The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System’s 86th annual conference in New York City was also where the winners of its IBS 2024-25 Media Awards were honored.
Lively attendees gathered inside the Sheraton Times Square ballroom to hear many different categories announced, including for on-air work, sports broadcasting and station social media accounts. Recipients were able to bring trophies back to their respective college or high school campuses.
This year, notable winners were:
- College of the Desert – COD Roadrunner Radio, Best Community College Radio Station
- Florida A&M University, 90.5 WANM(FM), Best College/University Radio Station (under 10,000 students)
- Western Michigan University, 89.1 WIDR(FM), Best College/University Radio Station (more than 10,000 students)
- Mercer Island (Wa.) High, 88.9 KMIH(FM), Best High School Radio Station
WIDR took home the award for Best Overall Radio Station, which is determined among all college and high school entries.
Find the full list of college and high school winners here.
Al Roker remembers radio
Saturday’s keynote speaker at the IBS conference was NBC’s Al Roker.
Those in attendance recognized him as a TV personality. He received one question from a student prefaced by noting how Roker was part of their family’s Thanksgiving annually with his coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
But Roker was quick to mention his radio roots.
He obtained a First-Class FCC operator license while part of 640 WOCR (now WNYO), the former carrier-current AM station at SUNY Oswego. Roker earned his B.A. in communication at the school in 1976. He recalled taking the station’s transmitter readings as one of his duties.
“While I work in TV, my start was radio. It’s the greatest form of interpersonal communication that exists,” Roker told the audience.
An early radio job out of college had him making sure Casey Kasem’s “American Top 40” aired each weekend. He would load the three AT40 12-inch LPs the station received each week. “We had a rundown sheet and it was my job to subtract the time for news and commercials so we’d stay on schedule,” Roker explained.
He went through the changes the industry has faced over his storied career, from the Sony Walkman to the MP3 file to how he can now stream his son’s radio show on Landmark College (Vt.)’s WLMC in his car in New York City.
“How we listen has changed, but radio is still you and that microphone, talking to one person at a time,” Roker said.
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