Dusty Harrah has been named the new brand manager of 1080 The Fan and ESPN Portland 910. Harrah officially announced the promotion on his Facebook account on Friday night, saying it’s an exciting and surreal opportunity to be the steward of such a special place.
Harrah replaces Jeff Austin, who announced his retirement from the Audacy brand last month.
“17 years ago, I was hired as a part time board operator, pushing buttons to run commercials for Mariners games,” explained Harrah on his Facebook post. “I didn’t even know I’d ever want to be the Brand Manager. But when the man who hired me, the great Jeff Austin, announced he was retiring I really started to think about it.”
Over the years, Harrah has served at The Fan in nearly every role, from a board operator, update anchor, producer, online contributor, and host. Now, as he steps into the brand manager role, Harrah says he will have to pull back on some of his current duties to concentrate on the responsibilities of his new position.
“As I put together a business plan and dove into what the role would be,” said Harrah. “It means I will give up, what I thought was my reason for being in radio, hosting a daily show. But, The Fan is special to me and so are the people who work for the station and in our building at Audacy Portland.”
Previously, the retired Austin had served as the brand manager of 1080 The Fan and 910 ESPN Radio Portland since 2008. Before arriving in ‘Rip City,’ his career included stops in Salt Lake City, UT, where he was running the Utah Jazz radio flagship. Additionally, he spent time in Columbus, OH, and at WWPA in Williamsport, PA, under programming manager Scott Masteller.
“When Jeff Austin made me his first hire at The Fan, there were only six employees and one local show,” noted Harrah. “What I am handed is a station with three local daily shows, five weekly shows and eighteen employees. We have great people and great leadership in our GM and Sales Manager. The Fan is already healthy, now the job is to grow it even stronger.”
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