Radio Owner and Pioneer Cecil Heftel Dead at 85

RADIO ONLINE | , , | :am CT

Former radio and TV station owner Cecil Heftel, who also served as a U.S. congressman in Hawaii's first district, has died. He was 85. Heftel died Friday in San Diego of natural causes, according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Heftel, a Chicago native, settled in Honolulu after attending New York University for graduate work. He established Heftel Broadcasting where he owned KGMB-AM & FM, as well as KGMB-TV and several other television and radio stations across the country.

In 1957, Heftel was one of the pioneers of top 40 radio when he purchased KIMN-AM/Denver, taking it to number one in the market. Heftel sold the station in 1960 and returned to Hawaii. In 1973 he re-entered the mainland with the purchase of CHR WHYI-FM/Miami. Imaging the station as Y-100, in 1974 Heftel hired consultant John Rook, who brought in PD Bill Tanner.

Heftel also purchased WJAS-AM/Pittsburgh which he later sold. In the mid-80s he partnered with Scott Ginsburg as H&G Communications owning a group that included WLUP-FM (The Loop)/Chicago, stations in Miami and other markets.

Heftel Broadcasting -- which had accumulated stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas and Miami -- was acquired by Clear Channel in 1996. This in turn was merged with Tichenor Media into Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. HBC was then acquired by Univision Radio.

As a democrat, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1976 to 1986 for the First Congressional District, encompassing most of urban Honolulu. Most recently, he was elected to the Hawaii Board of Education in 2004.