Cecil Heftel

Cecil Landau Heftel (September 30, 1924 – February 4, 2010) was an American politician and businessman from Hawai'i. A Democrat, He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1986 for the First Congressional District, encompassing most of urban Honolulu.

Heftel was born in Chicago, Illinois; his maternal grandparents were from Russia and his paternal grandparents from Poland. He attended Roosevelt High School in Albany Park, Chicago, then obtained his bachelor's degree from the Arizona State University in 1951. Heftel then attended the University of Utah and New York University for graduate work. Heftel was a Latter-day Saint.

Heftel settled in Honolulu and established Heftel Broadcasting. He owned KGMB-AM-FM-TV and several other television and radio stations across the country. From 1943 to 1946, Heftel served in the United States Army.

In 1957 Heftel was a pioneer for what was then called Top 30 programming, when he purchased KIMN in Denver. In one of the nation's most competitive radio markets, KIMN became the dominant, #1 rated radio station. Heftel sold the station in 1960, returning to Hawaii, but once again in 1973 re-entered the mainland with the purchase of WHYI-FM, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, identifying the station as Y-100. In 1974, Heftel hired consultant John Rook, who secured the services of Jackson, Mississippi programmer Bill Tanner, who crafted a Top 40 format described by Tanner as being "predictable unpredictability" that propelled the station to the top of the south Florida ratings, where it stayed for several years. The station was later sold by Heftel. Heftel also purchased WJAS in Pittsburgh which he later sold.

Heftel had a knack for getting in and out of station ownership in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. As broadcast revenues are tied to audience interest (ratings) and to advertising cycles, it can be a great business or a poor one. Heftel's mostly AM group of Top-40 stations was sold in the late 1970s. The next group of stations Heftel purchased consisted of FM stations which were coming into their own in the early seventies. These were sold off in the 1980s and included WZPL (move into Indianapolis) and WLLT (Cincinnati).

Heftel partnered with Scott Ginsburg for a time in 1986–1987 as H & G Communications. This group included WLUP-AM-FM Chicago, stations in Miami, and other cities.

The last Heftel Broadcasting accumulation of stations consisted of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Miami. These were taken over by Clear Channel Communications in a 1996 tender offer. This in turn was merged with Mac Tichenor's Tichenor Media System into a new Heftel Broadcasting. That changed its name to Hispanic Broadcasting Corp (now Univision Radio).

Upon returning to his business in Honolulu, Heftel decided to run for political office.