R.I.P: Nat Sibbold, Longtime Michigan Radio Broadcaster

Nestor Sibbold

Nestor A. “Nat” Sibbold, 94, former station manager of WWJ-AM and FM in Detroit , former owner of WBCK-AM in Battle Creek and a broadcasting executive for 30 years, died on July 18.

According to The Detroit News, Sibbold, who lived in Canton, began working for WWJ as an account executive in 1956, when the station was owned by The Evening News Association, which also owned The Detroit News. Sibbold became sales manager in 1961 and station manager in 1968, serving in that capacity until 1976.

He served as manager when NBC relinquished ownership of the station, CBS bought it, and WWJ switched to its current, all-news format in 1971.

The next year, Sibbold and a group of investors formed Wolverine Broadcasting and purchased WBCK, the largest AM station in Battle Creek and one of the most prominent broadcasters in western Michigan.

He ran the station until 1987, when he sold it to the Liggett Broadcast Group.

Sibbold knew and worked with some of the national figures in broadcasting of the era, including the network news anchors Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and the entertainer Bob Hope, his family said.

“I never was able to meet Mr. Sibbold,” said Tim Collins, the current operations manager and morning host on WBCK. “But I worked with many people who did, and he had a great reputation for being community-minded and insisted that his staff conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism.”