Sonny Melendrez

Sonny Melendrez began his radio journey in 1964 broadcasting on San Antonio College’s closed-circuit station, WSAC, where he was named Program Director by his teacher and mentor, Jean Longwith.

Sonny’s first two commercial radio jobs came at two small stations in El Paso, where his national programming and air personality awards caught the attention of Woody Roberts, GM at KTSA, back home in San Antonio. Woody offered Sonny a job as Program Director with afternoon-drive duties. That was 1971. A year later Sonny was named National Personality of the Year, Major Market, by Billboard Magazine.

That year, Sonny moved to Los Angeles where he programmed and entertained at 5 different stations over the next 13 years. In 1985, he returned to San Antonio and for the next 8 years was the Morning Drive Host on KTFM. During those years he was involved in numerous community fund-raising and educational programs, hosted a CBS Radio syndicated program, and was named Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine.

From 1993 to 2001, Sonny was Morning Drive Host on KSMG, Magic 105, where he continued his dedication to community involvement. That year, he launched Sonny Radio Dot Com…San Antonio’s first Internet radio station … then spent 3 years doing Morning Drive on KLUP, and another 2 years doing mornings at KAHL, a station he co-owned.

Sonny was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 as one of the Top 100 Radio Personalities of All-Time. He received the Radio and Records National Industry Achievement Award in 1999 and was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2003.

Throughout his career, Sonny has harnessed the power of radio to create and execute public service campaigns that have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars raised for worthy causes in and around San Antonio. In 1997 the City of San Antonio named the Sonny Melendrez Community Center on the city’s West Side to honor his tireless commitment to youth, education and local causes.