Head of Buckley Broadcasting, NY's WOR Radio dies

[August 01, 2011]  QUOGUE, N.Y. (AP) -- The chairman and president of Buckley Broadcasting, parent company of the WOR Radio news and talk station, has died.

Rick Buckley, who was believed to be in his late 70s, suffered a brain embolism on Saturday and died early Sunday in Quogue, on Long Island, where he had a summer home, WOR News Director Joe Bartlett said.

Buckley, who lived in Greenwich, Conn., passed up chances to sell the family-owned business -- an oddity in an era of corporate radio -- and was a staunch advocate for local stations. Earlier this year, he was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Bartlett said Buckley "just loved being part of radio."

In 1972, Buckley took over for his father as the head of the company, which now includes some 20 radio stations around the country and offers syndicated programming. Before that he was president of Buckley's California stations and worked in sales and station management. He had started his career in 1960 as a page at NBC, according to the Hall of Fame's website.

Buckley was a member of the board of trustees at his alma mater, the University of Miami, where an audio broadcast facility in the School of Communication bears his name.

He is survived by his wife, Connie Buckley, and their daughter, Jennifer Buckley, who's director of sales at WOR, which broadcasts to the New York City area.

[Associated Press]

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