Director of WVCR Inducted into Hall of Fame

Legendary Capital Region radio executive and Siena Director John Kelly was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame on June 24th during a ceremony at the Sagamore Hotel in Lake George, the site of the association’s annual conference.

Kelly guided three different radio stations to number one positions in three different decades, with three different owners. The 1997 NYSBA “Broadcaster of the Year,” Kelly modestly explains his success this way: “I never knew much about anything. I just hired good people and got out of their way.”

Kelly called the induction a great honor and thanked his “two families” for sharing the award with him. Kelly’s children and grandchildren attended. Also attending was Kelly’s “Siena family.” Since retiring in 2002, Kelly has served as Director of Siena’s radio station, WVCR.

When Albany auto dealership giant Jim Morrell decided to get into radio, he chose Kelly to lead the way. Two stations were purchased in 1986. When Kelly retired in 2002, the group had 28 stations.

The Chairman of the Hall of Fame selection committee, Galaxy group owner Ed Levine worked for Kelly at Albany radio station, WPYX. “Anybody can get lucky once. John Kelly had numerous successes over a number of years all in one market. That separates him from the rest.” Levine says Kelly was a tough task masker with remarkable intuition. “He always knew the right questions to ask and had a tremendous BS detector.”

NYSBA President Joe Reilly is a dear friend who has known Kelly for 40 years. “John let his people take chances that most managers wouldn’t,” Reilly said. In addition, “John had a great eye for talent.” Kelly takes great pleasure in seeing talent go on to achieve enormous success.
Popular NY City morning show co-host (WPLJ) Todd Pettengill has been Billboard Magazine's "Air Personality of the Year" five times. He worked for Kelly in Albany. Pettengill calls him “the best GM I ever worked for, bar none.” He said Kelly’s “even temperament” was a great help when he was trying to manage multiple stations in a turbulent industry.

Born in Poughkeepsie into very modest means, Kelly spent many summers as a youth on a farm doing chores from dawn to dusk. He earned a business degree at SUNY- Farmingdale on Long Island.

As for advice for those with great aspirations, Kelly says simply, “Dare to be different. Why does every resume look alike? Be willing to think outside the box and take risks.”