Bruce Rader

Last updated

Bruce Rader is an American broadcaster who retired in February 2022 as sports director of WAVY-TV and WVBT-TV in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach after more than 45 years. He was the longest active television anchor in Hampton Roads television history. [1]

Contents

He is now Vice President of Special Projects for the national media production house Studio Center, [2] and a contributing reporter with Nexstar Media Group, Inc. on special projects, while continuing his active role as an officer and board member of the Priority Automotive Charities. [3] [ citation needed ]

Early life and career

Born Bruce Reed Rader at George Washington University Hospital in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C.,the son of Audrey and Orth Rader. He grew up in the Randolph Hills area of Rockville, Maryland and attended Rocking Horse Road Elementary School, Randolph Junior High School, and graduated from Wheaton High School in Wheaton, Maryland. His first broadcasting job came when he was hired by the late Pierre Eaton, the owner, and general manager of his hometown radio station, WINX Radio, in Rockville. There he hosted a high school sports show and did play-by-play for local high school football games on WINX, and did a weekly college basketball show highlighting the University of Maryland basketball team known as "Terrapin Talk". During some of these games, he was joined by the University of Maryland basketball All-American Len Elmore who after a successful career in the NBA became a college basketball broadcaster for CBS Sports and ESPN.

Television career

In 1974 Rader began his television career working in the newsroom at WMAL-TV (ABC) during the final days of Watergate and the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He was a spotter for the Washington Redskins play-by-play announcers Mal Campbell and Len Hathaway and produced the Coach George Allen post-game show and the Chris Hanburger locker room show in 1974 and briefly worked for WMAL-TV Sports Director Steve Bassett before moving to Norfolk.

In 1975 Rader was hired by news director Tony Burton as the assignment editor at WVEC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1976 he joined WAVY-TV, a Lin Media company now Nexstar Media Group as the weekend sportscaster and weekday news reporter for the NBC affiliate covering Virginia Beach. On January 1, 1979, he was named sports director and primary sports anchor. Rader, noted for his energetic style, changed the way local sports were presented in the market. He devoted extensive coverage to NASCAR becoming one of the first local sportscasters outside of Florida to annually spend a week covering the season-opening Daytona 500. He was the first sportscaster from the Hampton Roads market to cover Washington Redskins games on a regular basis, both home and away. During his coverage of Super Bowl XVII in 1983, he broadcast the first live newscast in Hampton Roads television history from Costa Mesa, California. He continues to anchor the daily sports segments weeknights on WAVY-TV and is the host of the Fox 43 Sportswrap every night on Fox 43. He is also the host of the weekly Old Dominion University Football Show with Coach Ricky Rahne, The Washington Huddle WFT Show shown in the Hampton Roads, Richmond, Roanoke, Washington, D.C., and Hagerstown, Maryland, markets, and the high school football show Friday Night Flights.

Community service

The Bruce Rader-St. Jude Golf Tournament raised more than US$1 million during its 20-year run for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. [4] Rader's former charity foundation was also very active in Hampton Roads. Rader also worked with the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, Seton Youth Shelters, Virginia Beach SPCA, and Horizons Hampton Roads.[ citation needed ] For over 30 years[ when? ] he hosted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on WAVY-TV. [5]

Awards

In 2017 Rader received the Gold & Silver Circle Ceremony Award from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, honoring him for a lifetime of significant contributions to the broadcast industry. [6] In 2020 he was voted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, [7] two years after being the first person inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Media Hall of Fame. [8] Rader retired in February 2022. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portsmouth, Virginia</span> Independent city in Virginia, United States

Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is the 9th-most populous city in Virginia and is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSBN</span> ESPN Radio affiliate in Washington, D.C.

WSBN is a commercial AM sports radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with 10,000 watts in the daytime and 2,700 watts at night using a directional antenna around the clock. WSBN's studios are on Jenifer Street in Northwest Washington. The transmitter is located off Black Rock Road in Germantown, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJLA-TV</span> ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

WJLA-TV is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group, and is also sister to Woodstock, Virginia–licensed low-powered, Class A TBD station WDCO-CD and local cable channel WJLA 24/7 News. WJLA-TV's studios are located on Wilson Boulevard in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia, and its transmitter is located in the Tenleytown neighborhood of northwest Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTTG</span> Fox TV station in Washington, D.C.

WTTG is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV station WDCA. WTTG and WDCA share studios on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda, Maryland. Through a channel sharing agreement, the stations transmit using WTTG's spectrum from a tower also located in Bethesda on River Road at the site of WDCA's former studio facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTVR-TV</span> CBS affiliate in Richmond, Virginia

WTVR-TV is a television station in Richmond, Virginia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Its studios are located on West Broad Street on Richmond's West End, and its transmitter is located in Bon Air near the studios of PBS member stations WCVE-TV and WCVW. WTVR-TV's former transmitter is located behind the station's studio, and only WTVR-FM broadcasts from that tower today. It still remains as part of WTVR-TV's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WAVY-TV</span> NBC affiliate in Portsmouth, Virginia

WAVY-TV is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Virginia Beach–licensed Fox affiliate WVBT. Both stations share studios on Wavy Street in downtown Portsmouth, while WAVY-TV's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTKR</span> CBS affiliate in Norfolk, Virginia

WTKR is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by E. W. Scripps Company alongside Portsmouth-licensed CW affiliate WGNT. Both stations share studios on Boush Street near downtown Norfolk; WTKR's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.

WGNT is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Norfolk-licensed CBS affiliate WTKR. Both stations share studios on Boush Street in downtown Norfolk, while WGNT's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.

WVBT is a television station licensed to Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Portsmouth-licensed NBC affiliate WAVY-TV. Both stations share studios on Wavy Street in downtown Portsmouth, while WVBT's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTEM</span> Sports radio station in Washington, D.C.

WTEM is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship station of the Maryland Terrapins, and is the Washington affiliate of Fox Sports Radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDVM-TV</span> Independent TV station in Hagerstown, Maryland

WDVM-TV is an independent television station licensed to Hagerstown, Maryland, United States, serving the Washington, D.C., television market. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station WDCW. The two stations share studios on Wisconsin Avenue in the Glover Park section of Washington; WDVM-TV's transmitter is located on Fairview Mountain, west of Clear Spring, Maryland.

Tim Brant is a retired American sportscaster. Brant most recently worked for Raycom Sports and was formerly Vice President, Sports for WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. He has spent more than forty years covering sports nationally, including for CBS and ABC.

Red Zebra Broadcasting was a sports marketing company headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. The company owned and operated four radio stations in the greater Washington, D.C. radio market, one in Hampton Roads, VA, and two stations in Richmond, Virginia.

Rhonda Glenn was an American sportscaster, author and a manager of communications for the USGA beginning in 1996 until her retirement in May 2013. The next year, she won the Golf Writers Association of America's William D. Richardson Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Holliday</span>

John Holliday Bobbitt, known professionally as Johnny Holliday, is an American radio and television sportscaster and a former Top 40 radio disc jockey. He has maintained a long association with the University of Maryland football and basketball teams and from 2007 to 2018 hosted a pre- and post-game television program for the Washington Nationals baseball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Hellie</span> American sports anchor

Dan Hellie is an American sports announcer for Fox Sports and the NFL Network. Hellie can also be seen on Dana White's UFC Tuesday Night Contender Series, Tennessee Titans preseason games and college football games on Fox. He was a sports anchor for WRC-TV, an NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmed Fareed</span> TV studio host and reporter

Ahmed Fareed is an American studio host and sports reporter for American television network NBC Sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Pinkney</span> African American pioneer sports announcer and commentator

Robert Theron "Ron" Pinkney is an American pioneer broadcaster who was the first African American play-by-play announcer on a major television network (ABC). The game was played at the Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi between Mississippi Valley State and Jackson State.

WLZV – branded K-Love – is a non-commercial contemporary Christian radio station licensed to serve Buckland, Virginia. Owned and operated by the Educational Media Foundation, WLZV does not broadcast any local programming, functioning as the Northern Virginia network affiliate for K-Love; WLZV also services the southwestern portion of the Washington metropolitan area.

James Leo Gibbons (1914–2001) was an American sportscaster who called Washington Redskins games from 1943 to 1967.

References

  1. ↑ "Bruce Rader". WAVY-TV . Archived from the original on 2012-10-18.
  2. ↑ "Studio Center Welcomes Bruce Rader :: Studio Center". studiocenter.com. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  3. ↑ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  4. ↑ "Thank you for attending - St. Jude Bruce Rader Golf Tournament". St. Jude Children's Research Hospital .
  5. 1 2 "Bruce Rader". WAVY-TV. May 19, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Bruce Rader given Silver Circle honor by Emmys". WAVY-TV. March 4, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-03-06.
  7. ↑ "General Assembly recognizes Virginia Sports Hall inductees, including WAVY's Bruce Rader". WAVY-TV. February 18, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Recipients". Hampton Roads Sports Media Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.