Pete Booker is retiring as longtime president/CEO of Delmarva Broadcasting Co.
He has worked for the company for 33 years over three tenures, and held the top job since 1993.
Delmarva is a family-owned group with 13 stations in and around Wilmington, Del.; Salisbury and Ocean City, Md.; and southern New Jersey. Its longtime flagship operation is WDEL(AM/FM) and WSTW(FM) in Wilmington.
“This company has been a very important part of my life for many years,” he said in a statement. “The Steinman family, leadership and people of Delmarva Broadcasting will remain in my thoughts and prayers. I wish only the best for them all.”
Booker began with WDEL as a part-time DJ while in college in 1972. He was a jock, PD and production director for several stations in Philadelphia and Detroit, then returned to Delmarva as a PD and then operations manager in the 1980s. He worked for four years as GM for WBQB(FM)/WFVA(AM), Fredericksburg, Va., before taking the leadership position at Delmarva 22 years ago.
He was elected to the NAB Radio Board in spring of 2014, and he’s in the Hall of Fame of WVUD(FM), the campus station of the University of Delaware.
Delmarva Broadcasting has often been an early adopter of technology, whether that be through an early Internet presence, installing touchscreen automation, exploring RDS-controlled billboards and AM stereo, or programming an HD Radio multicast channel. In 2006, RW reported on the station’s use of video cameras by its staff.
Asked by Radio World if he has a favorite memory, he didn’t name just one, but continued, “My favorite part of this job has been when we have bought new stations, bringing folks into the company and watching them develop in the Delmarva way. Working with the folks in the stations is always the best part.”
The company plans to announce a successor “later this month.” His last day is Monday July 13.
