Inaugural inductees chosen for Arkansas Broadcasters Hall of Fame

The Arkansas Broadcasters Association (ABA) has selected the inaugural class of the Arkansas Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

“We are proud to recognize these five outstanding individuals. They’ve each enjoyed stellar careers, made significant contributions in their communities, and have been tremendous ambassadors for the broadcast industry in Arkansas,” said ABA President Greg Horne. “I again want to thank the Hall of Fame Committee for its work. They had a strong list of nominations to sort through, and I know they worked hard on the process to select these five,” he added.

The five chosen for induction this year are (Broadway) Joe Booker of Little Rock, Bobby Caldwell of Wynne, Jim Pitcock (posthumously) of Little Rock, B.J. Sams of Little Rock, and Kermit Womack of Rogers.

The five will be honored at the ABA Hall of Fame Banquet on the evening of Monday, October 14th. The banquet is part of the ABA’s annual convention, which will be held this year in Hot Springs.

Nominees not selected are automatically eligible for consideration for the 2025 Hall of Fame.

Here is more background on this year’s honorees:

(Broadway) Joe Booker is among the most recognized names in Arkansas radio. He hosts the morning show on Power 92. He’s quoted as saying “As African Americans, we expect to get all our information, education and entertainment from our radio station, and that goes back to the 50’s.” An Air Force veteran, Booker began his civilian broadcasting career in Lonoke, followed by KOKY in Little Rock before arriving at KIPR, which he labeled as “The People’s Station”. Booker serves as the Director of Programming for all Cumulus radio stations in Little Rock and is recognized as a community leader for, among other things, his role in shaping the lives of young people.

Bobby Caldwell is the owner and CEO of East Arkansas Broadcasters, the largest group of radio stations in Arkansas. His career started at KWYN-AM in Wynne. Interested in the business side of the station, he went on to become VP/General Manager in 1973, later owning the station with his wife Peggy. His philosophy has been “local, local, local”, telling others, “If you take care of the community, the community will take care of you”. Over the years, Caldwell continued to add stations to the EAB group, which now airs on 60 signals across the state. EAB also produces many sports programs in various communities, has two electronic newspapers, ASU and ATU sports, plus two state networks, one providing news, the other agriculture programming. Caldwell is a Past President of the Arkansas Broadcasters Association and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Broadcasters.

Jim Pitcock was a legendary figure in Arkansas Television. He began his career at KFSA-TV in Fort Smith in 1957, working his way up to News Director at KATV-TV in Little Rock. He is remembered as a dedicated leader, always pushing himself on others in their shared mission to deliver the best quality news coverage possible. His nomination stated, “What may have been Pitcock’s greatest contribution to the state was preserving Arkansas’ history through KATV’s news reels. He painstakingly and personally ensured that news footage was archived and cataloged, labeling everything down to the individual shots. KATV was able to donate the archives to the Pryor Center at the University of Arkansas, where it is preserved and available to everyone.”

B.J. Sams has over 55 years of broadcast experience on radio and television. Starting as a DJ, he was known as BJ the DJ. After serving in the US Army and jobs in Tennessee and Louisiana, Sams moved to KATV-TV in Little Rock, then worked for the NBC affiliate in Honolulu before returning to Little Rock to anchor the news on KTHV. Sams retired in 2009, having been honored with various awards including Broadcaster of the Year by the Associated Press and included in the Gold Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Active in the community, Sams is also remembered for his volunteer work at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where he would rock babies after his shift.

Kermit Womack’s career spanned 72 years, ending July 1, 2024 when he signed off his radio stations. A graduate of Arkansas Tech University, Womack started at KXRJ (now KARV) in 1952 while at Tech. He had roles in various radio stations in Missouri after college before returning to Arkansas in the early 70’s. He founded KURM in 1979, where he also remained on air as a talk show host until retiring this year just shy of his 90th birthday. Womack was a staple in the community, committed to providing in-depth coverage of community events. His nomination included a long list of those events and his many accomplishments.