Broadcaster Fred Weinberg has died at age 69.
The CEO of USA Radio Networks passed away on Thursday, according to his obituary, which described him as one of the industry’s “more colorful” owners.
He or his company owned or operated stations in Oklahoma, Nevada, Texas, Arizona and Minnesota. He purchased USA Radio Networks in 2018; the company produces and syndicates radio programming.
Born in New Mexico, Weinberg grew up in Illinois, where he flew with the Civil Air Patrol and worked as a stringer for the Peoria Journal Star. According to the obituary he got involved with WCBU, the campus radio station at Bradley University, and became station manager.
His friend Janet Bro, COO of USA, wrote in an email that Weinberg’s father was dean of engineering at Bradley University and fired his son from the position of station manager, saying he should go buy his own station. “So he did and never looked back.”
According to his obituary, “He took a detour from broadcasting in 1975 for careers at the Penny Press Peoria Newspaper, EF Hutton and ownership of Three Worlds Disco. He tried his hand in the oil business and did a stint with ABC TV before deciding to get back into the business he loved: radio. Fred also published the Penny Press Nevada, a conservative weekly online newspaper, and worked with the Nevada Republican Party in his spare time.”
The obituary recalls that Weinberg “stood up for the rights of small station owners. One of his proudest moments was successfully defending a lawsuit from Arbitron.”
