Leadership Change at Times-Shamrock as Loftus Retires

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, July 7, 2025 | 5:11pm CT

Diane Sutter

Times-Shamrock Communications is entering a new era of leadership following the retirement of CEO Jim Loftus, who steps down after 18 months in the role and a career spanning decades in Pennsylvania radio. The company has appointed board member Diane Sutter as Acting CEO and expanded the responsibilities of Chief Financial Officer Scott Brickel, who will now also serve as Chief Operating Officer.

Board Chair Bill Goodspeed said the transition is a natural next step: "Both Diane and Scott are very familiar with our stations and have been working with our teams for quite some time. We are very pleased we could look inside the organization to identify the talent to continue to lead and move the company forward."

Sutter brings a long track record of broadcast leadership to the role. She has served on the Times-Shamrock board since 2021 and is President and CEO of ShootingStar Broadcasting, a company she founded in the late 1990s. Her previous executive roles include President of Shamrock Television, EVP of Operations for Shamrock Broadcasting, and GM posts in Pittsburgh and Lexington.

Sutter has also served as trustee of CBS's KFWB Asset Trust and has held board seats with other broadcast groups and Futuri Media. She is the founder and dean of the NAB Leadership Foundation's Broadcast Leadership Training program and a recipient of the NAB National Radio Award.

Brickel has served as Times-Shamrock's CFO since 2019 and previously held senior financial roles with non-media companies in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. As COO, he now assumes added operational responsibilities for the company's station portfolio.

Loftus rejoined Times-Shamrock as CEO in January 2024 after previously serving as its COO from 1997 to 2005. A fixture in Pennsylvania broadcasting, he began his career on-air before taking on leadership roles at WFIL and WUSL Philadelphia, Susquehanna Radio, CBS Radio Philadelphia, WBEB, and most recently Seven Mountains Media, where he was COO from 2018 to 2023.

Times-Shamrock owns seven radio stations in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including WEZX-FM, WQFM-FM, WEJL-AM, WLGD-FM, WPZX-FM, WBAX-FM, and WFUZ-FM; WZBA (100.7 The Bay) in Baltimore; and holds a 50% stake in the Milwaukee Radio Alliance, which operates four stations in partnership with All-Pro Broadcasting.