Rich McLaughlin Returns as WFUV Program Director

The Fordham alumnus returns to campus to take the reigns at the Triple A NON-COMM

By Paul Marszalek
TheTop22.com

Veteran programmer Rich McLaughlin has been named Program Director at WFUV/New York, succeeding the late Rita Houston. McLaughlin joins from Amazon Music.

“The opportunity to serve a station and university deeply embedded in my DNA is especially meaningful. FUV’s reputation for music discovery is well earned. The depth of industry partnerships with artists, labels, venues, and cultural organizations is extraordinary. The engaged community of music lovers who support its mission as listeners and donors is second to none. I’m grateful for the chance to guide WFUV’s next programming chapter, and I can’t wait to start contributing.”

McLaughlin began his radio career with WFUV as a student in the late ’90s. He spent time programming at Sirius Satellite Radio, prior to its merger with XM, then returned to WFUV for a short stint quarterbacking The Alternate Side — a major, grant-funded programming initiative in 2008.

However, The Alternate Side failed to sustain and was ultimately wrapped back into WFUV as specialty programming. McLaughlin then moved on to senior content roles at iHeart Media and Amazon Music.

Referencing his late mentor, Houston, McLaughlin noted, “WFUV’s rich history and culture is steeped in its training mission. The education I received from Rita is evidence of her mission accomplished. Rita taught me that success achieved at the expense of authenticity is failure in disguise. The path she paved allowed for missteps along the way, and always led me back to what’s real.”