On the radio, on the telephone: John Otto (and elsewhere around the dial)

       By Steve Cichon
       steve@buffalostories.com
       @stevebuffalo


Excerpt from 100 Years of Buffalo Broadcasting 


WGR Radio News Minutemen, 1961

“I try to skewer with grace. I love being called a curmudgeon.”

John Otto may have been Buffalo’s greatest curmudgeon. Scholarly and erudite, but with a playful silly streak that kept listeners glued to his “conference call of all interested parties” for nearly 40 years.

He spent the 50s and early 60s doing just about everything imaginable on-air— and doing it superbly, first on WBNY and then on WGR, both radio and TV.

He was a classical music host, radio news anchor, and TV weatherman– but he seemed best in his element once he began hosting talk shows, specifically WGR Radio’s “Expression,” a nightly moonlit program which invited “listeners to telephone spontaneous, unrehearsed opinions” starting in 1962. 

Such would be Otto’s gig, more or less, for the next 37 years.

“He’s a good show with his deep, pulpit-shaped voice because his unshakeable confidence forces you take sides,” wrote News Radio Critic Hal Crowther in 1973. “If you agree with him, it’s ‘Give ‘em hell, John,’ but if you’re against him you’re often sorry that there are six or seven miles of night between your fingers and his windpipe.”

“Dracula and I have a lot in common,” Otto told News reporter Mary Ann Lauricella in 1981. “Daylight rather frightens us back into our caves. My metabolism is so attuned to nighttime hours that I’m more comfortable at night, when a velvet cloak is wrapped around the world.”

“He takes delight in practicing conversation as an art,” wrote Lauricella. “He uses a metaphor here, a simile there, perhaps a humorous play on words and weaves them into bright conversational tapestries.”

But Otto preferred self-depreciation to plaudits.

“I’m certainly not modern in anything— from the way I dress to the way I think,” said Otto in 1978, who was still dressing in “outdated narrow ties and straight-legged pants.”

“Weekends, I tend to fall out in customary corduroy slacks and white socks. I even let myself go a day without shaving. It’s a very exciting life I lead,” Buffalo’s congenial co-communicator told News reporter Jane Kwiatkowski in 1986.

His biggest vice, Otto confided nightly to his listeners, was his “regular investment of fortunes at Hamburg or Batavia.” Otto loved the horses, and would announce the winners from the local tracks on his show.

“We have the first three from Batavia Downs,” he’d say, often with commentary on the horse’s name, but sometimes with the hint of disdain in his voice. “It’s the rental of a horse for two minutes to run across the finish line first, and they seldom do,” said Otto of his horsing around.

Catching him in a moment of serious self-reflection, it was clear Otto had loftier goals for his nightly meeting of the minds. “If it works right, it raises the level of community thought and sets people to thinking with some added knowledge they didn’t have before.”

“We want to occupy and engage thoughts and to allow the opportunity for people to have access to a forum they are otherwise denied,” said Otto. “Some people call in who are just passing through and want to say ‘hi’ to the world—to let others know they are alive—a fact sometimes overlooked by the rest of the world.”

Not every caller “wants to unburden himself on the big hot-line issues like Vietnam, Watergate, crime in the streets, drugs, and the rest.” Otto’s often hardboiled entrenchment on those issues easily and often made way for the kind of calls an overnight program attracts.

“We get a lot of older people, lonely people. What they need are some voices in the night. And they have other things on their minds besides the headlines,” said Otto.

“One thing I’ve learned on this show is that many of them have an abiding fascination for marvels. Anything about the supernatural, ESP, UFOs, and experience that can’t be explained—that will get them talking like nothing else.”

For decades, Otto was ol’trusty—the iron horse of radio. Starting in 1955, through his first 30 years in broadcasting, he never missed a day of work—not once called in sick.

John Otto, 1962

However, he landed in the hospital in 1985 with pneumonia. “Forty years of smoking,” he said. The streak was broken and over the next decade and a half, sickness in breathing would slowly take Otto’s life—right before your listenership’s ears.

Eventually, very labored breathing made it difficult for him to get around, and he spent his final year “on the radio, on the telephone” broadcasting from his home. Even in his final days, “John, John, your operator on,” didn’t miss a broadcast. He signed off with his signature “I’ll be with you” on a Friday, went to the hospital on Saturday, and died early Monday. He was 70 when he died in 1999.


Jim Santella’s presence and sensibility blazed the trail for progressive rock radio in Buffalo, starting at WBFO (above), then notably at WGRQ and WUWU. Santella’s on-air presence mellowed in the 90s in a return to WBFO as a blues host and the original co-host of Theater Talk with Anthony Chase. His 2015 book, “Classic Rock, Classic Jock” was itself an instant classic, with an in-depth look back at one of the great eras in Buffalo radio.

This ad from a 1967 Buffalo Hockey Bisons program explained some of the far-out jive coming from America’s youth. It was clearly meant as a joke, but probably actually provided insight to more than one dad, sitting in the gray seats at the Aud, flipping through the program to find a Hershey Bears or Cleveland Barons roster.

Lifelong Lockport resident Hank Nevins has been heard up and down Buffalo’s radio dial for more than 40 years, but his career began overseas.

He volunteered to head to Vietnam the day after he graduated from broadcasting school, and was heard on American Forces Vietnam Network in starting in 1969.

In Southeast Asia, he worked with, among others, Pat Sajak.

Since returning home, Nevins worked as a disc jockey, host, and manager at radio stations in Western New York nearly without pause. Most recently, he’s spent more than a dozen years as the Saturday morning host on WBEN.


Dennis Majewicz was both Mac McGuire and Mike Melody at WNIA in the late 60s. He went onto a long career in broadcast engineering at Ch.4, Empire Sports Network, and now back at 1230am.

The deejay’s names never changed at WNIA, neither did the fact that Richard Maltby’s Midnight Mood would play every night at midnight. To put it mildly, WNIA was a quirky station. The daily noon time Catholic prayers were bookended by rock ‘n’ roll music.

There was also the reminder to be big, be a builder. The minute-long, run-on diatribe was the brainchild of station owner Gordon Brown in reaction to the war protests of the late 60s.

The impression your friends and others have of you is based on what you do– to teach, to create, to accomplish, or to build, whether you dig the trench for the foundation for a building; whether you lay the last brick on its top; whether you work with a pick and shovel or with the tools and machines, or in the office, or sell the products or services of industry; whether you grow, prepare or harvest the very food we eat, whether you are a homebuilder raising, teaching or educating your family or others how to become a builder, no matter what you are or what you do, if you are a builder, you are one to be long remembered.

Those who attempted to destroy the pyramids of Egypt were despised and soon forgotten, those thousands who labored to build them will never be forgotten. Be big, Be a builder.


Muhammad Ali in the WBEN studios with “Viewpoint” host Garfield Hinton.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey makes a Presidential campaign swing through Western New York in 1968, with KB newsman Jim Fagan over his shoulder holding up the microphone. Next to Jim is Buffalo Congressman Thaddeus Dulski. Over Humphrey’s other shoulder is Erie County Democratic Chairman Joe Crangle.


This page is an excerpt from  100 Years of Buffalo Broadcasting by Steve Cichon

The full text of the book is now online.

The original 436-page book is available along with Steve’s other books online at The Buffalo Stories Bookstore and from fine booksellers around Western New York. 

©2020, 2021 Buffalo Stories LLC, staffannouncer.com, and Steve Cichon

Buffalo Broadcasters 9th Annual Hall of Fame Inductions

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Originally appeared in Living Prime Time Magazine

Sep-Cover copyBelieve it or not, a job in broadcasting is not too much different that any other job. We all punch a clock, putting in our 8 or 9 hours a day… and hope we’ve accomplished something at the end of it all. Most of us talk into a camera or microphone without much recognition or many accolades; many never fully comprehending the impact that we’ve had on so many. That’s where the Buffalo Broadcasters come in.

The Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame event is not only a chance to mark for history the great achievements and pop cultural impact of some the Queen City’s favorite Radio and TV contributors… It’s also a chance to let the best of the best know how much they are appreciated by both their industry and the public.

I was once in the home of the late Jack Mahl, who spent 50 years on Buffalo Radio and Television. The only sign of that incredible run as a broadcaster was his proudly displayed Hall of Fame Award, an award the 6-foot-eight Mahl nearly broke down in tears accepting. One of this year’s honorees wrote, “Buffalo Bob Smith, Irv Weinstein, Joey Reynolds, and now me. Pinch me, I must be dreaming.” Not dreaming, only taking your rightful place among Buffalo’s Greatest.

After nearly a decade honoring nearly 60 people with induction into our Hall of Fame, we relish that we’re able to celebrate the history of Radio and Television, and at the same time, say Job Well Done to those who richly deserve it… Those who have told us the news that has impacted our lives, told us what the score was, told us whether to grab an umbrella, and even played a little music to make that long car trip to Auntie’s house a little more enjoyable.

Rich Kellman
Rich Kellman

For 31 years (and ticking), Rich Kellman has maintained the bar for not only journalistic excellence, but also for humanity, sensitivity, and empathy in reporting.

Kellman’s long list of professional awards includes Emmys, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and Associated Press Awards in Individual, Investigative, and Feature Reporting. He’s also met Popes and Presidents. While those professional milestones alone would likely make Rich a candidate worthy of the Hall of Fame, it’s his knack to connect with people, and his sheer joy in telling their stories that makes him that much more special.

Since 1974, Rich has been the constant Channel 2, and no matter the cast around him, has always left viewers with the feeling “Someone in that little box really cares for me.” And the best part about Rich Kellman is… That he really does.

The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers was founded in 1995, and we still have a lot of catching up to do. The Golden Age Award is reserved for the pioneers in the truest sense of the word: Those who did it first, the people who had no pattern to follow, no lead blocker. These folks blazed the trail, and set an example for future generations to follow.

Billy & Reggie Keaton  2005 Golden Age Award
Billy & Reggie Keaton
2005 Golden Age Award

Like many of radio’s pioneers, Billy Keaton‘s foray into the medium came in the pre-war days when he adapted his Vaudeville routine into the highly popular “Stuff and Nonsense” program on WGR Radio. His success turned a temporary Buffalo assignment permanent. After the war, Billy’s wife Reggie joined the act, and the two hosted the “Mr. and Mrs. Show” for a decade.

While the Keatons’ voices were familiar throughout the ’40s and ’50s, their faces were soon popular as well. As a long time WGR Radio fan favorite, Billy was the natural choice to welcome the first viewers to WGR-TV in 1954. Billy and Reggie also hosted several Cable TV talk shows through the years, leaving a legacy of 55 years of entertaining Western New York. Billy Keaton passed away in 1976, Reggie 19 years later in 1995.

It takes more than just a pretty face or golden voice to put on a radio or television program, and with the Behind the Scenes Award, the BBP celebrates the folks who are the guts of any broadcast: The directors, producers, photographers, writers, engineers… All the often nameless, faceless people on “the other side of the glass.”

Al Lafler 2005 Behind the Scenes Award
Al Lafler
2005 Behind the Scenes Award

Several generations of Buffalonians grew up with the rock’n roll music and fun of WKBW Radio. From 1958 to 1988, one man had his hand on the rudder of the production sound that allowed KB to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Al Lafler‘s interest in radio began when he served in World War II as a Navy sonar man. After a few years around the dial, Al knocked on the door at KB and was hired on the spot. He spent then next thirty years as an engineer and production man at the station.

It was partially his credo, “Good enough isn’t good enough,” that gave KB such a great sound over the years… But it was also his warmth and kindness that allowed him to enforce that credo without ruffling the sometimes delicate sensibilities of some of Buffalo’s biggest radio stars. It all made for a backbone that allowed the stations personalities shine even brighter.

The Goodyear Award is named in honor of George Goodyear, the Buffalo philanthropist who co-founded WGR-TV, and is awarded each year to those in Broadcasting’s front office who have made a career of advancing the ideals of the BBP.

Bill McKibben  2005 Goodyear Award
Bill McKibben
2005 Goodyear Award

Bill McKibben spent a career as a trailblazer. As General Manager at WGR Radio in the mid 60’s, he helped develop the city’s first news/talk format, a quarter century before talk would revolutionize AM Radio. When he and some investors purchased WEBR Radio in the 70s, they put Buffalo’s First Oldies Format on the air… Again a decade before a full-time Oldies became widely accepted.

Between assignments at WGR and WEBR, McKibben modernized the WBEN properties… Both Radio and Channel 4. While the Buffalo Evening News had been a pioneer in putting the stations on the air, they hadn’t done much by the mid-60’s to compete in the market. McKibben brought in viewer and listener research, and helped turn around a franchise that was on the precipice of abyss. It was Bill’s idea, for example, to move Chuck Healy to the news desk from sports, which helped ratings soar.

Known as a tough management negotiator despite having grown up in a union home, most who worked with Bill agree that he always made every attempt to hire the best, and then let them do their job unfettered.

Buffalo Bob Smith began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Buffalo, but of course gained worldwide fame as the human friend of America’s favorite puppet, Howdy Doody. Despite his international celebrity, Bob never forgot his hometown, and even adopted it as a part of his name. Each year The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers honor a broadcaster who has made his or her mark away from the Niagara Frontier, but is a Buffalonian at heart.

Paul Maguire  2005 Buffalo Bob Smith Award
Paul Maguire
2005 Buffalo Bob Smith Award

Since 1964, when he was traded to the Bills, Paul Maguire has been a Buffalonian. Since his retirement from football in 1970, Maguire has used his suburban Buffalo home as the home base for a sports broadcasting career that is incredible if only based on its 35 year longevity.

The fact that he never softens the edges, added to his feistiness and humor have always meant that his Color Commentary has certainly offers more “color” than any other Analyst in football. A “lunch bucket” player and a “lunch bucket” broadcaster has made “lunch bucket” Buffalo proud to call him “One of us” for over 40 years.

Jim Santella
Jim Santella

A smart, interesting friend on the radio. In that regard, Jim Santella is like many other great disc jockeys over the years… He’s someone who has transcended the microphone and speaker to make the listener feel like they were having a real conversation.

What continues to set Jim apart is his soft-spoken approach mixed with a strong, yet somehow universally appealing, sense of social awareness. As the voice and leader of Progressive radio in Buffalo for parts of three decades at stations like WYSL-FM, WPHD-FM, WGRQ-FM, WZIR-FM, and WUWU-FM, Santella lead the rebellion against playlist conformity and management meddling. It more than once forced him up or down the dial, but people followed.

Agree with him or not; like the music or not, a certain magnetism draws you in to a Santella broadcast. It was a style that helped shape, and continues to shape, the sound of FM radio in Buffalo.

We always welcome new members to the Buffalo Broadcasters. It’s our mission to preserve and promote Western New York’s rich TV and radio history, and to salute and bring attention to quality broadcasting of today. Membership is $30, and anyone with a passion for broadcasting can join as a member. It’s just as easy to join us in celebrating this year’s honorees.

Tickets to our Hall of Fame event are available to general public at $50 per person, and $40 for members. Send your ticket order or membership request with payment to:
The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers
5672 Main Street
Williamsville, NY 14221

Steve Cichon is a Past President of the Buffalo Broadcasters, and currently serves on the group’s Board of Directors. He’s also a news anchor and reporter for WBEN Radio, and is webmaster at staffannouncer.com, a website celebrating broadcasting history.