The Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters has chosen Will Payne as its new president.
Payne, currently the association’s chairman, will take the title of president starting at OAB’s April 9 convention. He is replacing Vance Harrison, who is retiring after a 20-year run.
As Radio World profiled in 2024, radio is very much part of Payne’s blood. At the age of 13, his father, Bill, signed on KUSH(AM) in Cushing, Okla., in 1953. It was the dawn of three generations of broadcasting, as today, the Payne Media Group owns six FM stations in southeastern Oklahoma.
In an OAB release, the departing Harrison expressed confidence in Payne, citing his willingness to embrace digital options, including through the PayneCast streaming platform. Payne worked with OAB to get a bill passed in 2021 that helps radio stations secure the rights to stream the football and basketball games of their local high schools.
Payne is also a member of the National Association of Broadcasters’ board of directors.
Harrison was inducted into the OAB Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2023. OAB said that he leaves the association in a top 10 position financially among state broadcasters associations.
OAB represents all radio and TV stations in Oklahoma, with approximately 125 radio station members.
