Washington, DC -- Ed Christian, president, chief executive officer and chairman of Saga Communications will receive the NAB National Radio Award at The NAB Radio Show, held Sept. 23-25 in Philadelphia. The award will be presented during The NAB Radio Show Luncheon.

Christian has been in the radio business for over 49 years. At Saga Communications, Christian oversees 91 radio stations, five full-power and four network low-power TV stations, the Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota Radio Networks and the Michigan and Minnesota Farm Radio Networks. Christian is the chairman of the Radio Music License Committee, Broadcasters' Foundation, and is also a board member of the NAB, the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, the National Autoimmune Related Disease Association and St. John Hospital in Detroit. He is past president of the Associated Press Broadcast Advisory Council and past board member and past chairman of the Arbitron Radio advisory council. In addition to his board duties and career at Saga Communications, Christian serves as adjunct professor in Broadcast Arts at Central Michigan University and is an Honorary Consul for the Republic of Iceland.

Christian has been the head of Saga Communications since the company's inception more than 23 years ago. Prior to launching the company in 1986, Christian worked at Josephson Communications, first as executive vice president and later as president of the organization. From 1974 until 1984 he was the president and general manager of WNIC-FM in Detroit. Christian holds a bachelor's degree from Wayne State University and a Master of Arts in Management from Central Michigan University.

Previous National Radio Award recipients include Bruce Reese, last year's honoree, along with Jerry Lee, David Kennedy, John Dille, Lowry Mays, Jeff Smulyan, Bill Stakelin, Erica Farber and Nancy Widmann.