The radio industry lost one of its respected leaders this week. Dave Alpert, a longtime market manager with deep roots in the business, passed away after a private battle with cancer. His wife, Angela, shared the sad news on Facebook.
“Last night my husband, my love, my best friend Dave passed away,” she wrote. She explained that Alpert chose to keep his four-year cancer battle off of social media. As a result, many colleagues were unaware he was even ill. Angela noted that the final weeks came quickly, and doctors could not do more for him. Details on a Celebration of Life will be announced soon.
Alpert built a distinguished career spanning multiple markets and companies. He spent 13 years in Kansas City, where he served as Senior Vice President and Market Manager for Entercom. Before joining Entercom, he managed stations for Susquehanna in Kansas City from 2000 to 2003. He later held a similar role with Cumulus Media in the same market from 2006 to 2007.
His responsibilities eventually grew well beyond Kansas City. Following Entercom’s merger with CBS Radio in 2017, Alpert stepped into a Regional President role. In that capacity, he oversaw stations in Indianapolis, Madison, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Wichita. He remained in that position until a company realignment in October 2020.
Earlier in his career, Alpert served as General Manager in Fort Myers, Greenville, Nashville, and Sarasota. Those experiences shaped him into the versatile leader the industry came to know. He returned to the sunshine state in early 2021, which is where he resided until his passing.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, colleagues will remember him as passionate, genuine and committed. Barrett Media’s Jason Barrett holds him in high regard as he was one of the first executives to retain Barrett for consultation. Our thoughts go out to Angela and the entire Alpert family.
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Thank you. Nice article.
What a wonderful article, well done!
Nice tribute to a good guy. Dave was my GM for a time at WLAC in Nashville, and I remember he had confidence in us to do our work. That’s leadership! Requiescat in Pace.