In Memoriam

Over the years there have been many people in the broadcast industry who were so special that they will never be forgotten in the Dayton community.

Gene "By Golly" Barry (1924-2001)

Gene “By Golly? Barry, a Dayton radio personality for 45 years. Barry made his debut in Dayton as a staff announcer on WING-AM in 1945 and soon had his own daily show called Swing With WING featuring big-band tunes. In 1956, Colliers magazine named him one of the Top 20 radio disc jockeys in the country. After leaving WING in 1964, he was one of the “idea” men who helped launch WDAO-FM radio as the first FM station in America targeting the black audience. He also served as one of ‘DAO’s first DJ’s. He would return to WING working the evening shift in the 70’s and in again in the late 1980’s for one last radio trip around the block with a Saturday Night oldies show on WING. (Inducted 2009)

Jim Bennett (1928-2015)

Jim Bennett began his broadcasting career as a janitor at KIEV in Glendale, Calif. At KIEV he also served as a traffic and part-time weekend announcer.

He returned to Ohio, became an announcer at WWSO in Springfield and married Virginia Weber on Nov. 10, 1947. From 1952 to 1954 he served in the U.S. Army. His broadcasting career included serving as sales manager, vice president and general manager at WIZE in Springfield. He also was at various times production director, newscaster, vice president and general manager of WING. In 1980 he retired as president of WING.  He received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his innovative programming efforts.(Inducted 2005)

Virginia Bennett (1919-2008)

Virginia worked for many years in the broadcasting industry, becoming the first woman radio station manager in Ohio. She gave great encouragement to other women desiring to enter radio management, through her years with WIZE Radio in Springfield, WWSO/WAVI Radio and WING Radio in Dayton. (Inducted 2005)

Erma Bombeck (1927-1996)

Already known for her wit, Erma Bombeck’s career as a humorist really began to take off in the mid-1960s. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Bombeck also became a TV personality, appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America for more than a decade.  (Inducted 2011)  

Bucks Braun (1949-2018)

Bucks was broadcaster in the Dayton market for nearly 30 years and entertained audiences throughout the country for over 50 years. Braun hosted radio morning shows in Ohio, Florida, Mississippi, Arizona, and Kentucky before joining WONE in Dayton in 1989. Since January 2004, Mr. Braun hosted the morning show at Classic Country Radio in Xenia. (Inducted 2011)

Harry Butler (1918-2016)

Harry began a 40 plus year distinguished career in radio and television broadcasting for station WHIO. True to character, Harry handled many different jobs from weatherman, current events, making commercials, to hosting his own Household Helper Show giving advice on a myriad of subjects from home repairs to sharing his greatest love, growing flowers and plants.

H.K. Crowl (1914-1985)

H. K. “Bud” Crowl owned and operated WAVI-AM and WDAO-FM radio, and he was truly a programming innovator. In 1964, he launched WDAO as the first FM radio station in America to exclusively program to African Americans. (Inducted 2003)

Carl Day (1938-2010)

Carl was a top rated radio personality on both WHIO and WING Radio. He later  moved into TV news as an anchor for WDTN-TV (Channel 2) and WKEF-TV (Channel 22) and would sit in the anchor chair throughout the 1980s, 1990’s and into the 2000s. (Inducted 2003)

Charlie Day (1939-2010)

Charlie began his TV career at WLW-T in Cincinnati and then transferred to WLW-D in Dayton (now WDTN), where he worked as a news and sports videographer for 44 years, retiring in 2004. He was honored with two regional Emmy awards during his career. (Inducted 2005)

Jean Skelly Dewitt (1938-2010)

Jeannie was a Dayton radio pioneer being the first full-time woman DJ in the Miami Valley on WONE radio in 1953. She continued in broadcasting and advertising throughout her adult life.

Lou Emm (1923-1997)

Lou began  his radio career at age 16 as an announcer at WSPD-AM in his hometown of Toledo. He later worked in Lima, Ohio where his boss was the famous broadcaster-to-be: Hugh Downs. But, Lou came to Dayton in the early 40’s as a staff announcer for WHIO Radio. Eventually, he would take over the reins of the station’s morning show where he would dominate the morning drive ratings until he retired in 1992. Lou was active in the community, lending his name to many fund raisers and celebrity golf tournaments. After leaving WHIO, Lou worked for a time on WONE. (Inducted 2003)

Tom Hamlin (1927-2015)

Tom began his broadcasting career in 1953 in Lima and later worked in Birmingham, Ala., covering Auburn sports. In 1960, he came to WHIO serving as sports director for radio and television until 1977. He broadcast UD football and basketball games, including the 1967 NCAA championship game between Dayton and UCLA and Dayton’s NIT championship victories in 1962 and 1968. In his career, he also covered sports at Ohio State, Wright State and Central State. (Inducted 2005)

Ed Hamlyn (1917-1999)

Ed was the former News Director at WDTN (WLWD) Television.  After serving our country in World War II, Ed began his broadcasting career with stops in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas, before landing in Dayton.

He knew the importance of giving back to the community and served on numerous boards and community committees including the Montgomery County Historical Society, Aviation Trail Board and the League of Women Voters. (Inducted 2017)

Barry "Dr Creep" Hobart (1941-2011)

After graduating with a degree in broadcasting from the University of Cincinnati in 1963 and a brief stint in the U-S Air Force, Hobart was hired by WKEF television as a studio camera operator and master control operator.

In 1971, WKEF management began looking for a gimmick to garner ratings on Saturday nights. Hobart suggested a late-night horror movie show. Station management accepted the idea, and Hobart himself auditioned and was accepted for the hosting job. After some fine-tuning, the character Dr. Creep came about. (Inducted 2011)

Winston Hoehner (1927-1990)

Winston had a glorious career at WHIO for 25 years. 

In 2005, he was inducted into the Ohio Associated Press Broadcast Journalism Hall Of Fame and cited by the AP for the many awards his department won over his 14 years as News Director. (Inducted 2007)

Dale Huffman (1936-2015)

A former producer, reporter and writer for WCPO-TV, Channel 9 in Cincinnati, Dale worked part-time as a radio and cable TV interviewer in Dayton and was a popular columnist for the Dayton Daily News for decades. (Inducted 2005)

Jack Jacobson (1922-2009)

Jack began his broadcasting career as  a child actor in 1929 on WHAM radio in Rochester N.Y. at the tender age of eight.

After performing as a comic at New York area night clubs and serving in World War II, Jack came to Dayton in 1949 to become an executive producer and on-air talent at WHIO-TV. His well-known on-air characters were Nosy the Clown and the lovable late-night theatre doorman, Ignatz Hommerslob.

   In 1979, Jack moved to Phoenix and was Station Manager for KTVK-TV where he remained until the 90’s.   Then he returned to Tucson as General Manager of KTTU-TV until his retirement in December 2002. (Inducted 2017)

Steve Kerrigan (1959-2011)

While attending classes at the University of Dayton, Steve worked the “graveyard shift” at WVUD Radio, saying that he had been inspired to make a career of radio by legendary fellow UD graduates, Dan Patrick, Mike McConnell, amongst others. After WVUD, Steve wemt to Columbus, Ohio’s WLVQ QFM96 for a very successful five years. With his quick-witted humor Steve came home to Dayton and WTUE where he teamed for nearly 18 years with co-host and close friend, Christopher Geisen. During the last five years of his short life, Steve teamed up with Nancy Wison on the morning show at Dayton’s country music giant, K99.1 FM. (Inducted 2011)

Ed Krahling (1928-1998)

Ed spent 12 years in Alliance as a broadcaster prior to coming to Dayton in 1961 as Sports Director for WONE. He also worked for a short time at WGIC in Xenia. The big break came in May of 1967, when he joined WHlO Radio and TV News. (inducted 2013)

Edythe Lewis (1924-2014)

Edythe was the first black female DJ on Dayton’s airwaves during the early days of Top 40 radio in the 1950s on powerhouse WING. (Inducted 2003)

Charlie Reeder (1912-1987)

 In the 1940’s, Reeder and worked at WING Radio, where he and Jack Wymer hosted the popular show, “Sunny Side Up.”  Soon after, he became Station Manager and hired soon to be famed comedian Jonathan Winters as the station’s morning show host. 

After WING, Reeder moved on to WHIO-TV as an on-air personality on 2 shows…one in the morning with Ted Ryan and one in the afternoon with Virginia Patterson.  In the 1960’s, Charlie began a career at WPFB Radio in Middletown hosting a morning show. (Inducted 2007)

Joe Rockhold (1905-1982)

Rockhold hosted one of the first live entertainment television shows in the Dayton area on WHIO-TV. He created the popular character, “Uncle Orrie,” entertaining thousands of Miami Valley young people, making him a beloved figure with children and their parents.

In addition to his work as “Uncle Orrie,” Joe Rockhold hosted various public affairs programming on WHIO. (Inducted 2017)

Bette Rogge (1922-2015)

Bette is a native Daytonian who is a pioneer in radio and TV. She began her radio days in the early 1930’s at WSMK (later became WING). She moved over to WHIO radio and was the Women’s Editor and commercial announcer on the WHIO radio program, “Newspaper of the Air” each morning for 4 years.

She started on TV in the early 1950’s with an exercise show and many other shows over the years including  From 1967 – 1972 she did her own show, “The Bette Rogge Show,” featuring such guests as Bob Hope, the Nixon daughters, Mickey Rooney, Paul Lynde, actors from the Kenley Players and many others. (Inducted 2003)

Ted Ryan (1925-2014)

Ted worked at WHIO radio and television for over 50 years. Among the numerous television programs he hosted through the years was Travel to Adventure, which was the longest running regional travel show in the country. He was also known as The Weatherman, Chief Announcer. Before coming to WHIO, Ted also worked for a time at WING radio. (Inducted 2005)

Gary Schaaf (1953-2016)

Gary graduated from the University of dayton and then worked at WVUD Radio Station with Steve Kirk. He also worked with Gilley’s owner, Jerry Gillotti on a Sunday radio show featuring jazz at 106.5 in Greenville.

Ricky Smith (1951-2006)

Ricky began his broadcasting career at WDAO Radio in the late 1960’s as a DJ and program host. He was known throughout the Miami Valley as the man with the “distinctively deep” radio voice.

He spent the majority of his career at WHIO-TV as an on-air personality and held various positions within the News Department. He was also one of the co-hosts of “Summer Nights”, a local entertainment and variety show. (Inducted 2007)

Bob Sweeney (1946-2017)

Bob worked overseas in radio while serving in the United States Air Force.  Last stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Bob decided to settle in Dayton and first worked for a station in Springfield.

Sweeney eventually made his way to WHIO where he worked in both radio and television. For a time, Sweeney hosted “Conversation Piece” and the afternoon drive show on WHIO radio. 

In the late 1980s, and after a five-year stint at WVUD-FM, Sweeney landed at WMMX (Mix 107.7) and became the morning show host in 1993.

Bob’s last days in radio were spent at WDSJ (Smooth Jazz 106.5)  in 2005. 

Johnny Walker (1942-2005)

Johnny began his career in Dayton as a DJ for WING Radio in the 1960’s. By the 70’s, he had become a newscaster for WKEF-TV, Channel 22 and would eventually become News Director. For decades he was host of Dayton’s Jerry Lewis’ Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. (Inducted 2005)

Don Wayne (1922-1997)

For 47 years, people in the Miami Valley trusted Don Wayne to bring them the news. First on WHIO radio, then on WHIO-TV. (Inducted 2003)

Gil Whitney (1940-1982)

Gil’s career at WHIO was multi-faceted, having worked as an occasional fill-in anchor, but also as a sportscaster and field journalist, usually covering stories of human interest. By the early 1970s he was permanently assigned as a weather specialist. He is best remembered for his timely warning on April 3, 1974 of a Category F5 tornado that went through Xenia, Ohio. (Inducted 2005)

Omar Williams (1924-2004)

Omar started his Dayton broadcasting career in 1951, eventually becoming Sports Director for WLWD-TV (later WDTN). Known as the “Dean” of Dayton sportscasters, Omar greeted viewers nightly on Channel 2 for 45 years before his retirement in 1996. (Inducted 2003)

Jonathan Winters (1925-2013)

Winning a local talent contest in Dayton, led Jonathan to a job as an early morning disc-jockey on radio station WING. That job led him to WBNS-TV in Columbus where he worked for three years. In 1953, the native Daytonian headed for New York for a career in comedy and many appearances on network television and a top name in American Comedy.

Harold Wright (1926-2004)

Known by many as “Brother James,” Wright was Dayton’s first gospel announcer of color. He would be heard on WING Radio and seen on WHIO-TV. For 23 years, Brother James hosted a gospel music and interview-variety show. (Inducted 2003)

Jack Wymer (1910-1988)

Jack would host one of America’s most innovative and longest airing public affairs programs. “The Man On The Street” aired at noon weekdays on WING radio, live in downtown Dayton from 1936 until 1980. Dignitaries would stop by…but you didn’t have to be famous to be Jack’s guest. You might be just as likely to hear from a local Cub Scout Pack as you would a local politician. (Inducted 2003)

Nick Powers (1940-2009)

Nick Powers (Breen N. Gitzinger) was a Dayton DJ working at WONE in the late 50’s into the 60’s. He also worked at WGIC/WBZI-FM in Xenia in the 60’s and at WDAO around 1970.

Lyle Stieg (1938-2018)

Lyle worked in the radio and television industry for most of his life as an announcer for the Dayton Gems, Dayton Bombers and Washington Capitals hockey teams. At WHIO-TV, Lyle covered local news and sports and hosted his own variety show before returning to Dayton hockey in the 90s,

Roy Dittman (1941-2019)

Roy was News Director at WING from 1964 to 1976. Roy then moved to nearby Columbus, Ohio to become news director at WBNS AM Radio and then a short three years later moved to Boise, Idaho to become general manager of KIDO AM. His final stop was KBZY AM in Salem, Oregon where Roy eventually became sole owner.

Paul Douglas Wilson (1951-2015)

Paul was in Dayton radio and television most of his life. He was a news anchor for a short while at WKEF-TV before spending more than a decade at WHIO in Dayton as a radio newscaster and TV booth announcer.  

Virginia Bigler (1948-2018)

Virginia Bigler was Dayton’s first woman meteorologist. She joined a fledgling news department at WKEF-TV in Mid-1972. Granted the American Meteorological Society’s Seal of Approval, Bigler was only the second female meteorologist in the United States to be so recognized.

Jerry Kaye (1933-1997)

Jerry Kaye (Gerald Kedziora) was Program Director and DJ at WING during the 1960s to about the mid 1970s.

Jerry Dennis (1943-2006)

Jerry Dennis (Gerald Paxon) was Production Director and DJ at WING during the 1960’s and early 1970s.

The Mojo Man (1936-2019)

The Mojo Man (Sid Grubbs) was a WING DJ for about a year beginning in late 1966.

Denny Cheatham (1945-2020)

A lifelong resident of Dayton, Denny graduated from Colonel White High School and was a Veteran of the United States Army. Denny worked for 46 years at WHIO as a videographer for Channel 7, where he won 3 Emmys. (Inducted 2009)

John Charlesworth (1947-2020)

John Charlesworth was a television engineer for a short time at WKEF-TV, Channel 22. He then made the move to WHIO-TV, Channel 7, where he spent the remainder of his career before retiring.

Willis Buck (1926-2020)

Willis Buck was a broadcast technician who worked alongside Lou Emm at WHIO radio for 37 years. He received his technical degree from DeVry Technical Institute in Chicago. Willis Buck retired in 1989.

Clair Miller (1941-2020)

Clair Miller was an announcer for many years on WHIO-FM and also ministered on Christian radio stations WEEC and WFCJ.

Joe Demma (1948-2020)

Joe had an interest in radio broadcasting from a young age. He worked at a number of area stations, including WHIO and WING.

Stanley M. Krohn Jr. (1901-1977)

A Dayton broadcast pioneer, Stanley Martin Krohn Junior owned and operated commercial radio station WDBS and later changed the call letters to WSMK in the 1920s. The station was sold in 1939 to Charles Sawyer of Cincinnati who changed the call letters to WING.

Ken Honeyman (1916-1996)

Ken Honeyman was a long-time announcer starting at WHIO-AM and later as morning announcer and Program Director at WHIO-FM.

Joe Waldman (1936-2003)

Joe was at WHIO-AM a couple of times. The first time he was the afternoon drive host, leaving after a few years to go first to WIBC in Indianapolis. Other stops included WTVN in Columbus and WKRC in Cincinnati. He later returned to WHIO-AM to team with Lou Emm before going back to afternoon drive. From there it was on to L.A. where he did voice work and was on the original “Music Of Your Life” satellite network. His radio broadcasting career started in 1959 at his hometown station of WNOW in Defiance, Ohio.

Mike Scinto (1952-2020)

Mike Scinto is best-known as a radio talk show host, spending most of his broadcast career in Dayton.

Mike started his professional career as an announcer at AM 1600 WBLY in Springfield before moving to 1210 WAVI in Dayton first as a newscaster then a talk show host. After stops at WCOL in Columbus and WING in Dayton, his talk show skills took him to WHIO radio and for a time his show was simulcast on WHIO-TV7.  In later years, he hosted a 2-hour, five day a week talk show on AM 1210 WDAO and also filled in for Mike Gallagher on his nationally syndicated show.

Rod Williams (1935-2021)

Rod Williams was News Director at WING in Dayton from the late 1950s until the early 1960s.  Williams left WING to join WSAI in Cincinnati as News Director.  He won numerous awards as a combat reporter in Vietnam.  In later years, WIlliams moved into management at stations in Alaska and Hawaii.

Carl Kemper (CK) Elstun (1931-2021)

CK Elstun was first heard in Dayton on WONE radio and later made the transition to television at WLWD/WDTN. Duties at Channel 2 included weathercaster and booth announcer. Later in his career he did volunteer work for the Western Ohio Reading Development Service, WORDS, Inc. This service provided broadcasts of the daily newspapers being read aloud for blind and sight impaired members of the community.

Jack Hicks (1934-2021)

Jack Hicks came to WDTN from KAKE-TV in Wichita, Kansas in 1983. He remained at Channel 2 until his retirement in 2000. Jack will be remembered for his cool and clean delivery of the news and his keen ability to ad-lib during technical difficulties.

Bob Montgomery (1945-2022)

Bob Montgomery (Dennis Kriegbaum) radio career ran the gamut from radio disc jockey to account executive and led to jobs in a number of cities from Adrian, Michigan to Dayton, Ohio.

Jim Smith (1931-2022)

Jim Smith started his radio career in the late 1950s as a DJ at WIZE in Springfield. He moved to WING in the early 1960s as a DJ and Program Director. This pioneer Top 40 programmer  moved to WSAI in Cincinnati in 1965.  After leaving WSAI in the early 1970s, Jim worked at stations in Philadelphia, Washington DC, West Palm Beach and Tampa and remained in the Sunshine State after his retirement.

June Beutle (1949-2022)

June Beutle was an evening DJ known as “Goldie” or “The Golden Girl” at WING in the mid 1970s before transitioning to television as a reporter/anchor for WDTN in 1979.

Mark Schlemmer (1956-2022)

Mark Schlemmer spent many years in baseball, coaching the UD Flyers and played in the Detroit Tigers farm system. Schlemmer was inducted into the Greater Dayton Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He was a sports radio host for several years at WING and on WONE radio.

Christopher Roberts (1961-2022)

Chris Roberts was a news videographer for WKEF/WRGT-TV for 30 years and a news video editor for WHIO-TV for five years.

Toula Stamm (1932-2021)

Toula Stamm began her career at Channel 16 (which at the time was WKTR), becoming the Director of the Community Club Awards Program. By 1970, she continued her successful journey at WHIO Radio where she was Lou Emm’s “Girl Friday.” Through her devoted work ethic and determination, she was named the first female producer of WHIO Radio. Toula was the genius behind Conversation Piece, a local radio show where she was responsible for booking celebrities.

In 1977, Toula transitioned to Grand Junction, Colorado, KREX-TV, hosting her television talk show, Alive at Five, and later serving as the first female general sales manager. (Inducted 1997) 

Clay Collins (1935-2022)

Clay Collins began his Dayton radio career in 1968 as news reporter on WAVI/WDAO. He then advanced to become the station’s program and community relations director.

Collins was an effective account executive at several stations including WING and Dayton’s Clear Channel stations. He was also an expert in Jazz and played the genre over the years on WCSU-FM and WDPS-FM.

Known on air as Clay ‘The Cooker’ Collins, he decided to retire in 2009. That didn’t last long, for his found retirement a tad boring and returned to the airwaves on WDPS-FM, a radio station for Dayton Public Schools. After several years he retired again in 2018.

Jackie Roberts (1960-2021)

Jackie Roberts was born in Piqua, Ohio and grew up in nearby Covington. She graduated from Covington High School and Miami University of Ohio. She started her radio career at WPTW in Piqua and worked at WHIO Radio in Dayton for 32 years, working her way up to Director of Regional Traffic for Cox Media Group. (Inducted 2022)

Chris Roberts (1961-2022)

Chris Roberts was a videographer at WKEF and WGRT for 30 years before retiring after 5 years as a news video editor at WHIO-TV.

Donald Kemper Junior (1936-2023)

Don came to the Sales Department at WHIO-TV in 1970 after many years at his father’s advertising agency, The Don Kemper Company.  Don retired as Station Manager in 2000.

Terry Wood (1942-2023)

In Dayton, Terry Wood was well known as a radio personality and program director for WONE/WTUE…He worked in many markets, including to name a few, Akron, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee  and finally back home to his beloved Memphis. 

Don Brown (1960-2023)

Don Brown was born and raised in Dayton. He is a 1978 graduate of Stebbins High School and 1983 graduate of Wright State University. 

Don began his career while in college, working part-time at WHIO Radio. He received his first taste of sports broadcasting as the color analyst for the WHIO Radio high school game of the week.

Brown made the move to television in 1985 at WKEF-TV, first as a weekend weather reporter and sports reporter/anchor. He was hired as Sports Director in 1986.

During his time at Channel 22, Don also served as the host of the local segments of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon  working tirelessly to raise research dollars to battle the disease.

After spending some time coaching and substitute teaching at Stebbins High School, Don returned to TV as a part-time sports anchor/reporter at WHIO-TV from 2005-2014. (Inducted 2019)

Chuck Upthegrove (1932-2023)

Retired chief photographer Chuck Upthegrove, worked for WHIO-TV, Channel 7 for 38 years. 

Over the years as a videographer for News Center 7, Chuck would photograph the likes of John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong and many other national and international news makers covering news both in Dayton and around the globe. (Inducted 2005)

Dick Bieser (1930-2024)

Dick began his broadcasting career in 1952 in his hometown of Centralia,  Illinois, at WNCT where he rose to the position of news director.

After a brief assignment at WTHI in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was recruited to become program director at radio station WONE in Dayton, Ohio before moving to a position at WHIO-TV. Dick dedicated nearly 30 years to WHIO, starting in the news department as daytime assignment editor before he became News Director. He also worked as a contributing reporter on-air and anchored newscasts Saturday evenings and Sunday night sports. (Inducted 2017)

Steve Kirk (1933-2024)

Steve Kirkpatrick started his radio career doing mornings in Bellaire, Ohio. After two years, he moved to Columbus, Ohio and WCOL-AM.  With five years in the Capitol City, he moved on to Cincinnati’s WSAI-AM, where he and four other station personalities each fronted $5,000 to bring the Beatles to Cincinnati Gardens in 1964. When the Beatles returned to Cincinnati in 1966, the show was originally rained out, but Kirk saved the concert. 
 
Later that year, Kirk moved to Dayton’s WING-AM, where he became a prominent presence. For the next 25 years, Kirk graced the airwaves of Dayton, gaining popularity not just for his humor but also for his active engagement with the community.
 
After a brief retirement in 1991, his career ended in 1992 after a short stint doing the morning show at WYMJ-FM in Xenia, Ohio.  Kirk spent his retirement years in Florida. (Inducted 2003)

Phil Donahue (1935-2024)

 In the early 1960’s Donahue was a newscaster for WHIO Radio and Television in Dayton. For a time, he hosted a mid-day radio talk show called “Conversation Piece”. But Phil tired of the grind and left broadcasting for a while to start a career as an incentive salesman. Later, an executive with WLWD-TV, Channel 2 had a brainstorm…take a format similar to WHIO’s “Conversation Piece” and put it on television. He contacted Phil and offered him the job as host. “The Phil Donahue Show” debuted in November, 1967 with a studio audience, live telephone calls from viewers and atheist Madalyn Murray O’ Hair as its’ first guest.

In January 1970, The Phil Donahue Show entered nationwide syndication. Donahue’s syndicated show moved from Dayton, Ohio, to Chicago in 1974; then in 1984, he moved the show to New York City to be near his wife Marlo Thomas.

After a 29-year run—26 years in syndication—and nearly 7,000 one-hour daily shows, the final original episode of Donahue aired on September 13, 1996. (Inducted 2003)

Gary Calvert (1937-2024)

Gary was a well-known radio personality for WHIO in Dayton. He was best known for his many years on WHIO-FM playing “Light and Easy Favorites.”

In addition to his radio duties, Gary did voice overs and industrial narration.