Listener feedback is vital for radio, and this is also true for the National Radio Hall of Fame. Public voting has begun to determine the 2016 inductees in the Music Format On-Air Personality and Spoken Word On-Air Personality categories.
“The listener response we received last year since reinstituting the public voting process after a 5-year hiatus was overwhelmingly positive,” said National Radio Hall of Fame Chairman Kraig T. Kitchin in a press release. “Fans want to engage and be a part of the process, which is a tribute to the dynamic personalities of each show.”
Votes can be sent in via text message to 36500 through June 30. Fans can send in one vote for each category. Note that message and data rates may apply.
The nominees for Music Format On-Air Personality are:
- -Sean “Hollywood” Hamilton — text “HOLLYWOOD HAMILTON,” “HOLLYWOOD” or “HAMILTON”
- -Tom Kent — text “TOM KENT” or “TOM”
- -The Kevin & Bean Show (Kevin Ryder and Gene Baxter) — text “KEVIN & BEAN,” “KEVIN” or “BEAN”
- -Bob Kingsley — text “BOB KINGSLEY” or “BOB”
For Spoken Word On-Air Personality, the nominees are:
- -Sean Hannity — text “HANNITY”
- -Mike and the Mad Dog (Mike Francesa and Chris Russo) — text “MIKE & THE MAD DOG,” “MIKE” or “CHRIS”
- -Diane Rehm — text “DIANE REHM” or “DIANE”
- -Michael Savage — text “SAVAGE”
In addition to the public categories, the RHoF panel of 400 industry professionals will vote on nominees in the categories of Longstanding Local/Regional (20 years or more); Active Local/Regional (10 years or more); Networks/Syndication (10 years or more); and Longstanding Network/Syndication (20 years or more).
All of the winners will be announced July 11 and will be inducted Nov. 17 at the Museum of Broadcast and Communications in Chicago.