Meyer to be inducted into WBA Hall of Fame

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA) Foundation is proud to announce the 2023 WBA Hall of Fame inductees, among them Bob Meyer of Loyal.

Per the WBA website, “The Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame was created in 1989 to honor broadcasters that have devoted a minimum of 15 years to the broadcasting industry, including a minimum of 10 years as a Wisconsin broadcaster. The award recognizes an individual’s history of exemplary leadership in community and statewide service as a broadcast professional.”

Meyer is known by farmers across Wisconsin for his booming voice and dedication to agriculture. He will be honored for his decades of contributions to the radio industry at the WBA Summer Conference, June 15 at the Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” said Meyer. “I’ve been to the banquet before, as people I’ve worked with before have gotten the award. I’m the ninth one from Goetz Broadcasting to get it. It’s a very nice honor.”

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Meyer grew up on a farm a mile west of Loyal. His interest in public speaking goes back to his school days as a student at St. Anthony’s Catholic School in Loyal. The Clark County Knights of Columbus sponsored a speaking contest every year. He competed with the other students in his class in first through fourth grade, and then in fifth through eighth grade, he had the opportunity to compete with the top speakers from the Catholic schools in Greenwood and Neillsville. He also took part in the 4-H speaking contest.

When he got into high school, English teachers Marvelene Butterbrodt and Sybil Basonbrio saw potential in him and prompted him to get involved in speaking contests.

“We had a stellar teaching staff,” Meyer said.

Meyer participated in Forensics and FFA speaking contests. In the FFA prepared speaking event, he won the state contest and took third in the nation. He also competed in the American Legion Oratorical Contest, which involved giving a six-to-eight-minute speech on the Constitution, as well as an extemporaneous component. In that contest, he won state his junior year, joining a group of several other Loyal High School students that placed high in that contest.

Meyer’s knack for public speaking made radio a natural career choice. In 1974, Meyer began a three-year stint at WDLB-WLJY in Marshfield. In 1977, he left radio and in January 1978, he started a job at Smith Feed Brothers in Loyal.

“Over the years, I would get asked if I was interested in coming back,” said Meyer. “When I came back, WDLB was starting to network with other stations. It was one of those right place, right time situations. I was presented an opportunity and I took advantage of it.”

Meyer returned to WDLB-WLJY in 1986 as assistant farm director. Later that year, he began a 30-year run as the morning drive announcer on WDLB-AM. With that, Meyer became co-host of the Goetz Farm Radio Network’s morning farm show Daybreak. In 1987, he was named program director for WDLB. In 1991, Meyer became farm director for the Goetz Farm Radio Network (GFRN). Over the following decade, GFRN increased its program offerings and its affi liate list to cover the state of Wisconsin.

In 2003, GFRN was acquired by Learfield Communications; as a part of Brownfield Ag News, Meyer could now be heard on more than 350 stations in 10 states.

“Goetz was mainly Wisconsin, but when it was bought out in 2003, I became part of a group of 10 farm broadcasters in 10 states. I had the opportunity to meet and interact with many interesting people,” said Meyer.

During his long career, Meyer conducted more than 20,000 interviews with newsmakers and people of interest in agriculture. Meyer has served on numerous boards and committees for organizations including Wisconsin Farm Technology Days and the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin. He has been involved in many agriculture-related events over the years, such as World Dairy Expo, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Wisconsin Public Service Farm Show.

His continued support of the FFA garnered him the Honorary American FFA Degree. For 30 years he has been “the voice” of the annual Wisconsin State FFA Convention. Meyer also worked from 2016 to 2021 as an ag loan officer at Citizens State Bank of Loyal’s Marshfield branch, retiring on Oct. 1, 2021.

Meyer looks back on his career fondly and says his favorite part was the people he met. He extended appreciation to several individuals for their help: his predecessor at Goetz Broadcasting, Les Leonard, from whom he learned a lot; Mrs. Butterbrodt and his mom for encouraging him in public speaking; his wife, Coni, and his family for all their support along the way; and his colleagues at Goetz Broadcasting that he had the pleasure of working with, some for many years.

More about the Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame The first 12 members of the Hall of Fame were inducted during the 1989 WBA Summer Conference. Since 1989, 156 outstanding broadcasters have been honored with Hall of Fame inductions.

Inductees are chosen each year from nominations by WBA members, family members and friends. Broadcasters who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame include managers, personalities, engineers, reporters, educators and those broadcasting pioneers who were all of the above.

In October 1989, Alfred C. Sykes, then Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, came to Wisconsin to formally dedicate a Hall of Fame display, including plaques honoring the inductees, at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library in Madison. In 2010, due to remodeling of the SHSW facility, the display was removed and put in storage.

The display now resides at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center. The Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame also has a permanent, virtual display at the online Wisconsin Museum of Broadcasting which debuted in 2009 at wisconsinbroadcastingmuseum. org, where the Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame Gallery is one of the major attractions.

The other 2023 WBA Hall of Fame inductees include Al Lancaster, Dr. Jonathan Øverby and Joanne Williams.

Editor Valorie Brecht contributed to this article.