Launa T. Thompson, distinguished Chicago radio executive, succumbs

Jet, July 12, 2004

Funeral services recently were held for Launa T. Thompson, the esteemed radio executive who managed three Chicago stations, at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago. She died after a brief illness in Chicago. She was 52.

Thompson, noted as one of the most influential women in the media, was the station manager of three Clear Channel Chicago stations, WGCI-FM, WVAZ-FM and WGRB-AM.

The three stations grossed more than $38 million in 1999. Clear Channel estimated that Thompson and her staff since 1996 have generated more than $200 million in sales revenue during the eight years she was general sales manager of WGCI, Chicago's top-rated music station.

A few months ago, Thompson was named by the Chicago Sun-Times among its most powerful women in Chicago media.

Thompson held a bachelor's degree in sociology and vocational rehabilitation from Wilberforce University and a master's degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Cincinnati.

After a seven-year career in social work, Thompson switched to sales in the late '70s.

She began a sales career at Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. in Glen Ellyn, IL. A couple of years later Thompson left to work in broadcast sales with then WVON/WGCI Radio, owned by Gannett Broadcasting, in 1980. She later worked for the Gannett Corporation and Black Entertainment Television, as well as two other radio stations before she returned to WGCI as national account coordinator in 1994, She was promoted to the position of general sales manager in 1996.

Thompson served on various boards and did volunteer work with Wilberforce Alumni Association, the League of Black Women, Black Ensemble Theatre, American Women in Radio & Television, Friends of LaRabida Hospital, Midwest Women's Center and ETA.

She is survived by her husband, noted broadcaster-author Abe Thompson, a son, Phoenix, and her mother, Daisy Gaines.