Indianapolis…Chris Woodward-Duncan, a 20-year market and Emmis Communications veteran, has announced she will leave the company effective June 1, 2003.
“After 20 years at Emmis in Indianapolis, I realized that, while I’m nowhere near ready to retire, there are other opportunities I want to pursue, including getting my float plane license,” Woodward-Duncan said. “It’s also time to explore the entrepreneurial opportunities that my husband Jim and I have discussed so often.”
Woodward-Duncan’s husband, Jim Duncan, a radio industry veteran who for years produced Duncan’s Radio Guide, has recently been developing radio projects in the Santa Fe, New Mexico area.
Jeff Smulyan, Emmis Chairman, CEO and one of the other few 20-year Emmis employees, said Woodward-Duncan has played a key role in the growth of not just Emmis-Indianapolis, but in the company as a whole. “Chris in many ways set the mold for Emmis managers by the way she ran her stations, led her employees and served her community. Her valuable insights will be missed, but as her friend, I know this is just the beginning of a new successful chapter in her life.”
Under Woodward-Duncan’s leadership, Emmis-Indianapolis grew from one station (Emmis flagship WENS-FM) to four stations (WENS-FM, WNOU-FM, WYXB-FM and WIBC-AM).
Rick Cummings, President of Emmis Radio, said a search for Woodward-Duncan’s successor will begin immediately.
“I’m most grateful for the opportunities that Jeff and Rick provided,” Woodward-Duncan concluded. “I have worked with the best people in the business, and they’re the ones I’ll miss most.”