Remembering Bob Moore
• Bob Moore, one of the radio industry’s most respected and innovative executives, passed away Tuesday evening, Nov. 10 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy spanning decades of broadcasting, some of radio’s most recognizable personalities, and programming decisions that helped shape the sound of Los Angeles radio.
The radio industry has lost one of the executives who helped shape an important chapter in the history of Los Angeles broadcasting. Bob Moore built a career on instinct, an appreciation for talent, a willingness to challenge conventional thinking, and an understanding that successful radio has always required the courage to try something different. For Moore, radio was never simply about managing a station. It was about creating something people wanted to listen to, assembling the right people to make it happen, and giving them the opportunity to succeed.
A native of Oshkosh, WI, Moore eventually made his way to Los Angeles to work for Greater Media, overseeing KHTZ, KLSX and KRLA. In 1986, he was involved in establishing KLSX’s Classic Rock identity, demonstrating an early willingness to recognize an opportunity and reposition a station in a competitive market.
Moore’s career took another significant turn in 1991 when he joined Westwood One as Executive Vice President of the Stations Group and was given responsibility for KQLZ (Pirate Radio), a high-profile operation that was attempting to make its mark in the market’s fiercely competitive rock landscape.
Returning to KLSX and KRLA in late 1994, Moore embarked on what would arguably become his most defining professional achievement — in August 1995, KLSX made a dramatic departure from its Classic Rock heritage and became an entertainment-oriented FM Talk station. The concept was unconventional, the lineup was adventurous, and the decision was hardly without risk. Moore and his programming partners were betting that listeners would embrace a different kind of talk radio: less focused on traditional political commentary and more centered on humor, entertainment, personality and everyday life.
Moore was instrumental in shepherding Howard Stern‘s arrival to the Los Angeles market. The initial lineup on KLSX included Stern, Kato Kaelin, Susan Olsen, Ken Ober and The Regular Guys, and later, Tom Leykis and Adam Carolla. It was a bold undertaking that ultimately paid off. KLSX became one of the most recognizable and commercially successful FM Talk stations in the country. By 2000, Radio & Records was recognizing Moore as one of the industry’s standout GMs, noting that the station had become one of the Top Ten billing stations nationally.
His professional relationships also brought him into contact with some of the most important figures in broadcasting, including Howard Stern, Mel Karmazin, Farid Suleman, Steve Lehman, The Real Don Steele, Tom Leykis, Dan Mason, Norm Pattiz and Art Laboe. Moore considered the opportunity to work with such extraordinary radio personalities and industry figures one of the great blessings of his career.
Moore continued his broadcasting career with senior management responsibilities with CBS Radio, including a return to the Los Angeles market’s larger management structure. His career was marked by the ability to move between different ownership groups, markets and formats while remaining focused on the fundamentals of the business: talent, programming, audience connection and revenue.
For those who worked alongside him, Bob Moore’s legacy is not simply a list of stations managed or titles held — it was also his willingness to make difficult decisions, the confidence to pursue an unconventional idea, and the belief that radio could be reinvented without losing the personality that made it special in the first place. In a business that has undergone enormous changes in ownership, technology, distribution and audience behavior, Bob Moore represented a generation of radio executives who understood that success ultimately came down to people and ideas. He leaves behind a career that helped shape Los Angeles radio and a professional legacy that deserves to be remembered and celebrated. Radio was fortunate to have him.
Bob Moore is survived by his loving wife Helen, cherished daughter Daron, wonderful son-in-law Dan, his beautiful grandkids Bode and Jovi, and his beloved dog Lupin. [Special thanks to The Weiss Agency]
