RALPH GUILD

In 1957, Ralph Guild was a young executive at McGavren Radio—a San Francisco-based firm devoted to representing radio advertisers—when the company sent him to New York to open their first east coast office. By 1967, McGavren Radio had become McGavren Guild; by 1973, Guild had become the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

Determined to offer the communications and marketing expertise he believed radio stations would come to expect from their representatives, Guild launched Interep Radio in 1981. Created as a holding company, Interep brought independent rep firms together under a single corporate umbrella. Guild’s approach soon became the standard operating structure for radio and television rep companies. In 1988, the company became the Interep Radio Store, presenting the organization’s vision of a company that would be a single source for radio advertising and marketing support services.

As avenues for advertising expanded in the 1990s, Interep started Radio 2000, a new business development program designed to increase the medium’s share of total advertising dollars. At the start of the 21st century, Interep was the largest sales and marketing company dedicated solely to radio advertising.

Ralph Guild was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998.