The Minnesota Broadcasters Association is celebrating its 75th anniversary.
The Minnesota Broadcasters Association on Tuesday announced the 2024 inductees into its prestigious Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
This year’s inductees include Walter “Q bear” Banks Jr., who has been broadcasting out of KMOJ community radio station in Minneapolis for over 40 years.
The late Bill Diehl is also among this year’s inductees.
A journalist in print, radio and television for over seven decades, Diehl is credited with helping to bring the Beatles to Minneapolis in 1965.
Four members from the Hubbard family will also be inducted this year, including Kari Hubbard-Rominski, Stan E. Hubbard, Ginny Hubbard and Robert W. Hubbard.
Stanley E. Hubbard launched Hubbard Broadcasting as a small Twin Cities radio station a century ago.
The next inductee comes from WCCO-TV’s politics and government desk, where retired reporter Pat Kessler worked for more than 30 years.
In a social media post, Kessler thanked the Minnesota Broadcasters Association for the “extraordinary honor”.
“I’m humbled and grateful to be part of the 2024 HOF class, an outstanding group of fellow broadcasters,” he wrote. “Respect to all those who came before us!”
Mark and Paula Persons, who ran a broadcast engineering company for four decades, round out this year’s inductees.
The inductees will be honored during a ceremony and dinner in Rochester on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Details can be found here.