Jimmy Steele Named PD, WZPL/Indianapolis
• Cumulus Media has tapped veteran programmer Jimmy Steele as Program Director of heritage Top 40 WZPL (99.5 ZPL)/Indianapolis, effective Monday, April 18. Steele earns the transfer from Cumulus Mobile, AL, where he has been Operations Manager for the five-station cluster, PD of Top 40 WABD and News-Talk WXQW-AM since June 2017.
Steele is a 35-year radio pro who earlier programmed iHeartMedia Hot AC WRFY (Y102) & WRAW-AM/FM (Rumba 92.3/1340)/Reading, PA. Before that he served as SVP of Programming for iHeart’s Salisbury-Ocean City, MD group and Director of Operations/Brand Manager for Saga Communications in Columbus, OH. Earlier in his career Steele was OM for Clear Channel/iHeartMedia’s San Diego group; RVPP for the company’s Columbus, OH and Central Ohio regional markets and PD of WNCI/Columbus. He also programmed WRVW (107.5 The River)/Nashville.
Christopher “Boomer” Layfield, Operations Manager of Cumulus Indianapolis, said, “There was huge interest in this position, and I spoke with a number of qualified programmers, but Jimmy stood out from the start. His programming portfolio of experience is loaded with wins and a successful history of working with top-tier talent across the country. His reverence for ZPL’s iconic standing in the market, combined with his passion for making great radio and his distinct vision of how to elevate and amplify the ZPL brand on-air, online, in the community and across social media, make him the ideal choice to become our next Program Director.”
Steele commented, “I couldn’t be more excited to be joining the Cumulus Indianapolis family and to work alongside the highly committed and talented team at 99.5 ZPL. Thank you to Boomer, Chuck Fredrick, Doug Hamand, Louie Diaz and John Dimick for the amazing opportunity.”
Steele succeeds former WZPL PD JR Ammons, who in January was named OM of Audacy’s Kansas City group.
