Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame Announces 2015 Inductees
Thursday, March 26, 2015
The Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame announced its class of inductees for 2015 on Wednesday morning. The Hall of Fame was established in 2008 by local radio professionals in order to “celebrate the storied history of the industry in Rhode Island, and to honor the men and women who have played a part in its growth.”
This year’s inductees are:
“Big John" Bina: On air talent for WSAR, WPRO AM & FM, and B101 from the 1970’s through the 21st century.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTRoger Bouchard: President and General Manager of Woonsocket’s WNRI.
Joannie Edwardsen: On air talent for WSNE and Lite 105 for 21 years, most famous for her role on the “Jones and Joan” Morning Show.
Duffy Egan: Director of Engineering for Cumulus Media. Oversees WPRO AM/FM, Lite 105, Hot 106, WPRV. Eagan also oversees stations in Worcester and Springfield. Contract Engineer for URI radio station WRIU.
Mike Montecalvo: Best known as WPRI-12’s evening anchor, his career started in radio at WNRI in Woonsocket and continued over the next 33 years at WWON, WINY, WKRI, WERI, RI104, 103.7 WRX, 1110 CNN, B101, WHJY and WHJJ.
Joe Thomas: On air personality and DJ on WPAW, WHIM, WPRO, and WJAR from the 1950’s through the 80’s. In 1964, a Billboard magazine survey determined Joe Thomas far and away the most influential DJ for influencing single record sales in the Providence market.
The Shepard Award, created to “recognize the founders of radio in the Ocean State and to honor present-day contributors to the industry,” is being awarded to Fred Friendly, producer of Edward R. Murrow’s “See It Now” on CBS TV. Friendly went on to help form PBS. A graduate of Hope High School, he began his career at WEAN, working there 1937-41.
Distinguished Service awards will be presented to Paul Fuller & Al Matthews to celebrate their 25 years at 94 HJY and to WBZ radio’s Mark Katic for his award-winning news and sports coverage.
The Broadcaster of the Year will be announced at the awards ceremony.
The official induction banquet for the Class of 2015 will take place at Twin River in Lincoln, RI on Thursday, May 7th at 7:00 pm.
Tickets for the dinner and awards ceremony are $55 each (table of 10 $500) and proceeds from the event will benefit Special Olympics of Rhode Island.
Tickets may be purchased by calling (401) 741-3130, and additional information may be found by logging on to the RIRHOF official website at www.rirhof.org.
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