In Memoriam: Ray Rosenblum
March 3, 2018Ray Rosenblum, a local broadcaster, station broker, and friend of this website, died earlier this week. Ray was born in Butler where his parents founded WISR (680), named for his grandfather Isaac Samuel Rosenblum. Ray worked at the station in his early years and went on to create, manage, and own stations in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. It was in the 1980s that Rosenblum took on the role of consultant, broker and appraiser for broadcast properties. He was well-known throughout the country for his work.
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Eric…you really had to know Ray Rosenblum to realize just how connected he really was. He traded more stations that most of the bigger radio brokerage firms, and he did it all himself. He was very much a hands-on broker, and he had a station to fit every budget. If a certain station wasn’t a good investment for a first-time owner, he would tell you. He wanted broadcasters to succeed. No one has been in radio (at least in Western Pennsylvania) without knowing that name and what it meant. When he called a station and asked to speak to the owner, we all knew to get our tapes and resumes ready…because Ray called a radio station for one reason and one reason only. Though most of the time we kept our jobs after an ownership change, the mere mention of his name reminded us not to take our jobs for granted. He was an amazing individual who worked tirelessly and his attention to detail was second to none. I know other station brokers who didn’t come close to working as hard as he did. Rest in peace, Ray.