Radio & Music News Weekly
Urban One Radio CEO David Kantor Plans To Retire
Multiple publications have reported that URBAN ONE/RADIO ONE/REACH MEDIA CEO DAVID KANTOR will retire at the end of 2024. No official transition plans or statements from URBAN ONE have been released yet.
KANTOR co-founded REACH MEDIA with TOM JOYNER in 2003. URBAN ONE acquired REACH MEDIA in 2004. KANTOR continued as President and CEO, growing REACH MEDIA to 312 affiliate stations in 94 markets, covering 94% of the U.S. African American population.
KANTOR joined RADIO ONE in 2004 when it acquired a 51% controlling stake in REACH MEDIA. RADIO ONE expanded its ownership stake to 80% in 2012 and merged its SYNDICATION ONE division into the company.
Before launching REACH MEDIA, KANTOR began his career as a local programming and sales researcher. He then held roles at SATELLITE MUSIC NETWORK, rising to President. He later became President of ABC RADIO NETWORKS, where he launched the TOM JOYNER Morning Show, ESPN RADIO, and RADIO DISNEY. KANTOR was SVP/Network Operations for AMFM INC., launching their network from 1996 until its 2000 sale to CLEAR CHANNEL.
In OCTOBER 2015, KANTOR was named CEO of the RADIO ONE unit and took the lead on divisional expansion. This included the purchase of COX MEDIA GROUP’s HOUSTON cluster in APRIL 2023, which included Country KKBQ 93Q, Classic Rock THE EAGLE KHPT/KGLK (106.9/107.5), and COUNTRY LEGENDS KTHT (97.1).”