Leslie Fram is an American media executive. A former radio programmer and dj, she is the senior vice president of music strategy for

Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...

. Fram oversees CMT's "Next Women of Country" campaign, which has promoted artists such as Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris and Kacey Musgraves, and mentors female executives in the music industry. She is a co-founder of Change the Conversation, a Nashville-based organization which fights gender discrimination and seeks to improve the environment for women in country music. .

Career

Fram's first professional job was at WABF in Fairhope, Alabama. She hosted weekend shows including ''Platter Ladder''. Later, Fram went to work at

WABB WABB is an American radio station located in Belton, South Carolina, The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast on 1390 AM with a transmitter power of 1,000 watts during the day and 17 watts at night unde ...

& WABB-FM in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, where she rose to the positions of program director and operations manager while hosting an afternoon show. In 1990, Fram joined Power 99 in Atlanta, working the morning show with Rick Stacy and Tom Clark as "The Breakfast Club". When Power 99 became 99X in 1992, Fram remained in the mornings, eventually co-hosting the Morning X with Steve Barnes and

Jimmy Baron Jimmy Baron (born November 13, 1961) is an American disc jockey on commercial radio. He has also acted in several TV shows and movies from 1980 to 1985. Films include ''Risky Business'', '' The Sure Thing'', and ''Heart Like a Wheel''. Telev ...

. She also served as the station's program director. Fram co-hosted the ''Toucher'''', Jimmy, and Leslie Morning Show''. After briefly co-hosting mornings with Axel Lowe, Fram became co-host of ''New Morning X'' with Sean Demery and Rob Jenners. In 1998, she became the narrator for the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

quasi- documentary series '' ToonHeads''. In January 2008, she was laid off from 99X due to a steady decline in ratings and revenue since 2002, as well as 99X's format flip. On June 16, 2008, Fram was appointed Program Director at Emmis Communications-owned 101.9

WRXP WGVX, WLUP and WWWM-FM are three separate radio stations that make up a trimulcast serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul media market, radio market. The three stations are owned by Cumulus Media, along with sister stations KQRS-FM and KXXR. The ...

-FM ("the New York Rock Experience") in New York City. In addition to her duties as Program Director, Fram co-hosted the WRXP show with former MTV/VH1 personality Matt Pinfield. The show was originally broadcast during the morning drive slot from 6 AM to 10 AM but moved to mid-days from 10 AM to 3 PM until WRXP switched formats on July 15, 2011. Fram is currently the Senior Vice President of Music Strategy at

One Country in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

.Stark, Phylli
Nashville Execs Say Tide Is Slowly Turning for Female Country Artists
''Billboard''. March 24, 2016

Recognition

Fram was the first woman to receive the T.J. Martell Award in recognition of outstanding performance in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

. In 2000 and 2001, she was named Program Director of the Year by the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...

'' and Program Director of the Year by ''

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

''. Referred to as the "First Lady of Modern Rock", Fram received th
2003 Heroes Award
from the Atlanta chapter of the Recording Academy (aka

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

). In November 2007, Fram was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...

' Achievement in Radio (A.I.R.) Awards.

References

External links

CMT Change the Conversation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fram, Leslie Radio personalities from Atlanta Radio personalities from New York City Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American businesspeople in mass media Television personalities from New York City American women television personalities