KCBX names Chris McBride GM

Chris McBride has been named GM of KCBX Central Coast Public Radio.

McBride joined the station in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in 2023 as development director and later added the role of assistant GM. As GM, she succeeds Frank Lanzone, who has led the station since 1980.

“I’m excited to step into this role,” McBride said in a press release. “It is inspiring to see how deeply our staff, volunteers, and the Central Coast community care for and value KCBX. The station truly is a community treasure.”

“I believe Chris to be an outstanding choice to meet the expected and unexpected challenges ahead of us. Her expertise in planning, fundraising, collaborating, and troubleshooting will serve KCBX well,” Lanzone said in the release. “Chris has also been a longstanding member of the community with deep roots in San Luis Obispo County, just like KCBX, making her a great match for this position.”

Before joining KCBX, McBride worked as director of annual giving for California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and as the first outreach director at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo.

Lanzone will continue to serve in several roles for the station, including as executive director of the Live Oak Music Festival, an annual event that benefits KCBX. During his time at the station, he co-founded the festival and expanded fundraising. Lanzone also oversaw the installation of five translators, and in 2014 he established the station’s newsroom.

“Since joining KCBX in 1980, Frank has built upon our humble beginnings and made the station a strong, successful community asset,” said Steve Urbani, the station’s co-founder and board chair. “His ability to establish a news department is a tribute to his management and fiscal abilities. Even more, Frank has become one of my very best friends.”

“During my college years, I watched my classmates all head for commercial jobs in San Francisco, but I never left public radio,” Lanzone said in a press release. “In fact, my first job in public radio in 1970 — the same year NPR was incorporated — was made possible by the very first CPB grant available to stations. Today, the satisfaction of being part of an amazing team of people is as strong as it was 45 years ago.”