Campaigning for a candidate and marketing a radio station may not seem like they have many similarities, but if you ask Jay McCarthy, they do. Three years as a campaign manager and political consultant helped hone his strategic planning skills and taught him the most effective ways to call a community to action. Making the transition to Radio programming was a great marriage between those skills and his creativity. McCarthy’s experience in the creation and execution of direct mail, television and print campaigns allowed him to rise to the forefront of the radio industry, being named to Radio Ink Magazine’s list of the Top 10 Country Program Directors in America. Jay’s career in radio began seventeen years ago, hosting an overnight show in Binghamton, NY; took him to Ocala, FL, Poughkeepsie, NY and Hartford, CT, where he was named Regional Director of Country Programming for Clear Channel Communications. After a brief stint in Jacksonville, FL, Jay landed at CBS Radio’s KMLE in Phoenix, AZ in October of 2003. Under his leadership, the station rose from 13th place to 1st in the Arbitron General Market ratings.