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The annual John Bayliss Roast will be held in New York on
March 16th. The roastee (if there is such a word) this year
is Clarke Brown who is retiring as President of Jefferson
Pilot. The purpose of the annual roast is to assemble
broadcasters and those who have contributed to the John
Bayliss Broadcasting Foundation…..and the purpose of the
Foundation is to present collegiate scholarships to those
who want to become broadcasters. It is very successful.
Unfortunately, John lost his life in a car crash traveling
from California to a radio convention in Las Vegas. I was
waiting for John in Vegas. It was veteran broadcaster Bernie
Mann who broke the news to me. Of course, like all the
attendees at the convention, I was stunned. Bernie also told
me that John’s wife, Alice, was in serious condition at a
California hospital. Fortunately, she recovered and helped
form the Foundation.
John enjoyed an excellent career. He was President of
Gannett Broadcasting from ’76 to ’80; President of Charter
Broadcasting in the ‘80’s and owner (along with Alice) of
Bayliss Broadcasting which I believe was located in Santa
Maria, California.
Before working for the aforementioned company John worked
for me for three years when I was President of Radio for
Pacific and Southern Broadcasting. I can sum John up in four
words…..great guy, great broadcaster!!! John was the first
person I hired as we started expanding our group. I believe
he was in Akron or Canton running a station at that time. I
invited him to join our new company as GM of KIMN in Denver.
And the good luck was mine when Pacific and Southern moved
our home office to Denver. I could watch John’s ability up
close. Once a month I would drive to the KIMN studios to
visit with John, and once a month he would drive to our
offices for a day. A business “day” with John was terrific.
He was always prepared to discuss any phase of KIMN….big
league preparation!!! He always hit his revenue projections
even with AM to FM audience erosion. He was never off more
than 2 per cent of budgeted expenses. We talked daily by
phone and I found him up to date on national broadcasting
revenue and audience trends. It was great to have an aware
GM. And, we would have dinner about once a month to talk
about family and friends.
At our home office we called John “teddy bear”. He was a
former college football player (offensive or defensive line
I believe) who kept in shape after his football days were
over. Off the gridiron he was a gentle, smiling, gregarious
guy who loved people. And his staff loved him.
John could accomplish anything. I asked him to do the
impossible once…to get five season tickets for the Denver
Bronco games. The Broncos were always sold out with a
waiting list. In three hours he had the tickets. I asked him
how he accomplished this…and he said “friends”….and he had a
lot of them. I know because I WAS THERE.
After he worked for the aforementioned companies John
started a one man radio brokerage company. One day he called
and said, “You know, I thought I had a lot of friends in
this business, but now that I am a vendor instead of a
broadcaster I have trouble reaching my friends on the
phone”. It is the only time I heard John down in the dumps.
The last time I saw John was with Alice at a broadcast
convention…perhaps in New Orleans. Pat, my wife, and I
talked with them for about an hour in a hotel lobby. Little
did I know a tragic automobile accident would soon take his
life.
I think of “teddy bear” every day. If you have a few extra
bucks please remember the John Bayliss Broadcast Foundation.
A few more dollars might send another potential broadcaster
to college to receive a broadcasting degree. We miss you
John!!!
e-mail Kent
kent@kentburkhart.com
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