Michael Spears

Michael Spears is a broadcasting veteran. His career has included positions on the air and in management in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tampa. As a teenager, Spears worked at Gordon McLendon's legendary KLIF under the name Hal Martin, doing the night show while attending SMU. His night show's ratings were the highest in the history of the Dallas market, reaching at one point, nearly a 61 share of audience!

In 1969, Spears moved to Canada to work at Bill Drake's CKLW, near Detroit.

In 1972 McLendon chose Spears to launch Dallas' first live FM station KNUS. The station became #1 in 90 days!

In 1978 Spears and partners Bill Bungeroth and Paul Bilzerian purchased a small Florida AM station, WFSO and converted it to Tampa Bay's first 24-hour newstalk radio station WPLP. He gave Tedd Webb his first Talk radio job.

Michael returned to Dallas in 1982 to program K104-FM. The station became #1 in Dallas/Fort Worth, for the first time, under his leadership.

Spears is a 3 time winner of Billboard Magazine's "Station Of The Year" award, and also winner of "Program Director Of The Year" two times (once in Black radio). He is the only Anglo ever to achieve this honor.

He is an active member of East Dallas Christian Church and the Swiss Avenue Historic District where he has resided the past 15 years in a 1925 historic home. Michael is an ardent scuba diver and architecture enthusiast. Passions include Paris, San Francisco and Costa Rica.

Update October 2005:

RIP Michael Spears

The broadcaster who took WFSO to a talk format in 1978, Michael Spears has died of cancer in Dallas.

Spears had worked in Detroit at CKLW, KHJ in Los Angeles, and several stations in Dallas.

Spears is a 3 time winner of Billboard Magazine's "Station Of The Year" award, and also winner of "Program Director Of The Year" two times (once in Black radio). He is the only Anglo ever to achieve this honor.

Michael returned to Dallas in 1982 to program K104-FM. The station became #1 in Dallas/Fort Worth, for the first time, under his leadership.

He was an active member of East Dallas Christian Church and the Swiss Avenue Historic District where he has resided the past 15 years in a 1925 historic home. Michael was an ardent scuba diver and architecture enthusiast. Passions included Paris, San Francisco and Costa Rica.