Midwest Communications/Knoxville VP/Market Manager Randy Ross Has Died

Randy Ross

ALL ACCESS sends condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of MIDWEST COMMUNICATIONS KNOXVILLE, TN VP/Market Mgr. JOHN RANDALL "RANDY" ROSS, who passed away unexpectedly on MONDAY (1/25) at his home. ROSS, who was 56, oversaw four stations in KNOXVILLE: Classic Rock WIMZ, AC WJXB, Classic Country WDKW (DUKE FM) and Adult Hits WNFZ (JACK FM). 

ROSS began his 38-year radio career on the programming side at WGOW and KSKZ (KZ106)/CHATTANOOGA, TN before segueing to sales and management. He landed in KNOXVILLE in 2002 as Sales Manager when the now MIDWEST cluster was owned by SOUTH CENTRAL MEDIA. After the sale to MIDWEST, ROSS was promoted to VP/Market Mgr.

MIDWEST COMMUNICATIONS Pres./CEO DUKE WRIGHT said, "It would be hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t like RANDY. He had a tremendous sense of business, leadership and fairness. RANDY was deeply loved by his team in KNOXVILLE and throughout the MIDWEST COMMUNICATIONS group. Words can’t express our sadness."

A longtime friend of ROSS', DAVE CARROLL, said in a statement: "We've lost RANDY ROSS, way too soon. Let me tell you a story. When I was at KZ-106, this kid from ROSSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL was attending DALTON STATE COLLEGE. He loved KZ. His dream was to be on the radio. He applied for a job. We had one job opening: janitor. 'I'll take it!' he said. That's how badly he wanted to get his foot in the door.

"While he was working in the building, he watched and learned," CARROLL continued. "Several months later, he finally got to be on the radio. It was late one night, after an ELTON JOHN concert at the arena. He was great. From there, he worked his way up to the morning show, and into sales. He eventually became one of the top radio station market managers in the state of TENNESSEE, supervising dozens of employees. I never heard anyone say a negative word about him. He was friendly, happy, and rock-solid.

"I have often shared his story with students who asked me how to get the job of their dreams. He was my example. I finally got to tell him that in person in 2019. He was very flattered and humble. If you're lucky, you will meet one person like that in your lifetime. RANDY was my guy."

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