Home Login RADIO ONLINE RSS Facebook
Advertisement

Benztown Expands Production Team


Darren Silva & Jake Urbanek
Darren Silva & Jake Urbanek

Benztown is expanding its production leadership team with the addition of Darren Silva as West Coast Director of Commercial Production for the company and client YamanAir. Also joining the company is Jake Urbanek as Production Manager, Long Form Programming. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Silva joins Benztown after 22 years as Network Production Manager for Radio Disney in Los Angeles. He specializes in commercial production, imaging, writing, and voiceover. Silva got his start in radio in 1984 as an overnight jock for his hometown station in San Luis Obispo, CA, then moved to Los Angeles in 1987 to be on-air at the legendary 105.5 KNAC under the name "Dangerous Darren", and headed to Dallas in 1995 to rock the airways on 97.1 The Eagle. Silva joined Radio Disney in 1998. He has also been with SiriusXM for the past 17 years as a DJ on Hair Nation, Ozzy's Boneyard, and Classic Rewind.

Urbanek imports from Apple Music in Los Angeles, where he was Assistant Producer of The Zane Lowe Show. Prior to that, he was Audio Engineer for over 8 years Mr. Smalls Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA. He was also Sound Engineer for the Washington Symphony Orchestra in Washington, PA. Urbanek studied Commercial Music Technology at California University of Pennsylvania, where he hosted a weekly radio show on WCAL 91.9 FM.

"Darren and Jake are world class producers with remarkable resumes and amazing attitudes," said Dave "Chachi" Denes, President, Benztown. "We're ecstatic to have them both join the Benztown team!"

"I've been aware of the Benztown company and brand since they started," said Silva. "I've been in touch with them since my days with Radio Disney. The talent at Benztown is unmatched and I am honored to be part of this company and work with these amazing people, as well as with Yaman and the amazing creative team at YamanAir."

"I look forward to working and learning from the best, while bringing my experience in production to such an amazingly talented and driven team," added Urbankek.

Advertisement

Latest Radio Stories

WBUR Boston CEO Margaret Low to Retire in June 2027
Margaret Low
Margaret Low
WBUR-FM (90.9) Boston Chief Executive Officer Margaret Low has announced plans to retire at the end of June 2027, concluding nearly seven years leading the public radio news organization. Low, 67, informed employees of her decision in a memo Tuesday morning. Low joined WBUR in January 2020 following a More

DTS AutoStage Expands Radio Measurement to 550 Markets
Xperi
Xperi
Xperi Inc. has announced a major expansion of its DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal, adding 246 U.S. markets and bringing its total audience measurement coverage to 550 markets across 49 states. The expansion includes 173 previously under-measured small and mid-sized radio markets. More

Flor Leibaschoff Named 2027 Radio Mercury Chief Judge
Flor Leibaschoff
Flor Leibaschoff
The Radio Mercury Awards has named Flor Leibaschoff, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of BeautifulBeast, as chief judge for the 36th annual Radio Mercury Awards competition in 2027. Leibaschoff brings more than 25 years of advertising experience to the role, with a career focused on creative More
Advertisement

KODS Reno Morning Host Panama Hoston Dies at 66
Panama Hoston
Panama Hoston
Longtime Northern Nevada radio personality Panama Hoston, known to listeners simply as "Panama," died Sunday evening at Renown Medical Center from complications of liver failure. He was 66. Hoston was a familiar voice on Reno Media Group's KODS-FM (103.7 The River) and 1270 AM The Buzz, where he had More

Alpha Libraries Launches Radio Imaging Platform
Alpha Imaging For Radio
Alpha Imaging For Radio
SourceAudio's Alpha Libraries has launched Alpha Imaging for Radio, a new production resource offering 750,000 imaging and sound design elements to help radio stations develop distinctive, custom-branded audio across all formats. Built on the existing Alpha Libraries platform, which features 3.9 million More

Gordon Deal's Morning Show Reaches 325 Affiliates
Compass Media Networks
Compass Media Networks
"This Morning, America's First News" with Gordon Deal has added 20 new affiliate stations, bringing the nationally syndicated news program's total to 325 affiliates across the country. Among the latest additions are KMOX-AM in St. Louis, WCCO-AM in Minneapolis and KMBX in Las Vegas, expanding More

Return to Menu

Advertisement

Subscribe to our Newsletter
Radio news and headlines delivered right to your e-mail box -- and it's free.

Advertisement

Advertisement