National Radio Hall of Fame Announces 2017 Class of Inductees

The 25-person National Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee presented 24 individuals and shows worthy of consideration to listeners and industry peers and the voting results are in.  In just three years since public voting was reinstituted, the National Radio Hall of Fame reports an unprecedented level of audience participation with nearly 300,000 votes cast for Music Format On-Air Personality and Spoken Word On-Air Personality.

The increase is attributed to the ever-more creative campaigning waged by nominees as well as the newly offered online voting mechanism in addition to texting.

The inductees by public vote are:

Music Format On-Air Personality

• Bobby Bones, The Bobby Bones Show; syndicated by Premiere Networks

Spoken Word On-Air Personality

• Bill Handel, The Bill Handel Show; KFI AM 640 Los Angeles; Handel on the Law; syndicated by Premiere Networks 

Four of the categories were decided by a voting participant panel comprised of nearly 1,000 industry professionals.

The inductees by this panel are:

• Tom Barnard, The Tom Barnard Show, KQRS-FM Minneapolis Active Local/Regional, 10+ years
• John Records Landecker, renowned DJ, most notably on WLS-AM and WJMK-FM, Chicago Longstanding Local/Regional, 20+ years
• Sean Hannity, The Sean Hannity Show; syndicated by Premiere Networks Active Network/Syndication, 10+ years
• Robin Quivers, The Howard Stern Show; SiriusXM  Longstanding Network/Syndication, 20+ years

Additionally, the National Radio Hall of Fame nominating committee voted to induct two individuals for their contribution to the industry.

Those inductees are:

• Joseph M. Field, Chairman/Founder Entercom Communications Corp.
• Robert S. “Bob” Sievers, the late legendary Fort Wayne, Indiana air personality who was on WOWO Radio for 51 years.

National Radio Hall of Fame Chairman Kraig T. Kitchin comments, “Each year the enthusiasm and participation from those in our industry and the voting public grows by leaps and bounds.  We’re so happy to induct this truly deserving, talented group of broadcasters this year into the National Radio Hall of Fame.”

The black-tie optional induction ceremony takes place at the home of the National Radio Hall of Fame – the Museum of Broadcast Communications in downtown Chicago  on Nov. 2.  Tickets are now available at www.radiohof.org.  A portion of ticket purchases is a tax deductible charitable donation to the Museum.

Leading radio imaging and production company The Mix Group is the presenting sponsor of the National Radio Hall of Fame Induction ceremony.