The National Radio Hall of Fame has chosen to honor former New Country 96.3’s late great Terry Dorsey, by inducting him into that organization as part of the Class of 2023.
Terry Dorsey’s career in Country Radio began at 99.5 The Wolf in 1982 and continued when he joined 96.3 KSCS in 1988, where he remained host of the Dorsey Gang Morning Show for an impressive 26 years.
Dorsey retired at the end of 2014 and sadly passed away just three months later. In recognition of his contributions to the field, he was previously inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2006.
The official induction ceremony is scheduled for November 2nd and will take place at the InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel.
Hawkeye and Michelle discussed the honor on Tuesday, October 5 2023.
Michelle: And now something huge, Hawkeye, that you have been waiting a years for.
Hawkeye: I have been lobbying for this for a very long time
Michelle: And the great Terry Dorsey waited his entire life for this.
Hawkeye: And unfortunately, if you’re new to the station, Terry was the one who had this seat before I was here. Terry was the one that brought me here from San Antonio. He taught me everything. Basically I feel I’m doing Terry Dorsey’s show. And I have been lobbying for him to be in the National Radio Hall of Fame for many, many years. And I even enlisted the help of many people in the industry, including Troy Aikman, who knew Terry way back when he first came to town and was on the show, would report after games.
Michelle: Yeah, you really, really went to bat. You wanted this to happen and today it’s finally happened.
Hawkeye: And then out of the blue… out of the blue, we get a press release from a friend of ours in the industry, “Did you know that this was happening?” And in the press release, the National Radio Hall of Fame decided to induct 12 legendary broadcasters that have been passed over for some reason or another, just because that happens in all Hall of Fame’s. And they’re like, “Hey, we need to put these people in.” And on that list was Terry Dorsey.
Michelle: The great Terry Dorsey will be inducted as one of the legends in the Radio Hall of Fame this year.
Hawkeye: Yeah, I am so excited.
Michelle: I mean, yeah, it is so great… all of our listeners are going to be so happy to learn that he will finally be part of the Radio Hall of Fame and Hawkeye, You know this not a lot of country deejays are part of this.
Hawkeye: No. In fact, until this year, there has never been a local country deejay that’s been part of the Radio Hall of Fame. It’s this is the first year that that’s ever happened. So that’s how huge this is.
I was so excited when I got this news, I contacted his kids who were recently at our 50th anniversary celebration. I contacted them immediately, “Hey, this just happened for your dad.”
The fact that this happened at all, like the way that it happened, just a press release came out this morning. I’m still like in shock.
Hawkeye: Yeah, it’s just happened in the last hour.
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Hawkeye: We’re so excited for Terry Dorsey and his family.
Michelle: This is the highest honor.
Hawkeye: Yeah, I only wish that Terry had lived [to see this], unfortunately he passed away few months after he retired. He deserved to be there. But man, I’m so excited for his family.