Seven FM and three AM stations “went crystal” this week, named recipients of the NAB Crystal Radio Award.
The award salutes stations for outstanding commitment to community service.
Recipients: KCVM(FM) in Cedar Falls, Iowa; KFOR(AM) in Lincoln, Neb.; KSTZ(FM) in Des Moines; KUZZ(FM) in Bakersfield, Calif.; WAWZ(FM) in Zarephath, N.J.; WDRV(FM) in Chicago; WIZM(AM) in La Crosse, Wis.; WJBC(AM) in Bloomington, Ill.; WUBE(FM) in Cincinnati; and WUGO(FM) in Grayson, Ky.
The luncheon also saluted NAB’s first Crystal Heritage Award winner, WUSL(FM) in Philadelphia; and saw the induction of Chicago’s Larry Lujack into NAB’s Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
“I’ve always thought these Hall of Fame things were kind of goofy,” Lujack said. “Why is it that they wait so long until you’re really old and damn near dead to do it? … I was as good as I was ever going to get 30 years ago. I could have been ego-tripping on this for 30 years,” he said. “But no, they waited ‘til now.”
Lujack said he guesses he’s supposed to thank “every idiot programming director I ever worked for,” but instead read a list of the six bosses who never fired him, and closed his speech with a message for NAB: “Thank you for this award, which I so richly deserve.”
