Charese Fruge has been named vice president of programming and operations manager for CBS Radio’s six stations in the Houston market, CBS Radio Houston Senior Vice President and Market Manager Sarah Frazier announced.
Fruge comes to Houston from CBS Radio Las Vegas, where she served as vice president of programming for that market. In this new role, she will oversee programming for KHMX(FM), KIKK(AM), KILT(AM), KILT(FM), KKHH(FM) and KLOL(FM). Additionally, Fruge will serve as program director for KHMX and KKHH.
Fruge has spent more than 20 years in radio both on-air and in programming with stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Denver, San Diego and New Orleans. She was in Las Vegas with CBS Radio for more than 10 years and is a member of the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.
Cat Thomas
Cat Thomas succeeds Fruge as VP of programming for CBS Radio Las Vegas, according to CBS Radio Las Vegas SVP and Market Manager Jerry McKenna. Thomas will oversee KLUC(FM), KMXB(FM), KXTE(FM), KXNT(AM/FM) and KXST(AM).
Thomas will continue to serve as the day-to-day programmer for KXTE(FM), KXNT(AM/FM) and KXST(AM).
John Bernard (J.B. King) has been promoted from assistant program director to PD of KLUC(FM), and Jonathan Campbell (J.Love) has been elevated from assistant PD and music director of KMXB(FM) to program director of the station.
Thomas has spent more than 30 years both on-air and in programming, starting his career on WNHS, his high school radio station at Northland High in Columbus, Ohio. He worked at WFAL(FM), WBGU(FM), WCOL(AM) and WNCI(FM) while attending college. After graduating from Ohio State University, Thomas went to work in Orlando at WHLY(FM)/Y106, now WXXL(FM). In 1988, he was hired to do nights at KLUC(FM) in Las Vegas, soon after becoming music director for the station. Thomas was named PD of KLUC in 1996. He added PD responsibilities for KXNT(AM/FM), along with KXST(AM) in 2014.
Bernard has been the anchor of the KLUC(FM) on-air staff in afternoon drive, since joining in April 1998. In 1999, he took on music director responsibilities and in 2001 became assistant PD. A native of Oakland, Calif., and a graduate of the University of California at Davis, he began his radio career in Sacramento, Calif., with stops in San Francisco and Phoenix, before arriving in Las Vegas.
Campbell is a Los Angeles native and graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in radio and TV and has been in radio for more than 20 years. He has worked in numerous markets and was PD in Providence, R.I., Oxnard/Ventura, Calif., and Reno, Nev. In 2012, he joined CBS Radio Las Vegas as assistant program director and music director for KMXB(FM) and also served as assistant PD for KXTE(FM).
Jack Swanson has been appointed director of news and programming for KCBS(AM/FM), according to an announcement by Doug Harvill, SVP and market manager for CBS Radio San Francisco.
Swanson began his radio career as a news anchor/reporter for WLS(AM) radio in Chicago before becoming the news and programming director for KGO(AM) radio (San Francisco). Next, he was president and general manager for KING(FM) in Seattle and returned to KGO/KSFO as the VP of programming before joining KCBS(AM) in 2015 as director of news and programming.
KCBS is owned and operated by CBS Radio.
