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RSC MOURNS THE LOSS OF BOB DOLL AT AGE 77

  • Rod Schwartz
    • 994 posts
    June 3, 2010 4:08 PM PDT

    Small-market radio lost a true friend and champion with the passing of broadcaster, consultant, author, and publisher Bob Doll earlier this week.

    According to an article in today's Small Market Radio Newsletter, which Bob started in 1983 and sold ten years later to its current publisher, Jay Mitchell:

    SAD DAY. This newsletter, your publisher and all of radio is mourning the loss of Bob Doll, who passed away in the early hours of Wednesday (6/2). He was 77. Details are sketchy at press time, but according to Bob’s wife, Barb, Bob hadn’t been feeling well since last Friday and succumbed to a heart attack. [RSC member] Hal Widsten, who operates KWED Radio and The Seguin Daily News in Bob’s home town of Seguin, TX, told us he saw Bob about a week ago and “he never looked better.”

     

    SMALL MARKET RADIO IS A VERY DIFFERENT WORLD. Nothing underscores this more dramatically than the coverage —or should I say, lack of coverage— of the passing of an iconic radio personality like Bob Doll. Sure, he owned and operated small market stations. Sure there wasn’t anything big-time (read: phony) about him. But you would think he’d rate a mention in the all-industry trades. . .especially since the big-time publishers of same, eager to pander to small market radio but laughably clueless about it, were the first to hail him in industry settings. But of them all, only our friend Tom Taylor—for my money the best radio journalist ever—cared enough to give Bob his due:

     

    Small market radio guru Bob Doll dies at 77
    Doll ran radio stations and learned the strategies that enabled him to launch the Small Market Radio Newsletter in 1983, after he sold his own stations. His goal was to share ideas and campaigns that worked in smaller markets, and he continued to enthusiastically contribute to the Newsletter after he sold it to Jay Mitchell in 1993. Bob was known as “Editor Emeritus” of the publication, which Mitchell continues to operate. He wrote five books about radio and had served as a consultant for small-market owners such as Art Sutton at Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting. Sutton tells Radio-Info “I can honestly say that no single person has had more impact on my career than Bob.” He says “Bob was a cheerleader for the underdog and loved the lifestyle that being a small-town radio station operator provides.” Jay Mitchell tells Radio-Info that Doll had been feeling unwell for the last several days, then suffered a heart attack, and died Tuesday night.


    Just last week, Bob wrote these kind words about my family and me, our business, and this community:

    ROD SCHWARTZ AND HIS FAMILY run a small business that offers good ideas at reasonable
    prices (Grace [Broadcast] Sales). But they are also do-gooders who want to make the radio business and the world better. One of their not-for-profit efforts marked its first anniversary in mid-May: the Radio Sales Café, an online site where radio folks can share their successes and get help from their peers in meeting challenges on the street. I have been a member almost from the beginning. I’m amazed at the folks whom I’ve met over the years who are regular participants. There’s no cost, no obligation, and you’re free to participate as little or as much as you want. The Schwartzes’ effort has attracted almost 1,300 members from every state and even some foreign countries. Please wish them your best. Join up at RadioSalesCafe.com.  Speaking of anniversaries, the second week in June, SMRN will celebrate its 27th Anniversary. I thank Jay for allowing me the pleasure of continuing my association with the publication, and with all of you. (SMRN, 05-27-10)


    Rereading his words just now, they've taken on an entirely different tone: that of a good-bye.  Over the years I've had the pleasure of visiting with Bob on the phone on occasion.  Our conversations may have been intended to last five or ten minutes, but it seems they always went for closer to an hour.  Bob was as inquisitive as he was talkative, always cordial, and always encouraging.  He was a friend to radio, especially to the small-market "mom and pop" stations and operators he knew and loved so well. 

    Bob's widow Barbara will be in our prayers.


    This post was edited by Rod Schwartz at March 5, 2024 1:44 PM PST
  • Rod Schwartz
    • 994 posts
    June 3, 2010 5:49 PM PDT

    From the Rural Blog: Robert "Bob" Doll, founder and editor emeritus of Small Market Radio Newsletter and author of Sparks Out of the Plowed Ground, a book about small-town radio, died Tuesday, June 1 in Seguin, Tex. He and his wife Barb started the newsletter in 1983 and sold it to Jay Mitchell 10 years later. "If I'd been born before radio, I'd have been a small-town newspaper editor like William Allen White in Emporia, Kansas," Doll said. Doll grew up in Cincinnati and had his first full-time radio job at WDLB in Marshfield, Wis. His first management job was at WEKY in Richmond, Ky., and he was chairman of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association board in 1972. He and his partners owned The Cardinal Group of small-town stations in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio from 1960 to 1973. After selling them, he bought WAOP in Otsego, Mich.  A memorial service will be announced later.


    This post was edited by Rod Schwartz at March 5, 2024 1:45 PM PST
  • Rod Schwartz
    • 994 posts
    June 3, 2010 5:51 PM PDT

    From Radio Business Report: "The entire radio community has lost a true friend and great ambassador for small market stations. Bob's encyclopedic knowledge of small-town radio was surpassed only by his friendly demeanor. His presence at this year's Radio Show will be sadly missed, but he won't soon be forgotten," said NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton.


    This post was edited by Rod Schwartz at March 4, 2024 6:16 PM PST
  • Jeff Dostal
    • 56 posts
    June 4, 2010 6:34 AM PDT
    I've known Bob Doll for just over four years but have been in awe of the impact he's had on me and others in that short amount of time. As a start up company, wanting to help small market radio stations, Bob saw in us something special and would call me from time to time to "check in" and see how we were doing. He was always so interested in the direction we were heading and so supportive of our efforts. It meant the world to me to have his suppport. I had visited with him just last month and our lengthy conversations were always a highlight of my day. Mr. Doll, you will be missed. Thank you for all you did for all of us.
  • Mike Petersen
    • 83 posts
    June 4, 2010 6:35 AM PDT
    Was sad to find out about Bob's passing this morning through the "Cafe." Bob and I go back to the early 1980s, having read and followed many suggestions in his Small Market Newsletter after purchasing my first station in (very small market) Elwood, IN. My wife and I attended at least one of his weekend seminars in St. Louis, which were both informative and enjoyable. When my company purchased an AM/FM combo in Brazil, IN in 1990, Bob wrote an article a couple of years later about "The station with 9 Lives." I still have it in my archives somewhere. I will miss our lengthy phone conversations that we had from time to time to catch up on all tne "news and views" about people and issues in radio broadcasting. I had hoped he'd help my author my own book someday, but guess I'll have to go it alone now. My condolences to his family.
  • Jay Mitchell
    • 12 posts
    June 4, 2010 6:42 AM PDT
    As of this morning, only two general-interest trade publications have noted Bob's passing: the terrific Tom Taylor was first on the scene; he contacted me early Wednesday. Then yesterday, RBR picked up the NAB's statement. Can it be that small market radio is so off the grid that virtually no one in the larger market world appreciates Bob's many contributions to the industry at large? Now that is sad.