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Ragan Henry

M

M_Shannon

I couldn't see a more national board to post this on so I came to Philly to express sadness over the passing of Ragan Henry who owned many radio stations during his career including the group US Radio, LP which owned WRFY/WRAW Reading from 1989 to 1996 when the company was sold to Clear Channel.

Ragan was a great man, fair, honest and helpful to all with whom he came in contact. He will be sorely missed by many. There is a story from the Philadelphia Inquirer here...

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20080808_A_pioneering_media_mogul_and_lawyer.html


Mike
 
While I never knew the man, your discription of him as being fair, honest and helpful would automatically disqualify him from being in today's world of broadcast ownership. It is a shame when that sort of quality person passes.
 
I never had the opportunity to meet Ragan Henry, but I knew a little about his business philosophy and had a lot of respect for him as a broadcast owner/operator. He didn't program his stations to please his own tastes or ego, but instead put the needs of the local markets first and that's why he was so successful. He also seemed very adept at finding good growth opportunities. And as the Inquirer article mentions, he cared a lot about others.

In the mid-'80s, I worked for Pat Swygert, former VP for Adminstration of Temple (who moved on to SUNY Albany and is now president of Howard U). Ragan was a friend and neighbor of Pat's and helped convince him of the value of a broadcast license as a "franchise." In my opinion, Ragan's influence had a lot to do with Temple's renewed commitment to WRTI that came about twenty years ago, and just in time -- because the previous administration had almost turned in the license, thinking it was worthless.
 
I feel honored to have worked for Mr. Henry in Reading for 4 years before US Radio was purchased by Clear Channel. In that short time, I learned that he was a very classy guy, and as echoed on prior posts, he knew how to run a successful broadcast business. He led by example and made such a great impact on broadcast media. My sympathy to his family and friends at this time.
 
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