Who's Who at WONN

Phil Wayne

Phil (Weiner) began his radio career in 1959 while a broadcasting major at Emerson College in Boston where he graduated with the Class of 1961. After college, he spent some time working in the family business before signing on for six months active duty with the Army Reserve.

In September of 1962 Phil headed for Florida and got a job at WYSE in Lakeland doing the morning show and sales. When three key people from WONN (morning man and sales rep Buddy Penn, Sales Manager Tom Dell and Program Director Mark Wheeler) were hired by WYSE in the spring of 1963 to change the Top 40 station to a middle-of-the-road WWAB, he found himself squeezed out. Fortunately, he got one of the two full-time sales positions left open at WONN when Penn and Dell departed.

Phil headed back up north in October of 1964 to accept the position of Vice-President and Sales Manager at WBEC AM/FM in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In April of 1977 he became a minority stockholder in two other Pittsfield stations, WUPE-FM and WUHN-AM. In 1988 he bought out the other stockholders and formed Weiner Broadcasting and became sole owner, President, CEO, and General Manager of the two stations. He also held a minority interest in WFPG-FM and WIIN-AM in Atlantic City, New Jersey from 1981 to 1984.

Hard work doesn’t come without its rewards and Phil’s two Pittsfield operations were named Stations of the Year by the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association and finalists for the National Association of Broadcasters’ Crystal Award in 2001 and 2002. He has been Chairman of the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association and the organization’s Secretary, and has also been President and on the Board of Directors of the International Broadcasters Idea Bank.

In 2003 Phil sold his stations and retired and continues to make his home in Pittsfield. On September 18, 2010, he was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Station History