Craig Eckert and Don Wright have been announced as the 98th and 99th inductees into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association (NBA) Hall of Fame. The Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame was established in 1972.
Craig Eckert
Eckert began working in radio at WMMR, the student radio station for the University of Minnesota. His first professional job was with KICS in Hastings, Neb. In 1991 he became general manager of KKPR AM/FM in Kearney, Neb., which he and other investors would buy in 1994. He would grow the company with purchases of KICS and KHAS AM/FM. Eckert has also been a key contributor to broadcasting policy, providing testimony in a federal hearing on antitrust litigation between the RMLC and SESAC. He has also served as a two-time chairman on the NBA Board.
Wright worked in television since he joined KOLN TV as a reporter/photographer when the station signed on in 1953. He became assistant news director in 1961, and then news director in 1981. Wright was instrumental in helping the station make the transition from still photography to video, and from black and white to color. He retired in 1986.
Both men will be officially inducted during the NBA’s 82nd Annual Convention in La Vista, Neb., on Aug. 15.