DAYTON, OHIO — Her career in the radio broadcasting industry started at “high-flyin’” WING-AM, at the time the Top 40 leader in the Gem City of Ohio. There, she rose to VP and Assistant General Manager following roles in promotion, marketing, and research.
In 1990, she became the first woman to manage a radio station in the Miami Valley, bringing WMMX-FM to life as “MIX 107.7.”
Now, Deborah Parenti, recently named President of the Radio, TV & Podcasting Division for Radio Ink, Podcast Business Journal and RBR+TVBR parent Streamline Publishing, is receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award for her positive contributions to Dayton radio.
The founding members of the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame notified Parenti on Monday (9/27) of their intent to honor her with the award.
“Your achievements in the field of broadcasting have not gone unnoticed,” the group’s Jim Johnson, Sharon Howard and Retha Phillips said in their letter to Parenti. “The many recognitions that you continue to receive from the broadcast industry nationwide make it that much more deserved.”
The plan is for Parenti to be recognized at the next Hall of Fame event, which is yet to be scheduled owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parenti said, “I am so proud to have been a part of the Dayton broadcast community and to continue to watch and listen to the dedicated professionals who carry on the tradition of excellence that is part of Dayton’s media heritage. This is an incredible honor and I am truly grateful to so many here with whom I have had the privilege to work with over the years.”
Parenti’s career includes several years at Great Trails Broadcasting, which transitioned the Top 40 format from WING to WGTZ, creating “Z93,” a Top 40 leader across the 1980s. She later joined Stoner Broadcasting, serving as General Sales Manager at Stoner’s WDJX-FM 99.7 in Louisville before returning to Dayton in 1990 as VP/General Manager of the former WWSN. Under her leadership, the station would become WMMX “Mix 107.7,” a station that today remains one of Dayton’s most listened to FM radio choices.
Later, Parenti would become VP/GM of American Radio Systems’ Dayton group, earning a
major profile in the February 1997 issue of Working Woman magazine for her role in
developing one of the first consolidated radio sales platforms, “Radio First!” In September
1997, Parenti would leave her hometown of Dayton for a position as VP/GM of Beasley
Broadcast Group’s country-formatted WXTU-FM in Philadelphia. From 1999-2010, Parenti was a board member of Vox Radio.
Today, Parenti is again based in the Dayton area and has served as EVP/Publisher of what was formerly known as Streamline Publishing’s audio division since joining the company founded by Chairman/CEO B. Eric Rhoads in January 2007. She assumed leadership of Radio + Television Business Report with its acquisition by Streamline Publishing in February 2013. The company launched Podcast Business Journal in the late 2010s.
Parenti is also a Board Member of the Alliance for Women in Media. She completed NABEF’s
Broadcast Leadership Training Program in 2001. She also sits on the College Broadcasters Inc. advisory committee.
