'The Father of Simulcasting' Roberts Dies at 96

[Tommy Roberts Jr]

'The Father of Simulcasting' Roberts Dies at 96

 

[MadMan]

Is he a relative. I wonder who was the father of Shadowcasting?

 

[K.M. Richards]

I gather neither he or whoever gave him that title had no idea what the term "simulcast" really meant.

 

[radiofan2023]

Is he a relative. I wonder who was the father of Shadowcasting?

Shadoe Stevens 😀

 

[fybush]

I gather neither he or whoever gave him that title had no idea what the term "simulcast" really meant.

It's been the term of art used in horse racing since the 1960s, and it makes some sense - a race taking place at one track is simulcast on video screens at multiple other tracks.

 

[Tommy Roberts Jr]

Tommy Roberts Sr is my Father. In 1968 he purchased Radio Station WKDN AM 800 and Changed the call letters to WTMR and sold WTMR in 1986.

He called the feature Race of the Day from area Horse Race Tracks on a network of Radio Stations WTMR was the flagship station.
When the station had a MOR Format he hired big names in Philadelphia Radio to do air shifts and in 1975 flipped the station format to Religious Format.
Dick Sheeran of KYW TV did a story on him and found it interesting that a former horse race caller now has a Religious Radio Station.
My Father was the best horse race announcer in the country and in 1973 he called all 3 Triple Crown Races that Secretariat won on
800 Mutual Radio Network Stations. On Friday evening, November 16, 2012, My Father Tommy Roberts Sr was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame.

 

[K.M. Richards]

It's been the term of art used in horse racing since the 1960s, and it makes some sense - a race taking place at one track is simulcast on video screens at multiple other tracks.

So we stole the term from them, apparently.

 

[Yabadabado1]

Tommy Roberts Sr is my Father. In 1968 he purchased Radio Station WKDN AM 800 and Changed the call letters to WTMR and sold WTMR in 1986.

He called the feature Race of the Day from area Horse Race Tracks on a network of Radio Stations WTMR was the flagship station.
When the station had a MOR Format he hired big names in Philadelphia Radio to do air shifts and in 1975 flipped the station format to Religious Format.
Dick Sheeran of KYW TV did a story on him and found it interesting that a former horse race caller now has a Religious Radio Station.
My Father was the best horse race announcer in the country and in 1973 he called all 3 Triple Crown Races that Secretariat won on
800 Mutual Radio Network Stations. On Friday evening, November 16, 2012, My Father Tommy Roberts Sr was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame.

Sorry you lost your dad. Even though he was 96, it still seems like it wasn't long enough. I know I'll never make it to 96.

 

[Bongwater]

The very word "Broadcast" comes from farming in reference to seed planting. Many words in the radio industry lexicon were lifted from other industries. "Simulcast" is just another.

Not to be confused with the canned corned beef company.......

 

[CTListener]

Tommy Roberts Sr is my Father. In 1968 he purchased Radio Station WKDN AM 800 and Changed the call letters to WTMR and sold WTMR in 1986.

He called the feature Race of the Day from area Horse Race Tracks on a network of Radio Stations WTMR was the flagship station.
When the station had a MOR Format he hired big names in Philadelphia Radio to do air shifts and in 1975 flipped the station format to Religious Format.
Dick Sheeran of KYW TV did a story on him and found it interesting that a former horse race caller now has a Religious Radio Station.
My Father was the best horse race announcer in the country and in 1973 he called all 3 Triple Crown Races that Secretariat won on
800 Mutual Radio Network Stations. On Friday evening, November 16, 2012, My Father Tommy Roberts Sr was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame.

The Chic Anderson call of the 1973 Belmont Stakes, as broadcast on national TV, might be the most widely heard race call in the history of the sport in the U.S. -- "moving like a tremendous machine." I never realized that radio listeners didn't get to hear it.

 

[RadioGuy71]

R.I.P. Tommy Roberts, a man that worked hard and was an innovator of horse racing broadcasting, via radio with a network of stations and eventually on Satellite. He was also a class act and a true gentleman.