They’re already the most successful morning team in Chicago radio history and winners of the industry's highest honors. Now Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart have a chance to enter the National Radio Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
In their 20th year as stars of Hubbard Radio hot adult-contemporary WTMX FM 101.9, they’ve just been nominated for the first time by the Radio Hall of Fame steering committee. A copy of the ballot obtained Wednesday shows the duo competing in the Active Local/Regional category with broadcasters from Los Angeles, New Orleans and Philadelphia.
Four categories, including the one in which Eric & Kathy are nominated, will be voted on by a 400-member industry panel made up of radio executives, programmers, past inductees, executive directors of state broadcast associations, and members of the trade media.
Two other national categories — Music Format On-Air Personality and Spoken Word On-Air Personality — will be voted on by the public through social media balloting. This marks the first time in five years radio listeners will have a voice in selecting inductees.
All six inductees — plus as many as three more chosen directly by the steering committee — will be honored November 5 at the 2015 induction ceremony. The Chicago-based shrine to radio’s top personalities and programs is housed at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, 360 North State Street.
Here are the nominees in the four categories to be voted on by the industry panel:
Longstanding Local/Regional (20 years or more)
- Tom Barnard (Minneapolis)
- Johnny Dare (Kansas City)
- Johnny Holliday (Washington, D.C.)
- Ronn Owens (San Francisco)
Active Local/Regional (10 years or more)
- Eric Ferguson & Kathy Hart (Chicago)
- Big Boy Kurt Alexander (Los Angeles)
- Garland Robinette (New Orleans)
- Preston Elliot & Steve Morrison (Philadelphia)
Networks/Syndication (10 years or more)
- Tom Kent (Cleveland)
- Dave Ramsey (Nashville)
- Diane Rehm (Washington, D.C.)
- Michael Savage (San Francisco)
Longstanding Network/Syndication (20 years or more)
- Harry Shearer (Los Angeles)
- Bob Kevoian & Tom Griswold (Indianapolis)
- Bob Kingsley (Weatherford)
- “Marketplace” (Los Angeles)
Here are the nominees in the two categories to be voted on by the public:
Music Format On-Air Personality
- Delilah (Seattle)
- Elvis Duran (Los Angeles)
- Steve Harvey (Los Angeles)
- Ryan Seacrest (Los Angeles)
Spoken Word On-Air Personality
- Sean Hannity (New York)
- Clark Howard (Atlanta)
- Jim Rome (Los Angeles)
- Dr. Laura Schlessinger (Los Angeles)