped expand the company after the 1996 Telecom Act,” the company said in its announcement.
“He was part of the team that created the first version of the iHeartRadio App and worked with Toyota and Ford on the first integration of iHeartRadio.”
More recently, it said, he helped spearhead a modernization of iHeart’s studio facilities and conversion to cloud-based audio systems.
[Related: “iHeart Is Still Focused on AM as a Medium”]
In addition to our award in 2008, Jeff received the NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award in 2014. He also has been chair of the NAB Radio Technical Committee and active in national engineering issues. For instance this summer he was among the engineers who met with FCC officials to discuss virtualization of the EAS system, in a meeting facilitated by the NAB.
As the biggest commercial radio company in the country, iHeart’s management decisions are watched closely. Last month it carried out a number of job terminations to cut costs, as has been widely reported. Among them we learned that Alan Jurison, iHeart senior operations engineer for the Technical Operations group, was among those let go. Given that Alan, too, is a past recipient of the Excellence in Engineering Award, this clearly is a time of transition and downsizing even within the company’s technical arm.
But Jeff told me that his retirement came on his own initiative and was something he’d been talking with his bosses about for some time. He is looking forward to being able to travel internationally and to do more cycling; next summer he plans to participate in a 600-mile ride from Seward to Fairbanks, Alaska, to benefit the Fuller Center for Housing.
His consulting role for iHeart is an active one; and he means to stay involved with advocacy work with NAB, FEMA and other organizations. “I want to see the industry continue to thrive and grow,” he told me.
Meanwhile Steve George will manage the overall technical operations, systems and engineering teams that support iHeart’s 860 broadcast stations in 160 markets. He began his career at iHeart in 2001 as a market chief and has been a regional director of engineering, regional VP of engineering and most recently VP of engineering and systems.
Jeff said Steve is well prepared for the role and that the two of them have worked together almost every day for the past five years, through the many changes at iHeart dating back to the pandemic.
