Tom Joyner and many of the staff at REACH Media Inc. had great relationships with Casey Kasem. Today they honored him and reflected on his preference to be a Detroit Tiger baseball player. Imagine, what would have been baseball’s gain would have been a major loss for radio.
Tom Joyner (via Twitter): “Today we lost someone I admired, Casey Kasem. He was world class, knew the power of radio, and will truly be missed.”Many members of the REACH Media staff worked with bringing Kasem back to prominence in 1998 when they launched American top 40 with Casey Kasem and AMFM Radio Networks. In the mid-90s, while he broadcast for Westwood One, the American top 40 name stayed with ABC and Shadoe Stevens.
Through a unique opportunity in AMFM Radio Networks was able to secure Casey as well as the name American Top 40 and launch the show back to prominence in the late 90s into the new millennium. (Full article below)Marty Raab, who did the marketing for American top 40 With Casey Kasem at AMFM and is currently Senior Vice President of Marketing, Digital, Events and Communications REACH Media Inc. noted:”Dedicating today to Casey Kasem! It was a career highlight for me and many of my counterparts at AMFM to work with such a class individual. When we re-launched American top 40 in 1998, I remember Casey recording the first show back, and taking time into the evening production to show his daughter Kerri Kasem some broadcast techniques that would ultimately benefit her career.”Raab continued, “He never turned down anyone when they approached him to talk about the show or a long-distance dedication they remembered.
As a fellow Detroiter, we were both able to talk about his experiences at Wayne State University and love of the Detroit Tigers. He said his first choice for a career would’ve been the play for the Tigers… He loved the fact that he went to the first night game that the Detroit Tigers played in 1948.”