The NCAB Hall of Fame was initiated in 1970 to recognize and honor persons who have contributed to the broadcast industry in the past or over an extended period of time. To date, 85 people have been honored with the award. Consideration is given to North Carolina residents who have made significant contributions to broadcasting in the state, persons born in North Carolina who have made significant contributions to the broadcast industry outside the state, and persons either born or residing outside of North Carolina who have made significant contributions to broadcasting in North Carolina. For a complete listing of the NCAB Hall of Fame, click here.
In 2007, the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (NCAB) honored three leaders in the field of broadcasting, inducting them into to the Association's Hall of Fame.
Joseph McKinley Bryan
An active philanthropist, a believer in civic duty, an avid golfer, and television visionary, Joseph McKinley Bryan made a strong impact in the world, as well as the world of mass media.
After a successful career in the military during World War I, and becoming the youngest member of the New York Cotton Exchange, Bryan married Kathleen Price of Greensboro; they eventually relocated their family from New York to Greensboro. There, Joe was an upwardly mobile, successful employee of Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company. He became the president of the subsidiary of that company which bought WBIG, then Greensboro's radio station. From there, his involvement with mass media expanded as the company also purchased WBT (Charlotte). Under his leadership, WBT became WBTV, which was the first television station to air in North and South Carolina. Joe's corporate experience grew to include Senior Vice President of Jefferson Life Insurance Company, membership on the board of Jefferson-Pilot (Jefferson Standard's parent company), and service on the boards of NCNB (NationsBank) and Atlantic and Yadkin Railroad. He was also one of the first inductees of the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame.
Responding to his wife's long battle with Alzheimer's Disease, Joe donated ten million dollars to Duke University Medical Center for an Alzheimer's research project. A direct result of his contribution has been the research team's identification of specific genes and chromosomes believed to contribute to the early onset of Alzheimer's. This success has paved the way for subsequent progress in Alzheimer's research.
Joe’s civic activities were vast and varied, as well. He was associated with Rotary Club, Masons, and Shriners, among other groups. He served on several governmental committees and was named Chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. In 1966, he received the North Carolina Award in Public Service.
The Bryan Family Foundation was established in 1955 with education being its priority. Many colleges and universities have benefited from the benevolence of the foundation, among them The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, which named its School of Business and Economics in Joe Bryan’s honor. Joe was also a former board member and major contributor of the UNC-TV Foundation. In 1989 UNC-TV opened the Joseph & Kathleen Bryan Communications Center in Research Triangle Park, allowing the centralization of the network’s studio operations in one location.
Joe loved all sports and participated in many, including fishing and shooting, but his first love was always golf. He was a member of the Augusta National Golf Club and was instrumental in starting the Greater Greensboro Open PGA Tour in 1938, and later became Honorary General Chairman for the tournament.
Joe Bryan passed away in 1995 just one year short of his 100th birthday. During the last year of his life, he visited his office every day, including the day he was admitted to the hospital. Joe was a man of great vision, and he left a tremendous legacy of philanthropy and civic involvement that will keep his spirit alive.
John L. Greene
John L. Greene has been in the broadcast industry since 1962 when he paid his college tuition by working in radio and news. He graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communications in 1966, receiving the North Carolina Press Association cash award for maintaining the highest academic grade point average in his journalism class. In 1992, in recognition of his academic achievements, the school established the John L. Greene Award, presented to an outstanding student in the electronic communication sequence.
After graduating from college with honors, John went to work for Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting Corporation in Charlotte, joining WBTV as a reporter. He was promoted through the ranks and became News and Information Manager, leading his news team to win many national awards. A highlight of his early reporting career was covering both the Republican and Democratic Conventions in 1968.
John’s affiliation with Capitol Broadcasting Company started in 1976 when he joined WRAL-TV as Station Manager. John was then promoted to Vice President and General Manager in 1979 and named Senior Vice President in 1984. In 1990 John retired, during which time he taught classes in broadcast journalism for the Radio-TV Department and School of Journalism and Mass Communications at UNC Chapel Hill.
In 1994, John came out of retirement, at the request of Capitol CEO and President Jim Goodmon, to help in forming the Telecom Act of 1996. From there John agreed to manage Capitol’s conversion to digital television and supervised the completion of the nation’s first commercial digital station.
Today John is Vice President of Special Projects for Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. where his responsibilities include development of goals and financial projections for acquisitions and new business and lobbying for telecommunication interests at state and federal levels. He holds the Wes Wallace Chair as a Visiting Lecturer in the School of Radio/Television and as a lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
John’s many career accomplishments include serving as Secretary of the ABC Affiliate Board, and Secretary-Treasurer of the CBS Affiliate Board. He is a past President of the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Association and a recipient of its Distinguished Service Award. An honorary life member of the Carolina’s Radio-Television News Directors Association, John was twice named one of the top 25 general managers in the nation by View magazine. In 2000, he was elected to the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers. John also served on one of NASA’s national selection committees to elect the first journalist for a space mission. John is involved in his community and has served on numerous advisory boards and committees including involvement with the development of an environmental plan for the coast of North Carolina.
John and his wife, Berry, have two children and three grandchildren and enjoy sailing and reading. While in semi-retirement, John earned a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Duke University and a US Coast Guard Captain’s License.
Ken Lowe
Ken Lowe is well known as an industry visionary and one of the country’s most respected media executives. Today he is president and CEO of E.W. Scripps Company, but his love of broadcasting started as a child growing up in rural North Carolina, when he would lie awake at night listening to the radio. At the tender age of 10, he built his own radio station and, even though by his own admission his audience consisted of mostly cows and chickens, Ken was hooked.
By the time he was 15 years old, Ken already had a job at a local radio station as an on-air personality, a job that, after high school, paid his tuition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His college roommate was Rick Dees, well-known top-40 radio host, and the two remain friends to this day.
After graduating from college, Ken began his radio career at Southern Broadcasting and held several management jobs in radio and television with Harte-Hanks Broadcasting in the late 1970s. During this time, Ken began to appreciate the importance of targeting specific groups of listeners, a skill that would serve him well during his career.
In 1980, Ken joined Scripps and in 1988 became VP of programming, promotion and marketing for the company’s nine network-affiliated TV stations. He rose to the position of chairman and CEO of the Knoxville, TN-based Scripps Network where he built the company’s category media division into one of the nation’s fastest growing and most successful creators of unique brands for television and the Internet. Ken founded and launched Home & Garden Television in 1994; managed Food Network, in which the company owns a majority interest; and oversaw the launch of the company’s third network, Do It Yourself Network, as well as Scripps’ newest network, Fine Living.
In January 2000, Ken’s successes led him back to Scripps’ corporate offices when he was named president and CEO in October of that year.
Ken has received many honors over the years including becoming one of the first Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award winners presented by the National Association of Television Programming Executives, being inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, honoring the industry’s leading pioneers, and as a 2007 recipient of the Broadcasters Foundation of America Golden Mike Award, given annually in recognition of extraordinary lifetime contributions to the media industry.
When it’s time to relax, Ken enjoys golf, skiing, SCUBA diving, fly-fishing or just about anything that takes him outside along with wife Mary and their two dogs. Ken is active in numerous associations and civic organizations serving on several boards but has never forgotten his roots. He credits his father, who was a tobacco farmer, for teaching him important lessons about the value of hard work and being a good person who lives a good life. Ken continues to live and lead based on those basic values and has inspired many co-workers by his example.
Copyright 2007 North Carolina Association of Broadcasters