NEW YORK — Eight esteemed current and former radio industry professionals will be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame as part of its 2023 class.
This year’s honorees include longtime air personalities, one esteemed local market leader, a familiar vote to NPR listeners, and Radio Ink and RBR+TVBR President/Publisher Deborah Parenti.
THE 2023 RADIO HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES ARE:
John DeBella
Gerry House
Deborah Parenti
Bob Rivers
Pat St. John
Shadoe Stevens
Nina Totenberg
Charles Warfield
Six inductees were determined by a voting participant panel comprised of more than 950 industry professionals and two inductees were voted on by the Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. The confidential ballot was conducted by Votem.com and overseen by Miller Kaplan’s Andrew Rosen.
These Radio Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a 2023 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony scheduled for November 2 at the InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel in midtown Manhattan, one block north of Grand Central Terminal.
“My congratulations to our newest inductees,” said Radio Hall of Fame co-chair Kraig Kitchin, known for his tenure as CEO of The Blaze in the early 2010s and, before that, as President/COO and a co-founder of Premiere Radio Networks. “I’m thrilled to see each individual receive this recognition from the industry they’ve devoted their professional lives to. My thanks to the members of the 2023 Nominating Committee for their tireless work and contributions, as well as to the hundreds of industry members who took time to vote.”
Dennis Green, Co-Chair of the Radio Hall of Fame, remarked, “On behalf of the Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, we are proud to induct eight individuals into the Radio Hall of Fame who have made an indelible impact upon the industry. It is a pleasure to honor the careers of these individuals who quite simply define excellence in the industry and have earned the right to be called a Hall of Famer. Congratulations!”
DeBella is widely regarded as one of the Philadelphia radio market’s most successful air personalities. He retired on June 30, concluding a nearly 50-year career that involved hosting the “WMMR Morning Zoo” and competing with Howard Stern, whose show aired via syndication on crosstown WYSP, followed by a long tenure at WMGK-FM, today owned by Beasley Media Group.
House is considered one of Country radio’s greatest personalities and was inducted into the NAB Radio Hall of Fame in 2011. His Gerry House and the House Foundation morning program dominated the ratings from 1983 through 2010 at WSIX-FM in Nashville.
St. John, today a key voice on SiriusXM’s ’60s Gold, is still widely recalled for his lengthy tenure at WPLJ/New York during ABC ownership, sticking with the station from its Album-Oriented Rock format through its days as “HitRadio 95” and “Power 95.”
Rivers is an iconic Seattle radio host who worked at KISW-FM from 1989 and in September 2001 shifted to crosstown KZOK. From April 2011-August 2014, he and his cast members hosted the KJR-FM morning program.
Stevens, thanks to his role as the voice of the syndicated “Hollywood Squares” in the 1980s, enjoyed a career renaissance with the controversial replacement of Casey Kasem with Stevens as “American Top 40” host, starting in early 1989. Prior to that, Stevens was known for his time at the first iteration of KROQ. He’s also been associated with legendary former Los Angeles radio stations KHJ and KMET.
Warfield spent 12 years managing Inner City Broadcasting Corp.’s WLIB-AM & WBLS-FM in New York, and later under Summit ownership ran the former WRKS “98.7 Kiss FM” in New York. In summer 1997, Warfield moved to Philadelphia, with the assumption of VP/GM duties at WDAS-AM & FM. In March 1998, the former Chancellor Media Corp. appointed Warfield its SVP of Urban Regional Operations. He would later hold the role of SVP/Regional Operations for AMFM Inc., before returning to Inner City for a second stint. The NAB honored him with the 2010 National Radio Award. In 2009 he was recognized by Radio Ink magazine as Radio Executive of the Year.
Totenberg serves as NPR’s legal affairs correspondent. She has been associated with NPR for more than three decades.
Parenti spent time in New York and in Philadelphia, and the majority of her career in radio — including today — in the heart of Ohio’s Miami Valley. In September 2022, the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. In April 2023, the Broadcasters Foundation of America honored Parenti with a 2023 Leadership Award.
Parenti in September 2021 was elevated to the role of President of the Radio, TV & Podcasting Division for Streamline Publishing, parent of RBR+TVBR and Radio Ink. Previously. she served as EVP/Publisher of what was formerly known as Streamline Publishing’s audio division since joining the company founded by Chairman/CEO B. Eric Rhoads in January 2007. She assumed leadership of Radio + Television Business Report with its acquisition by Streamline Publishing in February 2013.
Parenti’s career in the radio broadcasting industry started at “high-flyin’” WING-AM in Dayton, where she rose to VP and Assistant General Manager following roles in promotion, marketing, and research. She later joined Stoner Broadcasting, serving as General Sales Manager at Stoner’s WDJX-FM 99.7 in Louisville before returning to Dayton in 1990 as VP/General Manager of WWSN, as the first woman to manage a radio station in that market. Under her leadership, the station would become WMMX “Mix 107.7,” a station that today remains one of Dayton’s most listened to FM radio choices.
Later, Parenti would become VP/GM of American Radio Systems’ Dayton group, earning a
major profile in the February 1997 issue of Working Woman magazine for her role in
developing one of the first consolidated radio sales platforms, “Radio First!” In September
1997, Parenti would leave her hometown of Dayton for a position as VP/GM of Beasley
Broadcast Group’s country-formatted WXTU-FM in Philadelphia. From 1999-2010, Parenti was a board member of Vox Radio.
