Our nominee for Radio Lifetime Achievement:   Bill Brown 

 

Presented to an individual radio broadcaster who, in the opinion of the judges, is deserving of recognition for outstanding service and achievement, during his or her lifetime, in the broadcast field. This award may be presented to a current employee, owner, or manager of an LAB member station, with 25 years or more of service to the broadcast industry.
Paul Simon wrote the song 50 Ways to leave your lover, however it took our nominee for the LAB’s Radio Lifetime Achievement award Bill Brown 54 years to leave a love of his life, Radio.

William Warren ‘Bill’ Brown Sr. retired from the radio broadcasting business after 54 years literally serving in every capacity one can in radio from on-air, sales, production, engineer and owner of not just one radio station but 5!

In 1970 Bill moved to Ruston from Mississippi and began work with his brother-in-law, Dan Hollingsworth at KRUS 1490 am as a disc jockey and radio sales.   In 1975 he assisted in the launch of KXKZ 107.5.

In 1979 Bill bought radio station WULA-WLAZ in Eufaula, Alabama and stayed for 3 years before returning home in 1981 back where he started in Ruston @ KRUS/KXKZ until he ventured out and build his own radio station in 1987, 50,000-watt KPCH, The Peach, based in Ruston, serving all of North Louisiana.

While owning The Peach, radio mogul, Bill Brown bought and ran KTOC radio in Jonesboro Louisiana, from 1990-1993.

Bill owned and operated The Peach for 16 years before he sold it in 2003 and took a break from radio, but not for long.  As we in radio know, one can get out of radio, but can’t get radio out of them, so Bill built another 50,000-watt real country radio, KRLQ in Ruston.  The R.L. in the call letters stands for Ruston, Louisiana.

Along the way, Bill bought and build another station KWXM and managed to own them both or managed to manage them both until he sold them in February of 2024.  Thus, signing off on a 54-year career in local radio with 51 of those years in North Louisiana.

Bill Brown demonstrated his love for the community by broadcasting local events including the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast, Rotary Fish Fry, Peach Festival, Dubach Chicken Festival, Farmerville Watermelon Festival, Marion Mayhaw Festival, Saline Watermelon Festival, Christmas Parade to name but a few as well as sporting events for local schools Ruston, Cedar Creek, Choudrant, Dubach, Simsboro, Homer, Haynesville Grambling as well as Louisiana Tech, and Grambling State University.

 

Bill Brown has helped promote and raise money to assist the congregations of Mineral Springs Baptist Church and First Methodist Church of Bernice after their church homes were lost by fire and help build the James Street Recreation Center on the campus of Ruston High School, and for more than ten years, Bill has conducted the DART. Radiothon on Q94.1 FM raising over ½ million dollars for the local nonprofit to aid victims of domestic violence.

 

Along the way volunteered an gave back to the community serving as President of the Ruston Jaycees, helping the Jaycees start new chapters in Jonesboro, Arcadia and Simsboro.  Bill is a charter member of DRABO, which stands for the Dubach Restoration and Beautification organization.

 

In 1989, Bill Brown was presented the “Patrick Henry Award” by the National Guard Association of the United States of America for his service to the United States during Operation Desert Storm and the deployment of our local troops. Bill Brown was also the recipient of the “Service to Mankind Award” by the SERTOMA Club and is a two-time recipient of the “Man of the Year Award” by Beta Sigma Phi Sorority

And most recently Bill Brown has been named the recipient of the 2024 Prestige Award for Excellence in Broadcasting by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters for his work-related homeless veterans in Louisiana.

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