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Hats Off To Hank

E

Element9

Giving credit where credit is due, Hank Nevins does a more than capable job hosting the Saturday morning information block on WBEN. He's smooth, experienced and knows Western New York (particularly Niagara county.) Too often here, he's been criticized for his role in the WWKB debacle, but he's more than re-affirmed himself down the hall at WBEN, hosting what is often overlooked as a very important and highly listened to daypart on Buffalo's only commercial news-talk station. Kudos for a job well done.

-9-
 
Let me add I emailed Hank a few times about KB, sometimes asking for information and other times making comments about KB etc. He always took time to answer and was always a gentleman.

There are some good guys in the radio biz!

Thanks Hank....
 
Very correct about Hank. He is a "real person" who doesn't show any arrogance(rare in this business). He has been a friend for almost 30 years and I've always found him to be a "straight shooter".

I'm very happy he was able to land on WBEN.
 
I agree with all the above.......Hank Nevins is a class act and is one of the Buffalo Maket's under recognized heros.  I  can think of a few individuals who have been honored by the Buffalo Radio Hall of Fame who are not worthy of cueing up Hank's records ( when records used to be cued up)..............

and...btw....why would anyone in their right mind try to blame him for what went wrong with the last incarnation of music at KB........A carpenter can only do so much with the tools and materials given to him and Hank did a masterful job.

Hank be well ....and you know that Camille and I are listening on line..........
 
Hey MediaBoy. I'm going to call you on your claim here. First, I agree Hank Nevins is a great guy. And one day, he will perhaps be inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame. But I'd be interested in hearing which inductees you believe "are not worthy of cueing up Hank's records." I just checked the list. And every single inductee is deserving of the honor bestowed on him or her.
 
Gotta hand it to Phil on this one. There have been some very deserving folks inducted to the Hall. Besides, the analogy probably was wrong, if anything, it should have been "load his CD player."
 
Raining on the Parade

Hank is a nice guy, and a competent air talent. I'll agree with "load his CD player", but I doubt that it will ever get to "upload his MP3 player". A computer geek he ain't.

Before we annoint Hank, let me ask you - did you ever LISTEN to 'KB under his watch? Masterful? HAH! The music was AWFUL, loaded with random obscurities from the Lockport Oldies Collection. The opportunity to hear Armstrong was the only reason to tune in. OK, Danny had his moments, but they were a little too few and far between, probably because we got "free range" Danny - the unedited & unstructured Danny which could be tedious at times. There's more, but why bother?

Hank does a nice job on the weekend at WBEN, but let's not get carried away.
 
Hank was the PD of WBEN during the final years when it was still full service, news, talk, sports, music, etc. The station was at its peak during the era and I'm sure Hank had a lot to do with it along with local ownership and a great air staff.

People knock the KB oldies revival but they had to do something a bit different from WHTT which was still Oldies at the time. I liked the obscurities - it reflected what was really played - not the current limited and over played catalog on most oldies stations. Maybe that's why I now listen to the XM '60s channel when I'm in the mood for that era - they have some variety.

The thing KB was missing a someone to pull it together on the air. Most my listening was in the evening after Armstrong - it was just a juke box. If they didn't do a live person they could have at least voice tracked it. As I recall much of the afternoon was the same. They also should have done newscasts 24 hours a day leveraging their sister station to add more human touch to it. I'm sure the lack of those elements was budget more than a PD decision.
 
Back on the never ending talk about KB(which I always eagerly particpate in :)):

People knock the KB oldies revival but they had to do something a bit different from WHTT which was still Oldies at the time. I liked the obscurities - it reflected what was really played - not the current limited and over played catalog on most oldies stations.
Click to expand...

I too enjoyed those "oh wow" songs and yes, it was an alternative to the run of the mill oldies you usually hear on FM Oldies stations. My main criticism on the KB oldies revival(that I've posted here so many times before) was not enough emphasis on 50s(and modern corporate radio being what it is, Hank probably didn't have too much input on that). There's very few windows of opportunity in AM in the 21st century and AM gets mostly older listeners. They should have blended in pop standards from the 50s and 60s with pop Top 40 hits from the same era...well, we've talked this to death, so I won't go any further on this subject.

The thing KB was missing a someone to pull it together on the air. Most my listening was in the evening after Armstrong - it was just a juke box. If they didn't do a live person they could have at least voice tracked it. As I recall much of the afternoon was the same. They also should have done newscasts 24 hours a day leveraging their sister station to add more human touch to it. I'm sure the lack of those elements was budget more than a PD decision.
Click to expand...

I liked hearing all the old KB jocks: Danny, Tom, Sandy, Hank, Steve Mitchell(and John Jarrett and Tom Shue did a great job on the weekends). But yes, they always seemed to have gaps in the lineup when they became an oldies jukebox. Probably budget considerations(again, not Hank's fault - also not his fault they ran narrow appeal sports play by play).

Still, the KB revival was fun while it lasted. But don't knock Hank.
 
Hankering

Hank is a radio god. He'll be Buddy1025's first hire when he buys 'KB from Entercom. They'll go into the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame together after they resurrect the might 50KW legend.
 
My Opinion

Gentlemen:

I offered an opinion based on my knowledge of the market and my own experiences.

You mean you experts really believe the "press clipings " of everyone who is in the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame? If so you are naive and gullible.

The overwhelming majority of those in the hall (99.9 percent) are broadcast gods.....and I appreciate them for their contributions to the Buffalo market. But ( without mentioning names here....because I don't work that way even though some of you would) there are a limited number who knew someone or got in through the back door.......and this is my opinion...................

and......Hank did a great job...........and this is my opinion.
 
mediaboy said:
and this is my opinion................... and......Hank did a great job...........and this is my opinion.
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You've made it quite clear and you are entitled to your opinion.

It doesn't appear that posters have challenged you personally, only your opinion as to who and why some members have been inducted to the Hall of Fame.

YThere may be a few people in the Hall who got there for nothing more than their longevity and continuity of work. So what? They were considered on their merits, the selection committee approved their nominations and they were voted in by the membership at large. Not every member of the Hall is going to be Irv Weinstein or Rich Kelman.

My post initiated this thread recognized Hank's work on the air each Saturday morning at WBEN. Only an opinion. My praise of his air work also runs contrary to some of the criticism I offered of WWKB and the way he performed as PD there. It wasn't his best work, to say the least. Also my opinion. That said, he's done some fine work at WBEN and for this he deserves recognition here. Should he be in the Hall? Not at this time in his career and no more than any other people his age and with his experience in the business, whether it's Bill Lacy, Larry Norton or Joe Chille. Hank's time for consideration may come. As it stands now, I believe people like Jack Armstrong, George Hamberger and Don Berns, among others, are more deserving. Also an opinion.

Let's chill.

-9-
 
There's opinion, Media Boy. And there are opinions that are not based on fact. You are expressing the latter. Members of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association select the candidates to the Hall in an open and fair election. This has been the process during the last several years. There is no back door. Granted, the selections in the early years of the Hall of Fame were made by a smaller group. But in those years, they were mostly "no brainers." I mean, Irv, Rick and Tom didn't need a vote of the whole membership to be named to the Hall. As I've stated before, Dave Gillen is to be praised for his wonderful leadership of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association. Again, I don't see a member in the Hall of Fame who is not deserving of the honor. Your opinion that Hank is a fine broadcaster is a valid opinion. Your opinion about the back door is ill-informed and simply not true. If you have evidence of a "back door" election to the Hall, please present it. I'd like to know!
 
I've known Hank for over 40 years and share some of his experiences. He has always been a gentleman and a professional. The last attempt to bring KB back to life with music was doomed from the start, but Hank, Sandy, Danny and staff did a remarkable job of keeping the spirit alive. Unfortunatly, times have changed and AM radio has seen its day as a music source.

i would enjoy an "informed" expression of the future of Am radio and particularly the "blowtorch" stations. Please don't dis Hank Nevins.
 
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