Remembering Dick Oppenheimer

• Our thoughts are with the family, friends of former longtime broadcast executive Dick Oppenheimer, who died Wednesday, March 21 the age of 84.

Oppenheimer initially caught the radio bug while working at Seton Hall’s campus radio station. After a stint at Savoy Records, Oppenheimer moved to Houston in 1966 to manage KYOK-AM, one of only two early African American-programmed stations. In 1969, Starr Broadcasting bought KYOK and Oppenheimer was promoted to Senior Vice President and went on to help Starr become the first publicly traded company with exclusive radio and TV holdings.

In 1977, Oppenheimer left Starr to launch Capitol Cities Broadcasting, purchasing religious KIXL/Austin and KBFM/McAllen-Brownsville. In 1980, he purchased KHFI/Austin, flipped it to Top 40 as K98, propelling the Class A stick to No. 1 12+. After expanding into Baton Rouge, Little Rock, Mobile and Beaumont, Capitol Cities Broadcasting was sold for one of the highest prices ever paid for a group of its size. Two weeks later, Oppenheimer launched Signature Broadcasting, going on to acquire stations in Columbia, SC, Nashville, Pittsburgh and McAllen-Brownsville before selling the company in 1996. Oppenheimer was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. [Special thanks to the Texas Association Of Broadcasters]