[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10833-S10835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO RALPH GABBARD

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, Kentucky and the Nation suffered a great 
loss last week with the passing of Mr. Ralph Gabbard. Ralph was a 
nationally known broadcast executive, serving as president of Gray 
Communications. He was a leader in the television broadcast industry in 
my State, and ultimately was a national leader as well. Ralph was at 
the forefront of the industry's development in Kentucky for the better 
part of the last 30 years, including successful efforts to bring a 
television station to the mountains of eastern Kentucky.
  Among other things, he served as chairman of the CBS Affiliates 
Advisory Board and the National Association of Broadcasters television 
board. Most recently, Ralph played a significant role in industry 
discussions with the Clinton administration which led to the 
announcement of steps to improve the quality of children's programming.
  But beyond the long list of personal accomplishments, Ralph was 
probably best known for his integrity, his honesty, and his common 
courtesy in dealing with others. I was privileged to

[[Page S10834]]

deal with Ralph on more than one occasion, and had great respect and 
trust in his abilities. He was a true asset for my State, and his 
presence will be missed.
  Mr. President, I ask that two articles which recently appeared in the 
Lexington Herald-Leader describing the life and accomplishments of 
Ralph Gabbard be inserted into the Record at this point.
  There being no objection, the articles were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

   Nationally Known Broadcast Executive Rose From Kentucky Teen Disc 
                                 Jockey

                         (By Jennifer Hewlett)

       Ralph Gabbard, who rose from teen-age disc jockey to a TV 
     station executive in Lexington to a nationally known figure 
     in the broadcast industry, died while in Boston on a business 
     trip. He was 50.
       Security workers at the Four Seasons Hotel found Mr. 
     Gabbard, president and board member of Gray Communications 
     Systems Inc., dead about 7 a.m. yesterday, apparently of a 
     heart attack, after he failed to answer a wake-up call, said 
     Bill Fielder, chief financial officer of Gray, who had dinner 
     with Mr. Gabbard Monday night.
       Gray Communications, based in Georgia, owns several TV 
     stations, including WKYT (Channel 27) in Lexington and WYMT 
     (Channel 57) in Hazard.
       Mr. Gabbard was perhaps best known for his affiliation with 
     the two Kentucky CBS-affiliated stations, where he spent much 
     of his career before moving up the industry ladder.
       He was thought to have been the first person to do on-air 
     television editorials in the Lexington market. He also was 
     credited with bringing the people of the mountains of Eastern 
     Kentucky closer together through WYMT.
       ``No one will disagree with this statement; no one can. 
     Ralph Gabbard defined and dominated this television market 
     for a quarter century. All you had to do with Ralph was 
     convince him something was necessary to be the best, to be 
     No. 1, and it was done,'' said Barry Peel, who covers state 
     government for WKYT's Frankfort bureau.
       Peel said that Mr. Gabbard was instrumental in WKYT's 
     decision to outbid WLEX-TV (Channel 18) for the University of 
     Kentucky coaches' shows and the right to broadcast replays of 
     UK games. Some thought he was ``nuts'' because the high bid 
     initially lost money for the station. In the end, Channel 
     27's identity with UK sports has been a key to its dominance, 
     Peel said.
       ``To be identified with UK sports is a major component of 
     image, and, let's face it, we're in the image business. He 
     knew that and time has proven him right,'' Peel said.
       Mr. Gabbard recently stepped down as chairman of the 
     National Association of Broadcasters television board. He had 
     served as chairman of the CBS Affiliates Advisory Board, 
     which represents more than 200 CBS stations nationwide, and 
     was a member of the Network Affiliated Stations Alliance 
     Steering Committee, which represents more than 650 CBS, ABC 
     and NBC affiliates in congressional issues affecting 
     telecommunications.
       He met with President Clinton in March to discuss 
     children's television.
       ``Ralph was an exceptional person in so many ways. He was 
     an honest man with a real commitment to the business of 
     broadcasting and the audiences we serve,'' said Peter Lund, 
     president and chief executive officer of CBS Inc.
       Mr. Gabbard also led the drive several years ago to 
     revitalize Renfro Valley in Rockcastle County, where many 
     country music stars had performed.
       ``He had the vision of what Renfro Valley is today. It had 
     a special place in his heart,'' said Connie Hunt, vice 
     president of entertainment for the Renfro Valley 
     Entertainment Center.
       Mr. Gabbard had grown up listening to country music and 
     even dabbled in writing songs, mostly lyrics. Two songs he 
     wrote or cowrote--``Lone Star Cafe'' and ``Please Play More 
     Kenny Rogers''--got on the country charts. The Rogers song 
     edged into the Top 40. He also wrote a song called ``I've 
     Always Wanted to Sing in Renfro Valley.''
       J.P. Pennington of the musical group Exile, who had known 
     Mr. Gabbard since they were children, said that he and Mr. 
     Gabbard recently collaborated on two songs, ``Lovin' 
     Machine'' and ``Two-Heart Harmony.'' The first song they 
     wrote together at Pennington's house. Mr. Gabbard supplied 
     the title for the second song.
       Mr. Gabbard was ``too shy'' to sing before an audience 
     himself, but ``he had definitely a keen musical sense about 
     him,'' Pennington said.


                          broadcast executive

       Mr. Gabbard had been president and general manager of 
     Kentucky Central Television Inc., which sold its holdings, 
     including the Kentucky stations, to Gray a couple of years 
     ago. Mr. Gabbard had tried to put together a group of people 
     to buy WKYT and WYMT, but they were outbid. He was named 
     president and chief executive officer of Gray Communications 
     Broadcast Group in September 1994, and president and board 
     member of Gray Communications Systems Inc. last December.
       He was in Boston to meet with potential investors in an 
     effort to raise $150 million for Gray Communications to buy 
     John H. Phipps Inc. of Tallahassee, Fla., whose holdings 
     include TV stations in Tallahassee and Knoxville.
       ``We've lost a very special friend, and most of us will 
     tell you that we lost a very special mentor,'' said Wayne 
     Martin, WKYT president and general manager. ``The loss is 
     significant to others beyond WKYT--he was nationally 
     recognized.''
       Jim Jordan, a longtime friend and business associate, said: 
     ``It's a very sad day . . . he was the best broadcaster I 
     ever met, period.''
       Jordan said that Mr. Gabbard had a great eye for spotting 
     on-air and management talent.
       Cawood Ledford, former broadcast voice of the University of 
     Kentucky Wildcats, said: ``His word was as good as a contract 
     to me. I'll miss him tremendously as a personal friend.''
       Ledford also said he always ``borrowed generously'' from 
     Mr. Gabbard when he was invited to give speeches. Mr. 
     Gabbard, he said, had a knack for remembering jokes, and when 
     Ledford was scheduled to give a speech, he often called Mr. 
     Gabbard to refresh his memory on jokes that Mr. Gabbard had 
     told him, then used them in his speeches.


                             Spinning discs

       Mr. Gabbard, a Berea native, was just a teenager when he 
     had his first disc jockey job. He was a disc jockey, 
     announcer and advertising salesman for WEKY-1340 AM in 
     Richmond and a disc jockey and sales manager at WRVK-AM in 
     Renfro Valley in the early to mid-1960s. He went on to become 
     an advertising salesman and announcer for Lexington's WVLK 
     radio and station manager of WEKY.
       ``I loved being a disc jockey more than anything I ever 
     did, I guess. I got a charge out of talking to people and 
     having them respond,'' he said several years ago.
       He said he got into broadcasting in 1963 by accident. A 
     high school teacher assigned students topics for speeches, 
     and Gabbard--who was a ``very average student''--got the 
     topic that was left over: radio.
       He drove from Berea to a Richmond radio station to ask for 
     Associated press copy so he could practice reading.
       The station had a young disc jockey named Ralph Hacker, who 
     told Mr. Gabbard the station was looking for an announcer. He 
     asked Mr. Gabbard to apply for the job.
       Mr. Gabbard made an audition tape, and the station's 
     manager told him he was pretty bad, but the manager was 
     desperate for announcers and hired him anyway, he said in a 
     1987 interview.
       He found his niche selling advertising.
       After high school, he enrolled at Eastern Kentucky 
     University with the idea of becoming a pharmacist. But by the 
     end of his freshman year, he was making so much money selling 
     ads that he quit school.
       After the series of radio jobs, Mr. Gabbard became general 
     sales manager of WKYT about 1970.
       WKYT was struggling, Mr. Gabbard had said. His reaction was 
     to develop creative sales packages and market them 
     aggressively.
       Later in the mid-1970s, he was promoted to vice president 
     and general manager of WKYT. The move made him the youngest 
     vice president and general manager of a top 100-market, 
     network-affiliated television station in the country.
       The TV business was simple then, with just the three 
     commercial networks and Kentucky Educational Television. 
     Lexington didn't have an independent station.
       As vice president and general manager, Mr. Gabbard hired 
     executives from outside the television industry because he 
     wanted people who would ``come in unprejudiced.'' He also put 
     more emphasis on news.
       When Mr. Gabbard got WKYT on more solid ground, he turned 
     his attention to the mountains.
       He was largely responsible for the opening of WYMT in 
     Hazard, a satellite station of WKYT. The purpose of the 
     Hazard station was to capture Eastern Kentucky audiences 
     previously reached by television stations in West Virginia 
     and other states, he said.
       ``It stands for `We're your mountain television,' '' he 
     said in 1991.
       After the first five years, the station still hadn't shown 
     a net profit but Mr. Gabbard maintained it was still a wise 
     investment.
       ``It's good to be able to say, `There's a little crown 
     jewel sitting there that we're proud of,' '' he said.
       He liked to say that WYMT had united Kentucky's mountain 
     communities.
       ``Without Ralph Gabbard, there would be no 'YMT,'' said 
     Tony Turner, WYMT news director. ``It was his dream, his 
     idea. He mapped it out, and there were a lot of obstacles.''
       Mr. Gabbard also went to Washington to urge Kentucky 
     congressmen and senators to promote legislation that would 
     discourage Eastern Kentucky cable systems from dropping KET.
       He was a past president of the Kentucky Broadcasters 
     Association and received its most prestigious honor, the Al 
     Temple Award, in 1993.
       He also had served on many boards, including local and 
     regional hospital boards, and the boards of the Chamber of 
     Commerce, Big Brothers, United Way and Boy Scouts. He was a 
     member of the Georgetown College board of trustees at his 
     death. He also was a member of the board of Host 
     Communications Inc. in Lexington.
       Mr. Gabbard is survived by his wife, Jackie Upton Gabbard; 
     four sons, Joseph Marlon

[[Page S10835]]

     Gabbard, Jason Ralph Gabbard, James Matthew Gabbard and Jesse 
     Eden Gabbard; his mother, Maggie Eden Gabbard; and a sister, 
     Charlotte Moore, all of Lexington.
       Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Calvary Baptist 
     Church in Lexington. Visitation will be from 1 to 4 p.m. and 
     from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at W.R. Milward Mortuary--Broadway. 
     Burial will be in Lexington Cemetery.
                                                                    ____


            Ralph Gabbard Shaped and Expanded TV's Influence

       Lexington broadcasting executive Ralph Gabbard was a bona 
     fide success story, rising from his Berea boyhood to a 
     position of national leadership in the television industry.
       His untimely death this week at 50 leaves his many friends 
     and colleagues in shock, but the end of a life lived so fully 
     and energetically leaves an example worth heeding.
       As the driving force behind WKYT-TV (Channel 27) in the 
     Lexington market, Mr. Gabbard realized early on that the 
     advent of cable TV was a threat--or perhaps an opportunity. 
     His response was typically savvy and creative.
       Mr. Gabbard believed that his station would thrive the more 
     it stressed its local identity. Thus he built a strong news 
     team, became the TV flagship for University of Kentucky 
     sports and made sure that WKYT played a role in every 
     possible civic activity.
       He extended this philosophy when WKYT bought and beefed up 
     its sister station in the mountains, WYMT-TV. The stations 
     enhanced each other naturally, giving each a toehold exactly 
     where needed, and extending their company's influence 
     throughout Kentucky.
       By serving his community and region the best way he knew, 
     Mr. Gabbard also bolstered a thriving business. He had been 
     the station's president and general manager when it was part 
     of the old Garvice Kincaid empire, and when WKYT was sold to 
     Gray Communications Inc. in 1994, he was named president of 
     the new parent company.
       By then, Mr. Gabbard was a respected national figure in the 
     TV industry, a true accomplishment for someone outside the 
     big-city markets. He served as chairman of the CBS-TV 
     affiliates and was a director of the National Association of 
     Broadcasters.
       Mr. Gabbard played a key role in the recent compromise 
     between the TV industry and the Clinton administration to 
     improve children's programming.
       Throughout his career, Mr. Gabbard forged ahead with 
     boldness, tenacity and innovation. He treated the Lexington 
     TV market as if it were in the big leagues, and that's where 
     he ultimately put himself.
       That's a notable legacy and the reason that Ralph Gabbard 
     will be sorely missed.

                          ____________________