The Connecticut Broadcasters Association has named 25-year sports broadcasting veteran Michael P. Ryan as its new president.
The group also tapped Mike Rice, its former president, to take over as vice president during the transition. Rice, a former radio station owner and broadcast engineer, will retire from the association at the end of the year.
“Today, television and radio broadcasters face exciting new opportunities and challenges and Michael Ryan will provide the leadership to move our membership forward,” says Klarn DePalma, chair of the Connecticut Broadcasters Association and senior vice president and general manager of WFSB(TV) in Hartford and New Haven, Conn., and WSHM(TV) in Springfield, Mass.
Ryan most recently served as vice president of programming and acquisitions for ESPN and ESPN Radio. At ESPN, he was responsible for the acquisition and implementation of multimedia rights to major sports properties, including Major League Baseball, Little League Baseball and Grand Slam Tennis. Ryan also served on the network’s committees for internships, hiring and charitable outreach and he was a participant in their mentoring and development programs.
Prior to ESPN, Ryan was a vice president with Prime Network, a sports content provider that was a joint venture between Cablevision and Liberty Media. Ryan has also worked with the New York Mets, overseeing the team’s TV, radio, cable and video interests.
In the1960’s Ryan’s father engineered high school basketball broadcasts for WMNB(AM) in Western Massachusetts, sparking Ryan’s interest in broadcasting. He did on-air work for his high school and college radio stations, and was sports information director at his alma mater, Amherst College before pursuing a career in media.
