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. 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 Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2020 Census lists the population of the city as 22,477. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolita ...

. She hosted weekend shows including ''Platter Ladder''. Later, Fram went to work at WABB & WABB-FM in Mobile, Alabama, 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 Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, working the

morning show Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...

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. 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 Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

for the Cartoon Network 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-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 Matthew Pinfield (born May 28, 1961) is an American television host, disc jockey, and music executive. He first reached national prominence as VJ on MTV. He served two stints as the host of the alternative music program ''120 Minutes'', from 19 ...

. 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 Country Music Television One Country in Nashville.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. In 2000 and 2001, she was named Program Director of the Year by the '' Gavin Report'' and Program Director of the Year by '' Radio & Records''. Referred to as the "First Lady of Modern Rock", Fram received th
2003 Heroes Award
from the

chapter of the

Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

(aka Grammy). In November 2007, Fram was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 March of Dimes' 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