John Ryman has had a 50-year career in broadcasting that has included on-air talent, program director, sales management, and station ownership. After 20 years with CBS Radio in Dallas, he retired and moved to Gun Barrel City, where he recently built a new home. Ryman's career includes helping develop award-winning formats, managing background music systems for businesses, overseeing operations at 20 stations as VP and COO, and working as a sales trainer where he helped develop non-traditional revenue strategies that are common in radio sales today. He is a former president of the DFW Association of Radio Stations and has received numerous civic and community awards, including a 2014 nomination to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame

1. John Ryman's career in broadcasting spans 50 years, his jobs have
included being on air talent, program director, major account
services, senior management and ownership. Retiring after 20
years with CBS Radio in Dallas, John moved to Gun Barrel City a
couple of years ago and just completed building a new home there.
Beginning in the mid '60s going from part timer to Program
Director at KOLE (on air name: Charlie Brown), developed an
award winning format with the mentorship of Ron Chapman at
sister station KVIL in Dallas, transfered to Dallas in the early '70s
to the KVIL Organization, he remained active in radio operations
while managing KVIL Music Systems (later morphing into DCSI,
Dallas Communications Systems, Inc.), developing a new
contemporary background music system to releive businesses of
the "elevator music" syndrome. One of the first major clients was
the nationwide restaurant chain Steak and Ale. The central studio
approach to music and programming lead to many developments
within the industry. After KVIL was sold to Fairbanks
Broadcasting he was promoted to VP/Chief Operating Officer of
Gulf States Broadcasting, sister company of Carla Broadcasting,
Inc. which owned KVIL. John oversaw management at the
company's numerous smaller market stations, the number varied as
markets were always being added and sold (twenty total stations at
the peak of operations). He negotiated sale/purchase as well as
preparing and supervising filings with the Federal
Communications Commision, working closely with commisioners
to insure smoth transitions. He has been cited for outstanding

2. performance with the FCC and has appeared as an expert witness
in hearings before the commission. He partnered with Bob Hanna
and Grady Sanders in a venture to lease and operate a "border
blaster" station, XEROK in Juarez, Mexico, across the border from
El Paso. The station was three times as powerful as the most
powerful US stations (150,000 watts) and could be heard all over
the contential US. It became very popular as "The Sun City
Rocker," programing in english and playing top 40 music. It
became a #1 listened to night time station in almost every market
in the US with the exception of New York City. Unknown to most
was that the programing was recorded and hand carried across the
border in accordance with the treaty/agreement with Mexico that
mandadated that Mexican Nationals must actualy broadcast
materal from the transmitter. Tapes were allowed, providing they
were handled by the ones working at the transmitter. STL or
electronic transfer of program material for broadcast/rebroadcast
were not allowed under International Treaty. It was a very
delicate balance between international government and
international business enterprise including US and Mexican
Governments, World Broadcasting, Inc. and MultiBanco
ComerMex. John was point for the US negotiations.
Leaving behind XEROK and Gulf States Broadcasting, John
purchased KGVL-AM and KIKT-FM with financial partners
Waymon and Edward McMackin, the company was know as
M&M Broadcasting. Applying major market programming and
sales strategies to a small market, the stations' flourshied and
developed several stars in sales, programming and other areas that
still work in major markets today. After the stations' sale in the
early '80s John joined Group W, Westinghouse Broadcasting in
Dallas (now CBS). While overseeing both National and local sales

3. John developed a major revenue system, almost unknown at the
time which became a big part of todays sales effort. Initally called
Alternate Revenue, the term is better known today as NTR. In the
beginning, it was a marriage of the broadcast and grocery industry.
Though he didn't invent it, he's known a s the "father of NTR" as
he showed how the process worked and fought to bring it to the
forefront of the industry. He was inducted into the prestigious
Group W Winners Circle in 1986 for leading the company's Dallas
FM Station to the number one revenue FM in the Nation. Several
of his "students" today own/oversee Major Ad Agencies
specializing in NTR and Promotional Marketing. John left CBS a
couple of times, once to join the NationWide
(Insurance)Communications team to start up MIX 109 in
Dallas.......John guided sales to record levels there as first local,
then General Sales Manager. After leaving the MIX, he then
joined KLTY-FM the nations number one contemporary Christian
station as in house sales trainer, KLTY and KWRD, The Word,
later acquired by Salem Broadcasting.
He rejoined CBS at the Oasis for a few years, then took on a
project to aid in the transition of KBFB-FM, then being sold by
Chancellor Broadcasting to Alford Liggins while sister station
KHKS (KISS-FM) was being sold to Clear Channel. John worked
closely with both the KHKS and "B" sales staff to maintain sales
and morale up during extremely difficult circumstances. John was
commended and is held in high regard for being able to make
budget with a dying station where most of the air staff was gone
and was common knowledge was going to change format. He
recruited and trained an interim sales staff to work with the few
remaining sellers. Many of these folks are still in radio and are top
performers at their respective stations. Then, John rejoined CBS

4. for the last time, working with them collectivly over twenty years
until retiring for health reasons in 2010. He is former President of
the DFW Associaton of Radio Stations RMA, member of the
Board of Directors of the DFW Food Sales Association and the
Texas Food Sales Association and holds the RAB's CRMC and
CRSM certifications, has received nummerous civic and
community awards and in 2014 was nominated to the Texas Radio
Hall of Fame. You still hear John as the voice of numerous radio
and television commercials, movie trailers and documentaries and
may even see him on stage singing with other folks you might
know, or emceeing at the Old Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.