Gary Berkowitz: America’s AC Specialist.
For more than 40 years, I've had the privilege of doing something I still love today, helping owners build great radio stations as an Adult Contemporary and Classic Hits radio programming consultant. Looking back, I realize I never really chose radio. Radio chose me.
Growing up in New York during the legendary WABC and WMCA era, I wasn't just another kid listening to the hits. I was fascinated by everything. Why one station sounded bigger than another. Why one personality connected. Why one jingle stayed in your head. Why one promotion became the talk of the town. Why one station simply felt more exciting than the others.
I didn't know it then, but I was already studying radio programming. That curiosity has never left me.
Where It All Began
At sixteen, I landed an internship at WGBB on Long Island.
Like most young people breaking into radio, I volunteered for everything. Running errands. Writing copy. Watching great personalities work. Learning anything I could.
While attending Emerson College in Boston, I worked on-air throughout New England, learning every aspect of broadcasting, from announcing and production to promotions, programming and station operations.
Those early experiences shaped the way I still think about radio today. Great radio isn't created by accident. It's created on purpose.
Building Great Radio Stations
Those early experiences opened the door to programming some of America's most successful Adult Contemporary, Top 40 and Classic Hits radio stations.
One of my first major opportunities came as the first Program Director of 92 PRO-FM in Providence, helping launch what would become one of America's legendary Top 40 stations.
From there, my career took me to some remarkable stations and some incredibly talented broadcasters.
At WROR Boston, we transformed an automated Oldies station into one of America's pioneering FM Adult Contemporary stations.
In Detroit, I had the opportunity to program WHYT, WJR, and Q95, each presenting different challenges, different audiences and different opportunities to grow. Every station taught me something. Some had enormous resources. Some didn't.
Some were market leaders. Some were challengers. But they all reinforced one lesson:
Great stations aren't built by one big idea.
They're built through hundreds of smart programming decisions made every single day. Looking back, I was fortunate to build my career during one of radio's greatest eras, learning from some of the industry's finest programmers, managers and owners.
Those experiences continue to shape every recommendation I make today.
Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting
In 1990, I founded Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting. Originally, owners hired me because of my Adult Contemporary programming experience. Sometimes they still do. But over the years, those relationships have grown into something much bigger.
Today, owners, General Managers and Program Directors rely on me as a radio programming consultant, programming partner and Fractional Program Director. My work includes:
Programming strategy
Music strategy
Radio branding
Station positioning
Talent coaching
Imaging
Programming leadership
One owner summed it up perfectly:
"I hired you for the AC...but I get your advice on the whole cluster."
That’s still one of the nicest compliments I’ve ever recieved.
Over the years, I've had the privilege of programming and consulting stations including Magic 106.7 Boston, WBEB (B101) Philadelphia, Fresh 102.7 New York, KEZK, St Louis, KYXY San Diego, WYJB, Albany, and many outstanding locally owned stations across America.
I've also worked with many of broadcasting's leading companies, including ABC Radio, CBS Radio (now Audacy), Greater Media, Saga Communications, Cumulus and iHeartMedia, along with exceptional independent broadcasters including Reno Media Group, Renda Media, McKenzie River Broadcasting, Manning Media, and many others.
Whether I'm working with a heritage Adult Contemporary station, a Classic Hits brand or a locally owned broadcaster, the mission never changes:
Build a station listeners love...and advertisers value.
Beyond Radio
When I'm not working with stations, you'll usually find me writing AC Programming Today, speaking at industry conferences, or spending time in Florida and Michigan with my wife, BJ, our family and our grandchildren.
BJ likes to joke that I'm never really off the clock. She's probably right. We'll be driving somewhere and suddenly I'll start talking about a station's music flow, an imaging line, or a positioning statement that could be stronger.
I guess some things never change. And honestly...I'm glad they haven't. After more than four decades...
I still love radio.
“Hiring you is one of the smartest things I’ve done, and I want you to know how much I appreciate all your help. Please keep arguing with me when I’m wrong, or when you think another point of view should be considered. AC KRNO and Classic Hits KODS would be far less successful stations without your integrity, intelligence and skillful guidance.”