NEW YORK—The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) has unveiled a lineup of trailblazing industry leaders that will be honored for their lifetime achievements during the 2025 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts luncheon and awards ceremony. The annual event will take place from 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Friday, November 14th at Gotham Hall in New York City.

Returning this year as the official event emcee is 2018 Giant Honoree and "60 Minutes" and CBS News correspondent, Bill Whitaker.

In addition, ABC News Radio national correspondent Steven Portnoy will also receive the 2025 LABF Excellence in Broadcast Preservation Award for his outstanding dedication and commitment to promoting awareness to the importance of collection and preservation of broadcast history, the group said.

“This event honors the innovators and groundbreakers of the media industry,” said LABF co-chairs Heidi Raphael, Beasley Media Group chief communications officer and Jack Goodman, longtime DC-based communications attorney. “It is a privilege to recognize and celebrate these incredible individuals for their significant impact on broadcasting and American culture.”

The LABF listed and described the 2025 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts honorees as follows:

• KELSEY GRAMMER. Award-Winning Television, Stage, Screen, Actor and Producer
• DAVID MUIR. Anchor and Managing Editor of "ABC World News Tonight with David Muir", Co-Anchor of "20/20".
• LYNN BEALL. Visionary Strategist and Innovator, Retired Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Media Operations
• TEGNA Inc.
• RICK DEES. Legendary Radio Icon, Entertainer and Entrepreneur
• JOHN R. FEORE, JR. Esteemed Communications Attorney and Trusted Advisor.
• DICK FERGUSON. Distinguished Radio Executive and Retired EVP, Cox Radio Group
• GARY SANDY. Acclaimed Stage, Screen and Television Icon. Beloved for his role as Andy Travis on "WKRP in Cincinnati".
• LESLEY VISSER. Hall of Fame Sportscaster and 50-year Trailblazer Boston Globe, CBS Sports, ABC and HBO

The LABF also extended "our sincere appreciation to Tegna and ABC News for their esteemed support as Diamond sponsors of this year’s event."

NEW YORK—Al Roker, meteorologist on NBC’s “Today,” ESPN’s ubiquitous sports opiner Stephen A. Smith, actress Christine Baranski and Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News & Stations & CBS Media Ventures, were among the big TV-industry names tapped as “Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts” by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation at a Nov. 12 event at Gotham Hall here.

The rest of the 2024 class of Giants included Mike McVay, president of McVay Media Consulting; Patricia C. (Patsy) Smullin, president and owner, California Oregon Broadcasting; and Steve Jones, president and CEO, Skyview Networks.

Honorees were recognized for their lifetime achievements at a luncheon and awards ceremony hosted by Bill Whitaker, correspondent for CBS’s “60 Minutes” and himself a 2018 honoree. The ceremony also honored Hearst Television with the 2024 LABF Excellence in Broadcast Preservation Award for its ongoing digitalization initiative.

“We are thrilled to celebrate these outstanding trailblazers in the radio and television industry and recognize Hearst Television for their outstanding commitment to preservation,” LABF co-chairs Heidi Raphael and Jack Goodman said in a statement. “It is a privilege to pay tribute to these incredible individuals and organization for their significant impact in broadcasting and on American culture.”

Some 300 broadcasting industry leaders have been honored as Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts since the event’s 2003 inception. The awards presentation celebrates remarkable creators, innovators, leaders, performers and journalists who have blazed trails in television and radio broadcasting, the foundation said.

The luncheon’s net proceeds support the preservation and expansion of the Library of American Broadcasting at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. The library’s collection is considered among the largest of its kind, the foundation said, adding that it plays a vital role in growing, preserving and providing access to archives that highlight broadcasting's profound influence on culture and history worldwide.

The foundation also supports the Broadcast Education Association by underwriting research and creative grants and producing academic publications focused on broadcast media, it said.

The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) paid tribute to distinguished industry leaders and celebrities for lifetime achievements during the 2023 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts Luncheon and Awards Ceremony, Nov. 14th at Gotham Hall in New York City.  

The ceremony, produced for LABF by the International Radio & Television Society Foundation (IRTSF), was hosted by 2018 Giant of Broadcasting Honoree and CBS News’ 60 Minutes Award Winning Correspondent Bill Whitaker.

The Giants of Broadcasting celebration was created by LABF, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the past, reflecting the present, and informing the future.

To date, LABF has honored more than 255 leaders in broadcasting since the event's inception back in 2003. Net proceeds from the luncheon will support the preservation and expansion of the Library of American Broadcasting collection, which is curated at the University of Maryland. Considered among the largest of its kind, the Library of American Broadcasting plays a vital role in growing, preserving, and providing access to archives that highlight broadcasting's profound influence on culture and history throughout the world, LABF said. 

“This event is a celebration of the incredible women and men who have truly blazed trails and made significant contributions on behalf of the media industry and American culture,” said LABF Co-Chairs Heidi Raphael and Jack Goodman.

Here are the 2023 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts Honorees:

• Caroline Beasley, CEO, Beasley Media Group
• Wolf Blitzer, Anchor, The Situation Room, CNN
• Juju Chang, Co-Anchor, Nightline, ABC News
• Tony Danza, Acclaimed Actor and Singer
• David Kennedy, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Aspire Ventures LLC
• Eric Shanks, CEO & Executive Producer, Fox Sports
• Valari Dobson Staab, Chairman, NBCUniversal Local
• Nina Tontenberg, Correspondent, Legal Affairs, NPR

A portion of the proceeds from the event will also support IRTS Foundation’s student training and diversity initiatives. 

NEW YORK—The 2022 Library of American Broadcasting Foundation’s (LABF) Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts event honored distinguished individuals in the industry, both in front of, and behind the camera. 

The annual event which took place Nov. 15 at Gotham Hall, was produced for the LABF by the International Radio & Television Society Foundation (IRTS) and hosted by ABC News' "Nightline" Co-anchor Juju Chang. The Foundation recognized the creators, innovators, journalists, leaders, performers, and producers, who, for the past century that have brought the electronic arts to prominence.

Net proceeds from the event will benefit the Library of American Broadcasting collection located at the University of Maryland and support LABF awards for students and scholarly works about the history of broadcasting and their impact on American society and culture.

“We are absolutely thrilled to honor these exceptional individuals who have made major contributions and blazed trails in broadcasting and beyond,” noted LABF Co-chairs Heidi Raphael (Beasley Media Group Chief Communications Officer) and Jack Goodman (Broadcast Attorney). “Their relentless dedication, passion and leadership serve as an inspiring benchmark for future leaders in our industry for many years to come.”

2022 Giant of Broadcasting Honorees:

Deborah A. McDermott, CEO, Standard Media Group
Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports
S. Epatha Merkerson, Emmy, Golden Globe, NAACP and, SAG Award-Winning Actress, Chicago Med, Law & Order
Bob Pittman,  Chairman/CEO, iHeartMedia
Adam Symson, President/CEO, The E.W. Scripps Company
Bayard (Bud) Walters, President, Cromwell Media
Pete Williams, Justice Correspondent (Ret.), NBC News
Fareed Zakaria, CNN Anchor, Author, and Columnist, The Washington Post
Julia Child, TV Chef Extraordinaire (Posthumously)

More information on the Library of American Broadcasting, can be found at www.tvradiolibrary.org .

Nine individuals were named Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts on Nov. 9 by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation. On the list were Emily Barr, president and CEO, Graham Media Group; Frank Boyle, president and CEO, Frank Boyle & Co.; sports broadcaster Bob Costas; Russell Perry, founder and president, Perry Publishing & Broadcasting; Robin Roberts, co-anchor, Good Morning America, and president, Rock’n Robin Productions; Marion Ross, actress and Happy Days cast member; Neal Shapiro, president and CEO, The WNET Group; Gordon Smith, president and CEO, National Association of Broadcasters; and Jordan Wertlieb, senior VP, Hearst Communications, and president, Hearst Television.

Juju Chang, co-anchor on ABC News’s Nightline, hosted the virtual event. 

Roberts saluted her “long-time dear friend,” talent agent Richard Liebner, for his “passion and his compassion.”

Ross spoke of Happy Days shifting to a studio audience in its early days. “It occurred to us, it would be a lot more fun if there was an audience,” she said. “We would play to that audience. It was so much fun.”

Ross stressed that “the history of broadcasting is so important, and it’s so important for me to be part of your broadcasting museum, and your library.”

Neal Shapiro saluted the host, his wife Juju Chang, as being “the reason I’ve been able to hold a series of demanding jobs” while also enjoying family life. Shapiro mentioned the “creative process” of TV news, as researchers, photographers, reporters, executives and lawyers, “who keep us all out of jail,” work together to bring stories to life. “If I am a Giant it is because I stand on the shoulders of so many,” he added. 

Gordon Smith said he was “especially pleased to be recognized alongside my broadcast colleagues,” Wertlieb, Barr and Perry. He saluted broadcasters for “keeping our communities safe, informed and connected,” especially during the tumultuous past couple years. 

“These broadcasters are the bastions and defenders of our vital First Amendment rights,” said Smith, who shifts to an advisory/advocacy role at the NAB as the year ends. 

He added, “I’m proud to have advocated for an industry that takes seriously its role in serving the public.”

Wertlieb saluted the Hearst execs who shaped his career, his family and the journalists within Hearst, calling journalism “a profession with a purpose like few others.”

Like Smith, he said they’ve never been relied on more than in the past two years. 

“Our journalists have been and continue to be on the front line every day,” said Wertlieb, describing journalists as “the immune system of democracy.”

NEW YORK—Nine broadcasting luminaries were celebrated at the Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts event in New York Thursday. Held at Gotham Hall, “Nightline” anchor Juju Chang emceed. The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation hosted the event.

Former “CBS Evening News” co-anchor Connie Chung, CBS Television Stations President Peter Dunn, “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt, PBS President/CEO Paula Kerger, Urban One CEO Alfred C. Liggins III, Patrick Communications founder Larry Patrick, The CW President Mark Pedowitz, Advanced Television Systems Committee President Emeritus Mark Richer and Premiere Networks President Julie Talbott were named Giants.

Chung shared a bit about getting a one-on-one with President Nixon in the midst of his Watergate mess. Doing a full impersonation, she spoke of Nixon asking the young reporter how much money she made. “Just remember one thing,” she said Nixon said. “You have to make more money!”

Chung admitted she was a bit confused by the interchange. “To this day, I don’t know what he said,” said Chung. “And that’s the way it was.”

Juju Chang then resumed hosting duties. “We expect impressions from all of you,” she quipped.

She spoke about Peter Dunn getting lost at the massive CBS Broadcast Center as a kid, visiting his father at work. “I still get lost at the CBS Broadcast Center,” said Dunn.

He admitted he wasn’t used to being labeled a giant. “Being here today makes me feel a few inches taller,” said Dunn.

Next up, Holt admitted he “broke a lot of rules along the way,” and did not enjoy a formal journalism education. “I made some spectacular mistakes and miscues,” he said. “Thank God there was no YouTube.”

He urged those in the room to “spot the raw talent” in their shops, and “make them better.”

Pedowitz, for his part, said he wasn’t a giant of anything, except, perhaps, “a giant pain in the ass” to those he works with. He said he was a little uneasy at the podium, preferring to “let the work speak for itself.”

Pedowitz said his longevity in broadcasting is an asset. “If you survive in this industry long enough,” he said, “someone might notice you.”

NEW YORK—Jeff Zucker of CNN and Andrea Mitchell of NBC News are just two of the names being recognized by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation as Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts. The two will be added to the organization honor roll, along with the rest of this year’s Giants, during the Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts Luncheon on Sept. 27.

Joining Zucker and Mitchell in this year’s group of Giants will be Gary Chapman, Lin Television; Michael Fiorile, Dispatch Broadcast Group; Barbara Eden, “I Dream of Jeannie”; Bill Koenigsberg, Horizon Media; Jeff Fager, “60 Minutes”; and Joe and David Field, Entercom. These individuals are being recognized for their contributions to the broadcast industry. They join more than 200 previous honorees; a full list can be seen here.

The luncheon will be produced by the International Radio and Television Society Foundation at Gotham Hall in New York City. Bill Whitaker of “60 Minutes” is set to serve as emcee. Tables, tickets and congratulatory ads are available here.