John Gehron joins Chicago-based AccuRadio as its lead management consultant

Gehron and AccuRadio’s Kurt Hanson first worked together in the 1970s, when Gehron (“GEH-run”) was programming top 40 WLS, Chicago (890) and researcher Hanson was doing a two-year internship through the University of Chicago. In Gehron’s new formalized role with Internet radio creator AccuRadio, he’ll work on raising new money from investors. That will be used to build out the management team and sales force, and to launch a national marketing campaign. Gehron says “there are really only four meaningful brands of personalizable Internet radio – Pandora, Slacker, [CBS-owned] Last.FM, and AccuRadio.” He says “while the first three are great for early adopters and music enthusiasts, there’s a big opportunity in the market for a brand like AccuRadio that’s aimed at a more mainstream, mass-appeal listener base.” Gehron was the first PD at WCBS-FM, New York (101.1) when it went oldies, the GM of oldies WODS, Boston, the GM of smooth jazz pioneer WNUA, Chicago, and later COO of American Radio Systems and senior VP of programming for CBS, as well as Chicago market manager for Clear Channel and the first general manager of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Radio. He’ll be working with AccuRadio’s Slipstream Radio project, aimed at helping terrestrial broadcasters build Internet services that users can customize. He says “since the [online music] royalty situation has just recently been resolved, Kurt and I firmly believe the time to take AccuRadio to the next level is now.”

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