This was posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2017 by Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
The 12 nominees for induction into the 2017 Georgia Radio Hall of Fame class includes V-103 host Frank Ski, WSB traffic reporter and radio host Mark Arum, Braves broadcaster and baseball Hall of Famer Don Sutton and WSB anchor/reporter Sabrina Gibbons Cupit.
Arum, who is 43, said he is incredulous that he was nominated given how young he is. He has worked at News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB for nearly 20 years, with a comparable stint at Channel 2 Action News. He does traffic in the mornings and his evening talk show from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
"I'm pretty sure I have zero chance to get in up against these legends but it is very cool to have been nominated," Arum wrote on Facebook.
Ski, 53, given his impact on V-103 as a top-rating morning host for 14 years, has a solid shot at getting in. He was on the R&B/hip-hop Station from 1998 to 2012, leaving voluntarily in hopes of getting syndicated. He ended up working at WHUR for a couple of years but was never able to find a syndication deal to his liking. He returned to Atlanta in 2015 and last year returned to V-103 as a part-time weekend host.
Sutton, 72, is another likely gimme. Already a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer for his 23 years of pitching, Sutton has been in broadcasting even longer: 28 years. He has been covering the Braves for much of that time and is currently on the radio, heard locally on NewsRadio 106.7 and 680/93.7 The Fan.
Gibbons Cupit has worked at WSB radio for 17 years. "I'm honored!" she wrote through Facebook Messenger. "I've been in radio since I was 15. I couldn't even drive to my first job because I didn't have my license yet... I loved radio back then and I still love it today!" As for Arum's relative youth, she added, "I just turned 50 yesterday... so I guess I'm old enough unlike Mark Arum. :) "
The other candidates (all listed here) include:
- Requaya Ward, host, "Early Morning Moves and Grooves," 89.3/WRFG-FM, Atlanta
- Chip Lyness, partner and manager of WDDK/WULK in Greensboro
- Becky Cipcic, former Z93 jock
- Tom Giglio, former chief engineer at WQXI
- Sanders Hickey, a partner in HEH Communications which owns stations in Brunswick Georgia and Texas
- Shirley Ellis, "Mama Mia" on WRVB FM in Macon
- Gail Daniels, long-time Macon radio personality
- David Cohen, Georgia State sports announcer
Keith Kalland, the popular WGST-AM traffic reporter, will be inducted in the legacy category. He died of a heart attack in 2002 at the age of 51. Read the obit I helped write back in the day. Long-time gospel host Esmond Patterson, who died in 2003, will also be inducted.
Member voting begins July 1. Typically, eight to 10 of the nominees will be inducted. This year's 11th annual ceremony will be on Saturday, October 21 at the Strand Theater in Marietta. You can buy tickets here.
Anyone is eligible to be a voting member of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame. The life-time one-time cost is $25. You can sign up here.
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