CBS Radio has named Byron "Ron" Harrell director of music programming for its DFW stations, effective Sept. 17. Harrell will serve as program director for classic hits KLUV/98.7 FM, whose longtime program director, Peter Zolnowski (known to listeners as Peter Z.), recently departed, and for KVIL-FM/103.7 FM "Lite FM." Harrell will also provide "strategic guidance" for all CBS Radio DFW music brands, which include "adult hits" station KJKK/100.3 FM "Jack-FM" and Spanish contemporary station KMVK/107.5 FM "Mega" as well as several HD Radio stations. Harrell is a 23-year programming vet who most recently was program director for WDVD, WRDQ and WJR in Detroit and regional operations manager for Cumulus Broadcasting’s 47 stations in the Michigan/Northwest Ohio region. He has also worked in Nashville and Jackson, Miss. He has a master's degree in mass communication from Abilene Christian University, where he has been recognized as a distinguished alumnus with ACU’s Gutenberg Award.
In the August Arbitron ratings, KLUV placed fifth among overall listeners in DFW, with a 4.4 share, or percentage of listening audience, compared with longtime leader KHKS/106.1 FM's 7.3 share. KVIL and KJKK were part of a four-way tie for ninth with 3.3 shares, which is respectable in DFW; KVIL is the only station to have beaten KHKS recently, and that's only during the Christmas season when KVIL traditionally gets a bump from playing all-holiday music starting in November. KMVK was 14th with a 2.8 share. Those overall numbers do not reflect the target-demographic ratings that stations use in selling to advertisers.
