Leslie Fram is an American media executive. A former radio programmer and dj, she is the senior vice president of music strategy for

Country Music Television Country Music Television, often abbreviated to CMT, is an American pay TV network that launched on March 5, 1983. It is currently owned by Paramount Global through the MTV Entertainment Group unit of its networks division. CMT was the first na ...

. Fram oversees CMT's "Next Women of Country" campaign, which has promoted artists such as Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris and Kacey Musgraves, and mentors female executives in the music industry. She is a co-founder of Change the Conversation, a Nashville-based organization which fights gender discrimination and seeks to improve the environment for women in country music.

Career

Fram's first professional job was at WABF in

Fairhope, Alabama Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The population was 22,477 at the 2020 census. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area, which in ...

. She hosted weekend shows including ''Platter Ladder''. Later, Fram went to work at WABB & WABB-FM in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, where she rose to the positions of program director and operations manager while hosting an afternoon show. In 1990, Fram joined Power 99 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, working the

morning show Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

with Rick Stacy and Tom Clark as "The Breakfast Club". When Power 99 became 99X in 1992, Fram remained in the mornings, eventually co-hosting the Morning X with Steve Barnes and Jimmy Baron. She also served as the station's program director. Fram co-hosted the ''Toucher'''', Jimmy, and Leslie Morning Show''. After briefly co-hosting mornings with Axel Lowe, Fram became co-host of ''New Morning X'' with Sean Demery and Rob Jenners. In 1998, she became the

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

for the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

quasi-

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

series ''

ToonHeads ''ToonHeads'' is an American animation anthology series consisting of Hanna-Barbera, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., and ''Popeye'' cartoon shorts, with background information and trivia, prominently about animators and voice actors of the sho ...

''. Referred to as the "First Lady of Modern Rock", Fram received the 2003 Heroes Award from the

chapter of the

Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely known for its Gramm ...

(aka

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

). On June 16, 2008, Fram was appointed Program Director at Emmis Communications-owned 101.9 WRXP-FM ("the New York Rock Experience") in New York City. In addition to her duties as Program Director, Fram co-hosted the WRXP show with former MTV/VH1 personality

Matt Pinfield Matthew Pinfield (born May 28, 1961) is an American television host, disc jockey, and music executive. He first reached national prominence as a VJ on MTV. He served two stints as the host of the alternative music program ''120 Minutes'', from ...

. The show was originally broadcast during the morning drive slot from 6 AM to 10 AM but moved to mid-days from 10 AM to 3 PM until WRXP switched formats on July 15, 2011. Fram is currently the Senior Vice President of Music Strategy at

One Country in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

.Stark, Phylli
Nashville Execs Say Tide Is Slowly Turning for Female Country Artists
''Billboard''. March 24, 2016

References

External links

CMT Change the Conversation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fram, Leslie Radio personalities from Atlanta Radio personalities from New York City Living people 1957 births American businesspeople in mass media Television personalities from New York City American women television personalities University of South Alabama alumni