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Roger has been involved in media since he was 11 years old. He started as a studio engineer for high school football games on WEEF AM & FM, Highland Park, IL. When his voice changed, they let him go on the air as a disc jockey. He first got involved in advertising sales in 1975 selling for classical music station WEFM, Chicago. In college, he served as General Manager for the student-run radio station, WPGU, Urbana, IL.

After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1980, Roger sold television advertising in his native Chicago for TeleRep, a national rep firm. Before establishing CMS, Roger worked in advertising sales for KDKA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, PA. While there, Roger took part in the station's record-breaking sales month.

When Roger Rafson saw the need for media buyers to easily access air time on radio stations in small and medium sized markets throughout the United States, he established Commercial Media Sales (CMS). From 1982 - 2013, CMS has been working with radio station owners and managers bringing them revenue by selling their airtime. In 2013 Rafson sold his rep firm business to Gen Media Partners. CMS has expanded by offering radio station brokerage services. View Roger Rafson's resume. 

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Professional Honors

• Broadcast Order of Achievement - Ontario Association of Broadcasters November 7, 2013
• 2008 Outstanding Achievement in Media Award - Radio
  Media Association of Pittsburgh
• 1999 President, Pittsburgh Radio and TV Club
  (now Media Association of Pittsburgh)
  
• 10 Year Service Award for service to the Radio Information Service. October, 1998
  
• Art Stein Memorial Award for Service to the Pittsburgh Radio & Television Club. March 4, 1994
  
• Association for Women In Communications Matrix Award for Best Radio Talk Show. Highmark on Health Care (formerly Blue Cross on Health Care). April 17, 1997
• Roger never got over being bitten by the announcing bug. For 29 seasons, he served as Public Address Announcer for Carnegie Mellon University football, men's and women's basketball and track & field. In 2005, Roger was the Public Address Announcer for the 2005 Senior Olympics.

Professional Associations

• Broadcaster Association of Manitoba
• Media Association of Pittsburgh
• National Association of Media Brokers
• Ontario Association of Broadcasters
• Society of Broadcast Engineers
• Western Association of Broadcasters