DAVID SANTRELLA

Chief Executive Officer, Salem Media Group

In January 2022 Dave became the chief executive officer of Salem Media Group after serving 12 years as the president the publicly traded company. Salem specializes in Christian and Conservative content with over 1400 employees and 3,500 affiliates in 30 markets.  

Under Dave's leadership, Salem launched Salem Surround - a digital platform - which has been a powerful revenue growth engine for the company and has dramatically increased Salem's digital abilities and footprint to help their clients. Salem Podcast Network, SalemNOW, and the Salem News Channel have also been launched under his leadership.

Throughout his nearly 40-year career in the radio broadcast communications industry, Dave has provided leadership in promotions, marketing, sales, and management. A Chicago native, Dave worked for NBC's locally-owned radio station WMAQ for more than 12 years and then for CBS's WBBM for more than eight.

In 2001, Dave felt called to use his talents and abilities in a more significant way and joined Salem to manage the Chicago market. He progressed steadily through Salem ranks, managing both Chicago and Milwaukee assets for Salem, and shortly thereafter was promoted to Ops VP. He served in that role for just 14 months before, in 2010, before being promoted president of Salem’s radio division and later to president of broadcast media, overseeing all local and national business for Salem’s broadcast division.

Due to his depth of expertise in the industry, Dave collaborates with many industry organizations.  From June 2021 until June 2023, he served as the joint board chair for the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) and also served as radio board chair prior to that. 

Upon terming out as joint board chair, Dave now sits on the board of the NAB’s Leadership Foundation. He is also a member of the president's council and an executive committee member for NRB (National Religious Broadcasters). In 2024 Dave was the recipient of the National Association of Broadcasters National Radio Award.

He has been featured in the Radio Ink’s “The 40 Most Powerful People in Radio,” for four consecutive years.

Dave and his wife Barb have four adult children, have been married for over 40 years, and reside in Southern California.