NEW YORK—Over 270 radio and television broadcasters gathered at the Plaza in New York City on March 14 for the Golden Mike Award Gala put on by the Broadcasters Foundation of America. 

The event honored Hilton H. Howell, Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Gray Television and Atlantic American Corporation, with the 2022 Golden Mike Award and Lesley Visser, the first woman sportscaster to report on all major sporting events, including Super Bowls, World Series, and the Final Four, with the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award. 

The gala was a fundraiser, raising over $300,000 to support the mission of the Broadcasters Foundation of America, which provides financial assistance to broadcasters in acute need. The annual event returned this year following a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

For more information, to donate, or to apply for aid, please visit www.broadcastersfoundation.org, call 212-373-8250, or email info@thebfoa.org.

NEW YORK—The Broadcasters Foundation of America has announced that the hosts for this year’s BFOA Golden Mike Award dinner and ceremony will be husband and wife broadcasters Al Roker and Deborah Roberts. 

Roker is the weather and feature anchor for "TODAY" and co-host of "Third Hour for TODAY" and Roberts is award-winning ABC News Senior National Affairs Correspondent for "20/20," "Nightline," "Good Morning America," and "World News Tonight with David Muir."

The 2022 BFOA Golden Mike Award will take place Monday, March 14, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The annual event is the biggest fundraiser for the Broadcasters Foundation, whose sole mission is to provide aid to broadcasters in acute need.

As previously announced, this year’s BFOA Golden Mike Award honoree will be Hilton Howell, Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Gray Television and Atlantic American Corporation. The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to renowned sportscaster Lesley Visser.

Since its inception 70 years ago, the Broadcasters Foundation has distributed millions of dollars in aid to broadcasters who have lost their livelihood through a catastrophic event, debilitating disease or unforeseen tragedy. 

For information, or to reserve a seat or table, please contact the Broadcasters Foundation at 212-373-8250 or info@thebfoa.org.

More information about the Broadcasters Foundation of America is available at www.broadcastersfoundation.org

 NEW YORK—The Broadcasters Foundation of America has announced that Hilton H. Howell, Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Gray Television and Atlantic American Corporation will receive the 2022 Golden Mike Award at a black-tie gala on Monday, March 14, 2022, at the famed Plaza Hotel in New York City. 

The event marks the return of the Foundation’s biggest fundraiser, which did not take place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It’s been a challenging year-and-a-half, and we are thrilled to honor Hilton and once again present the Golden Mike Award live and in-person,” said Scott Herman, Chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation. “Looking ahead, our goal remains to provide financial aid for every broadcaster who qualifies.”

The Broadcasters Foundation is the only charity devoted exclusively to providing financial assistance to colleagues in broadcasting who are in dire need. Even with the loss of major fundraising events during COVID, more than $1.8 million in monthly and one-time emergency grants will be awarded this year, the group said. 

“The Broadcasters Foundation is often a lifeline for our colleagues,” stated Howell, who also serves on the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “I am honored to be recognized by the Broadcasters Foundation and ask everyone in our business who has made a good living from broadcasting, to consider donating any amount to help our colleagues who have been hit by shattering circumstances.”

Howell is a highly respected broadcaster with over 25 years of experience in broadcasting. He began his career practicing law and spent several years in the insurance industry. In addition to serving on the Broadcasters Foundation’s Board of Directors, he is a former member of the board of directors for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Advisory Council of the Center for Leadership and Ethics for the University of Texas at Austin, and the Advisory Board of Curant Health Care. He is also a member of YPO/WPO, the premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world, and a former member on the NBC Affiliate Board.

Howell has also been appointed by Governor Zell Miller to serve on the board of the Georgia Department of Human Resources and he serves as chairman of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. 

For information, or to reserve a seat or table, please contact the Broadcasters Foundation at 212-373-8250 or info@thebfoa.org.

NEW YORK—The Broadcasters Foundation of America has elected Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), and Hilton Howell, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Gray Television and Atlantic American Corp., to its Board of Directors. The new directors were voted in during the recent Foundation’s Board of Directors’ meeting.

The members of the Board represent an array of broadcast and broadcast-related companies and are dedicated to giving back to the community.

In a press statement Scott Herman, chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation of America, said, “We are delighted to welcome Patrick and Hilton to our board. They each bring a wealth of broadcast experience to our board, and their perspectives will be valuable as we continue to advance our mission of helping broadcasters in acute need.”

Prior to APTS, Butler spent 18 years at The Washington Post Co., where he founded and led Newsweek Productions. He was the founder and president of Patrick Butler & Co., a communications consulting firm whose clients included Henry Kissinger, White House chief of staff James Baker, American Express and RCA Corp., among other leaders of government and business, and actor Cary Grant. In government service, Butler was appointed by President Reagan to the National Council on the Humanities. He is the recipient of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from American Public Television and the 2021 Champion of Public Broadcasting Award from the board of trustees of America's Public Television Stations.

Hilton Howell brings more than 25 years of experience in both the broadcast and insurance industries to his position on the Broadcasters Foundation board. He began his career practicing law and spent several years in leadership roles. He sits on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Broadcasters, the Advisory Council for the Center for Leadership and Ethics for the University of Texas at Austin and is a former member on the NBC Affiliate Board. He was appointed by Governor Zell Miller to serve on the board of the Georgia Department of Human Resources and serves as chairman of the board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

The Broadcasters Foundation has assisted thousands of broadcasters who have lost their livelihood through a catastrophic event, debilitating disease or unforeseen tragedy. To learn more about the organization or make a donation, visit www.broadcastersfoundation.org.

NEW YORK—Hilton H. Howell Jr., the executive chairman and CEO of Gray Television, has been named B&C’s Broadcaster of the Year for 2019. He will receive the award on Sept. 26 at the TVB Forward Conference in New York, and will be profiled in the Sept. 23 edition of Broadcasting & Cable magazine.

Howell has had multiple executive roles with Gray Television since 1993 and became executive chairman and CEO in January when Gray completed its $3.6 billion merger with Raycom Media. With the Raycom merger, Gray acquired stations in 34 new markets and became the largest owner of top-rated local TV stations and digital assets in the country. Gray operates in 93 markets and its station portfolio reaches 24% of U.S. TV households. Gray also acquired Raycom Sports, InVestigateTV and RTM Studios among production assets.

Under Howell, Gray Television is focused on leading technological change within the broadcasting industry, and he has made a concerted effort to enable innovation at all levels of the company while making strategic efforts to expand the company’s capabilities. This is evidenced by the great work done by the legacy Raycom team on the ATSC 3.0 next-generation transmission standard and the TV Interface Practices (TIP) Initiative, aimed at promoting open interfaces to streamline advertising transactions for local TV broadcasters and their media agency partners.

Howell was elected to the National Association of Broadcasters Television Board in June 2016 and re-elected in 2018, leaving the board in 2019 after the Raycom merger closed. A former member of the NBC Affiliate Board, Howell also is on the Advisory Council for the Center for Leadership and Ethics for the University of Texas at Austin.

Jack Abernethy, Fox Television Stations CEO, was Broadcaster of the Year in 2018.

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication B&C.

WASHINGTON—The National Association of Broadcasters has announced that the NAB Television Board of Directors has elected two new members, Hilton H. Howell, Jr., and Louis Wall. Howell is the president and vice chairman of Gray Television; Wall serves as the president of SagamoreHill Broadcasting.

The newly elected members of the board will replace two seats, one of which was formerly filled by Executive Committee member Marci Burdick of Schurz Communications.

Howell and Wall’s terms will begin at the upcoming NAB Joint Board meeting in June.