NRB Inducts Dick Bott

Into Their Hall of Fame

By Jim Day

On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, Richard P. “Dick” Bott, Sr. was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Hall of Fame at the organization’s annual convention which was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

The NRB is the world’s largest association of Christian communicators, with over 1,400 member organizations, and the Hall of Fame Award is the highest honor the organization confers. Past recipients have included Dr. Billy Graham, Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Theodore Epp, Dr. Charles Swindoll, Dr. D. James Kennedy, and Dr. Charles Stanley.

According to the NRB, the Hall of Fame Award “is presented to an individual who has made invaluable contributions to the field of Christian communications, all the while exhibiting the highest standards of conduct and evidence of faithfulness in Christ.”
During a broadcasting career now spanning 55 years, Dick has made a lasting mark in the development of Christian talk radio by pioneering a format of carefully selected quality Bible teaching programs, together with Christian news, information and public policy features.  From the beginning, he was motivated with the idea of talk programming to help people grow in the Lord and apply their faith to their daily lives.

Dick began his broadcasting career in 1952 at KSAN Radio in San Francisco, California. He was soon named the station’s General Manager, thus becoming the youngest GM of any major-market radio station in America. He and his wife, Sherley, then purchased their first radio station, KDON, in Salinas/Monterey, California in 1957, quickly achieving a high level of commercial success.

However, Dick wanted to achieve something more. His vision was to own and operate a radio station fully devoted to quality Bible teaching, as well as Christian news and information, a concept that was virtually unknown at the time. He and his wife sold KDON and moved their family to Kansas City, where they launched KCCV, “Kansas City’s Christian Voice,” in 1962. That single radio station became the flagship of the Bott Radio Network, now comprising 80 stations in 10 states, with a total combined coverage of nearly 40 million people. Bott Radio Network also broadcasts nationwide over the Sky Angel Direct Broadcasting Satellite Service, and worldwide at bottradionetwork.com.

Mr. Bott has served as a member of the NRB Board of Directors for over 45 years, including service as a member of the NRB Executive Committee, Chairman of the Ethics Committee, and as NRB Vice President.

Congratulation Dick and Sherley. This is an honor well deserved. May our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, continue to bless you, your family and all the folks at Bott Broardcasting Network as you continue to serve Him.