Marc Chase (born April 7, 1960) (aka Mark Thompson) is an American radio executive currently working for

Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...

as the President of Tribune Interactive.

History

Chase, although born in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, considers himself a native of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. He entered radio broadcasting as a disc-jockey for WRFS in Alexander City, Alabama while attending

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. His on-air career took him to WJHO-Opelika, Alabama, WFRI-Auburn, Alabama, WSGF-Savannah, Georgia, and

WMJJ WMJJ (96.5 FM, "Magic 96.5") is a radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama. Owned by San Antonio-based iHeartMedia, it broadcasts an adult contemporary format. This format temporarily switches to Christmas music for the months of November ...

-Birmingham. In August 1984 he was approached by

WKXX WKXX (102.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to the community of Attalla, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Broadcast Media LLC. WKXX broadcasts a classic country music format to the greater Gadsden, Alabama area. History This stati ...

-Birmingham. In the process of making that move, his name changed to Marc Chase. The next move was to WYHY-Nashville where he became Program Director and led the station to its first ever #1

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

ratings in 1987. In October 1989, Marc Chase left Nashville to become the Program Director and morning co-host of “The Power Pig” (

WFLZ WFLZ-FM (93.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Tampa, Florida. It airs a contemporary hit radio (CHR/Top 40) radio format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. The station's studios and offices are located on Gandy Boulevard in South ...

-Tampa). The Power Pig became the number one radio station in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

, unseating legendary CHR station

WRBQ-FM WRBQ-FM (104.7 FM, "Q105") is a commercial classic hits music formatted radio station in Tampa, Florida. Owned by Beasley Broadcast Group, its studios are in St. Petersburg while its transmitter is in Palm River-Clair Mel. History Top 40 (197 ...

(Q105) in 74 days. In January 1994, Chase left WFLZ to become the operations manager of

WEBN WEBN (102.7 FM) – branded as 102-7 WEBN – is a commercial mainstream rock radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, serving Greater Cincinnati. Owned by iHeartMedia, WEBN serves as the FM flagship for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio ...

-Cincinnati.FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!
/ref> When radio began deregulation in 1996, Chase was appointed Regional Vice President of Programming for

Jacor Communications Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...

. When Jacor was purchased by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

in 1998, Chase became a Senior Vice President of Programming, a job he held for over a decade.

Departure from Clear Channel

Chase had been with Jacor/Clear Channel since 1985

Accolades

Chase has been the recipient of

Radio and 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 ...

Awards in multiple formats (CHR and Rock) for programmer and station of the Year ( WYHY,

). Marc Chase was the first program director to ever win

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

s Program Director of the week award twice in one year (1989). He was also named one of the best program directors in Radio by the Trade Magazine Radio Ink.

Side projects

Marc Chase also uses his entertainment talent on the weekly television show ''Movie Underground'' on WGN America, playing the character of the Night Watchman. Chase has been playing the Night Watchman since 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Marc 1960 births Living people Auburn University alumni