Preserving the history, heritage and works
of electronic media
60 Minutes, with (l-r) correspondent Harry Reasoner, producer Don Hewitt and correspondent Mike Wallace, debuted on CBS in 1968.
Our principal mission is supporting the Library of American Broadcasting at the University of Maryland. Through its collections, the LAB tells the extraordinary story of electronic media’s first century and lights the way into the second.
We encourage other efforts to preserve, explore and document the history of electronic media and to enrich the public’s understanding of the media and how it impacts the world.
And each year we salute the giants of electronic media — leading business people, journalists, performers, technologists and program producers, past and present — who have made it all possible.
(Photo credit: Wendy Moger-Bross).
Giants of Broadcasting & the Electronic Arts
The LABF each year recognizes as GIants business executives, innovators, journalists, performers, producers and others who have excelled in the world of electronic media. The presentation luncheon is the foundation’s principal fundraiser.
This 2024 luncheon took place at Gotham Hall in New York on Nov. 12 with seven joining the honor roll of Giants, now 262 names long. In the photo, the names of the seven are in boldface, L-r: Heidi Raphael, co-chair, LABF; Christine Baranski, actor; Mike McVay, McVay Media; Patsy Smullin, California Oregon Broadcasting; Al Roker, NBC News; Wendy McMahon, CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventues; Stephen A. Smith, TV and podcast sports commentator; Steve Jones; Skyview Networks; Jack Goodman, co-chair, LABF; and Bill Whitaker, CBS News, who emceed the affair. The 2024 Giants Digital Journal contains bios and tributes to the honorees and recognizes the luncheon’s many generous sponsors.
THE GIANTS RETURN TO NEW YORK ON NOV. 14, 2025. MAKE PLANS TO JOIN US NOW.
Bush, Cohen, McVay, Mourelo Join LABF Board
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Sam Bush
SAGA COMMUNICATIONS
Sam is EVP, treasurer and CFO of Saga, a publicly traded radio group with 114 stations in 28 markets. He joined the group in 1997 as CFO and rose to his current position in 2024.
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Heather Cohen
THE WEISS AGENCY
As president of the Weiss talent agency, Heather represents local and syndicated radio personalities. She joined Weiss from GreenStone Media, where she was VP of programming.
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Mike McVay
MCVAY CONSULTING
A former radio group executive, Mike now heads his own consultancy, advising clients on programming, syndication, distribution, podcasting and talent coaching.
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Ernesto Mourelo
HEARST TELEVISION
As VP of digital news for Hearst, Ernesto is responsible for the digital content and distribution strategies at the group’s stations in 27 markets. He also oversees digital production.
Michael J. Hayes, president of Hearst Television (second from left), accepted the award on behalf of the station group at the Giants luncheon on Nov. 12. He is flanked by luncheon emcee Bill Whitaker of CBS News (left) and LABF Co-chairs Jack Goodman and Heidi Raphael (right).
Hearst TV Preservation
Efforts Earns LABF Honor
Hearst Television was honored with the 2nd annual Library of American Broadcasting Foundation’s Excellence in Broadcast Preservation Award in recognition of the company’s extensive on-going program to digitize the news archives at all its news-producing stations.
The presentation took place during the annual Giants luncheon on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at Gotham Hall in New York City.
“Hearst is leading the way in preservation among media companies across the country,” said LABF Co-chairs Heidi Raphael and Jack Goodman. “Their commitment and dedication to preserving important moments in local and national broadcast history across the entire company for future generations to follow for years to come is truly exceptional.”
Hearst Television is one of the country’s great station groups with 35 TV stations, two radio stations, and digital properties in 27 markets.
Soledad O’Brien Receives
2024 LABF Insight Award
Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, author and philanthropist Soledad O’Brien was honored with the LABF Insight Award at the NAB Show in Las Vegas on April 15.
The third annual award recognizes an individual or organization for an outstanding artistic or journalistic work or body of work that enhances the public’s understanding of the role, operation, history or impact of media in our society. Previous recipients are LeVar Burton and CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
Currently, O’Brien hosts "Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien," America’s No.1 nationally syndicated public affairs and news program, produced by Hearst Media.
At the presentation ceremony (photo, l-r): Curtis LeGeyt, NAB president; O’Brien; Jack Goodman, LABF co-chair; and Heidi Raphael, LABF co-chair.
Inspiring the Next Generation
Of Radio and Podcasting Talent
As part of LABF’s educational Radio & Podcasting Power Session series, an expert panel provided students at the BEA Conference in Las Vegas on April 13 with professional, real-world insight on creating audio content, programming hit radio stations, co-hosting a top 20 podcast, and syndicating a radio show.
The panel (photo, l-r): Sona Movsesian, co-host, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend Podcast; Hiram Lazar, chief financial officer, Compass ; LABF Board Member and Benztown President Dave “Chachi” Denes, who produced and moderated the panel; and Justin Chase, chief content officer, Beasley Media Group. LABF co-chair Heidi Raphael is on the extreme right.
RIGHT AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Nine Million Pages of Media History
Are you interested in researching the history of TV and radio for an academic or news article? How about in seeking out long-term industry trends? Or, do you just want to relive your career by browsing through Broadcasting or R&R?
May we suggest worldradiohistory.com, an extensive online collection of industry publications — broadcasting and cable trades, books, music mags, technical manuals, directories, yearbooks, company and station pubs, programming guides and more.
The collection is the avocation of David Gleason, a broadcaster and radio programming and research consultant who, over the past two decades, has digitized more than nine millions printed pages, organized them and made them fully searchable for all to explore.
In recognition of his extraordinary work, the LABF presented Gleason its Excellence in Broadcast Preservation Award at NAB New York in 2023. There is more on Gleason here.
“There is no stopping him,” says LABF Co-chairman Heidi Raphael. “What he has accomplished – virtually single-handedly — is extraordinary. He’s made an unparalleled contribution not only to the history of broadcasting, but to the story of the modern world as reflected and shaped by the media.”
And if that’s not enough…
Other major searchable online archives of books, magazines and other publications about electronic media and film include the Media History Digital Library, part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Communication Arts Department, and the Internet Archive, a non-profit funded by a variety of foundations. The Internet Archive also has audio recordings, still images and TV news programs.
SAVE THAT TAPE!
Co-produced by the LABF and the National Association of Broadcasters, Preserving Broadcast History was recorded at NAB Studios last year with LABF Co-chairman Jack Goodman and NAB’s April Carty-Sipp hosting. In the 30-minute video, Dr. Laura Schnitker joins University of Maryland Libraries colleague Mike Henry in encouraging stations and networks to save their old film, tapes, disks and printed matter for documentarians, podcasters, scholars, biographers, historians, students, genealogists, producers and others. Institutions like UMD are ready to help, they say. Stations often fail to recognize the value of the material that piles up in their storage rooms, says Schnitker, “Once a station changes format or management, which happens all the time, they’ll just chuck everything into a dumpster.”
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows
to the world and inspire us
to explore and achieve.”
— Sidney Sheldon, TV producer and author