Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowMarty Bender, who spent more than 20 years guiding local classic-rock radio powerhouse WFBQ-FM 94.7 as program director before his abrupt firing in 2010, has landed a job in Chicago.
Bender begins duties Wednesday as program director at WILV Chicago, known as Rewind 100.3, replacing Barry James, who is retiring after 20 years at the adult-hits station. Bender was hired by Minneapolis-based Hubbard Radio LLC, which owns 21 radio stations in five of the nation’s largest cities.
Bender spent 22 years as Q-95’s programming director before becoming executive director of the Indianapolis-based station’s popular “Bob & Tom Show” in 2008. Two years later, Premiere Radio Networks Inc., a subsidiary of WFBQ parent Clear Channel Communications Inc. that syndicates “Bob & Tom” and dozens of other shows, dumped Bender in a cost-cutting move.
Bender most recently worked as programmer at Cleveland’s adult-alternative WLFM-LP 87.7, known as “Cleveland’s Sound.”
WFBQ was the top-rated station in Indianapolis for 70 quarters in a row with Bender as program director.
During his tenure, WFBQ and “Bob & Tom” won 14 Marconi awards, presented annually by the National Association of Broadcasters to the top radio stations and on-air personalities in the United States.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.