CARMEL, IND.—There will be a quintet of new inductees into the Indiana Broadcasters Association’s Richard M. Fairbanks Hall of Fame this fall: Brad Byrd, Tom Griswold, Bob Kevoian, Ed Roehling and Bill Shirk. All five will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame during IBA’s 2016 Indiana Broadcasters Conference in November.
Brad Byrd
Brad Byrd has been the lead anchor for WEHT (ABC) and WTVW (CW) in Evansville, Ind., for the past 39 years. He also serves as the stations’ managing editor. In addition, Byrd teaches broadcast courses at the University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana. According to IBA, Byrd is the first Tri-State broadcasted elected to the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Hall of Fame.
Tom Griswold and Bob Kevoian have been the top-rated morning radio show hosts at Indianapolis’ WFBG-FM since 1983 and has been nationally syndicated since 1995. It is known for its original comedy songs and recurring characters, as well as providing national exposure for developing comedians, which in the past have included the likes of George Lopez, Brad Garrett, and Tim Allen; they also organize the Friends of the Bob & Tom Show Comedy Tour. The pair have won five Marconi Awards from the NAB.
Ed Roehling has helped to establish a number of local stations in Indiana, as well as ones in Minnesota and Michigan, including WWWY in Rushville, Ind. He has also served as a professor of communications at Indiana Central College (now University of Indianapolis), general manager for WICR-FM, and vice president for Hoosier Broadcasting, which owned three educational stations across Indiana. Roehling currently works as the president and broker of Roehling Broadcast Services, which provides the radio industry with appraisal, brokerage and consulting services for individual and company acquisitions and sales of broadcast properties.
Bill Shirk has worked his way all the way up through the radio broadcasting industry, starting as a janitor for WERK in Muncie, Ind., in 1965 before becoming a weekend DJ a year later. By 1968 he was WERK’s station manager, sales manager, program director, and production manager in addition to remaining an afternoon DJ. Over the next three decades Shirk served as owner, general manager and director for half a dozen stations in Indianapolis, Greenwood and Lebanon.
All five of the inductees will be honored during the Hall of Fame and Spectrum Awards luncheon on Nov. 17, during the Indiana Broadcasters Conference. Tickets are available here.
