Frank Boyle, Noted Sales Rep, Consultant And Station Owner Has Died At 96

Francis L. Boyle, a noted national sales rep, consultant and radio and cable TV station owner, has died at the age of 96.

Frank Boyle was born October 4, 1925 in Montpelier, VT. He grew up in towns in Vermont and New Hampshire towns during the Great Depression. In July 1943, Brank enlisted in the Air Force and flew 35 bombing missions over Germany, during WWII. After the war, Frank was among the first class of the newly passed G.I. Bill which was awarded to veterans to go to college on the government tab. He utilized it to attend Michigan State College (later on MSU) in East Lansing, MI from 1946 to 1950. He graduated with a degree in Advertising & Journalism. While in college, Frank met his first wife, Barbara Jean Burgess, a fellow student. They were married in August of 1952. They had three children, which they raised in Southfield, MI and then to Armonk, NY.

After stints in management with U.S. Tobacco and General Electric (GE), Frank embarked on a lengthy, highly successful radio career. He started in 1953 at the legendary WJR-AM station in Detroit.He rose to the position of Local Sales Manager (LSM) at WJR-AM, the first ever LSM in the station’s 50 year history up to that time. In 1958, he joined Robert Eastman National Radio Sales firm (later known as Eastman Radio Inc., a top national sales rep firm) as their Detroit Office Manager. Eastman subsequently promoted Frank to NY Office Manager in 1960, which entailed him to move his young family to Westchester County, north of the City. In New York, he was promoted steadily, eventually becoming CEO & Chairman of the Board in 1976. Four years earlier he had headed up the employee group that bought out Eastman’s founder, Robert Eastman.

In 1978, Frank was elected to the Board of the Radio Advertising Bureau, the national radio trade association, hence a lofty position that recognized his ongoing, major contributions and standing in the industry. Eastman Radio also bought stations in Jacksonville, FL and Utica-Rome, NY.

During the late 1970s, Frank met his second wife, Beverly Frances Parody, who was also in the broadcasting business as she worked at NBC Network one building over at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, whereas his executive office was at One Rockefeller Plaza just over the entrance by the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. They were married in 1978 in Manhattan.

He founded Eastman Cable Representative which was the first national sales rep in the cable TV business and the largest for many years. Eventually, he left Eastman Radio in 1979 to found Frank Boyle & Co. a well regarded independent station brokerage and consultation company. The firm acquired radio stations in Albany, NY and Peterborough/ Keene, NH, along with a cable system outside of Binghamton, NY.

Frank Boyle & Co. was often involved in many radio, TV, and Cable transactions. In 1987, his brokerage firm was one of the founding firms to form the National Association of Media Brokers, where Frank was elected to the Board of Directors. He continued to operate his firm into his 90s.

Frank was inducted in the Hall Fame of Broadcasting in 2006, and awarded the Giants of Broadcasting honor in 2021. He may be the only non-air talent and non-network executive or station group owner to be selected for both significant industry awards.

His surviving family encourages donations to The Broadcasters Foundation to “remember a guy that worked in radio and TV for over six decades.”