Longtime radio exec Mike Kelly to retire

Mike Kelly will retire as vice president and general manager for Honolulu radio stations owned by Atlanta-based Cox Media Group at the end of the year.

Kelly has served in leadership roles in Honolulu radio for 26 years, all of them with the company known now as Cox Radio Hawaii. Its stations include KRTR-FM 96.3, KCCN-FM 100.3, KPHW-FM 104.3, KINE-FM 105.1, KRTR-AM 650 and KKNE-AM 940.

"It’s a great company and so I’m very proud of all the years I’ve been here," he said.

Kelly, 65, is retiring from the company, however, "since I don’t think I’m going to retire (from work life), I look forward to … maybe having more time to do things that I would like to do," with his "great family and friends," he said. "I still want to work," he said, "I want to do things I’m passionate about."

He joined the company as an advertising sales account executive for what was then KCCN-AM 1420, which played Hawaiian music, and later launched KCCN-FM in 1990 with radio personality Jacqueline "Honolulu Skylark" Rossetti.

Kelly had moved up the ranks through the years and became general manager about 20 years ago, he said.

His love for Hawaiian music developed after his arrival from Sacramento in 1968, as the general manager for former music-retailing sister-stores Records Hawaii and DJ’s Sound City. The stores sold records, tapes and stereo equipment, including turntables and high-end Shure needle cartridges for those turntables.

In radio, "every day is incredibly different," and the many promotions have been "fun," but "my favorite part is all the people" who he has worked with over the years, he said. Kelly’s successor will be named in the coming months, according to a company statement. To ensure a smooth transition, Kelly will remain with the company through December and will subsequently serve in an advisory role, the company said.