Seven Texas Broadcasters to Receive TAB’s Highest Honors
posted on 6.06.2022- Awards Gala Closes TAB Show Aug. 3-4 in Austin
Texas Radio & Television Broadcasters will celebrate the achievements of seven extraordinary industry leaders at TAB’s Annual Awards Gala.
The Gala, the closing event of the TAB Show, is slated for Thursday, August 4 from 6:30-9:30 PM at the JW Marriott in Downtown Austin.
“Local Radio and Television broadcasters have been helping build local communities since the industry’s advent 100 years ago, a tradition embodied by the men and women TAB is recognizing this year with Texas broadcasting’s greatest honors,” said TAB President Oscar Rodriguez.
“Each honoree has spent their careers advancing local businesses, community groups, schools and charitable enterprises that make cities and towns throughout the Lone Star State vibrant social and economic engines.
“They are examples and inspirations to us all and I look forward to joining the entire Texas broadcast community Aug. 3-4 in Austin in honoring their contributions and legacies.”
Pioneer Broadcaster of the Year – Kathy Saunders, KDFW/KDFI-TV Dallas-Fort Worth
Kathy Saunders is the Senior Vice-President/General Manager of KDFW-TV/Fox 4 and KDFI-TV/My27 in Dallas.
She has worked in the television industry since 1976, first in sales before moving into management positions.
As the most tenured Television GM in the DFW market, Saunders has made KDFW-TV a news, weather, and sports powerhouse with the station now producing close to 60 hours of news a week.
Broadcaster of the Year – Sarah Frazier, Audacy Houston
Sarah Frazier is the Senior Vice-President/Market Manager of Audacy’s Houston cluster.
She has been in radio for 25 years, with 20 of them with CBS Radio/Audacy. In this position, she oversees the Programming and Sales strategy as well as Operations for the market, which includes four FM & two AM stations as well as the play-by-play partnership with the Houston Texans.
She served as TAB Chairman in 2019 and continues to be extremely active on the Board of Directors.
George Marti Award for Engineering Excellence – Sonny Cavazos, Entravision Rio Grande Valley
Sonny Cavazos is the EVP–Director of Technology at Entravision Communications.
With more than 30 years of broadcast engineering experience, he has been on the front line of handling the revolution in engineering and technical change that broadcasters have confronted.
He has directed and overseen the Engineering Operations and IT departments for Entravision Communications for more than 20 years and played a key role in Entravision’s rapid growth.
His ability to evolve with the ever-expanding needs of not only RF, but also digital and IT makes him one of the broadcast industry’s most well-rounded engineers.
Distinguished Service Award - Gil Garcia
Gilbert Garcia is a Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer with the Society of Broadcast Engineers and has held an FCC First Class License with Radar endorsement
and an FCC General Class lifetime license.
A longtime volunteer for TAB on numerous efforts, he most recently curated the curriculum and taught TAB's inaugural Technical Academy for Chief Radio Operators in May, a long-planned educational initiative to expand technology training opportunities for Texas broadcasters.
Garcia has also served as Certification Chairman for the Society of Broadcast Engineers (Austin Chapter) for 33 years, as well as a being an SBE test proctor.
His career spans 55 years in Radio. As the Corporate Regional Vice President of engineering for Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia), he managed more than 125 radio stations in Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, and other Mid-American markets.
Educator of the Year - Alan Albarran
Dr. Alan B. Albarran is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Media Arts at the University of North Texas, in Denton.
He has authored/edited 15 books on the management and economics of the media industries, along with serving as editor for several publications.
Alan is a past President of the Broadcast Education Association and the Texas Association of Broadcast Educators.
Dr. Albarran’s work has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to furthering the broadcast industry through higher education, research, and training in Texas and around the world.
Jason Hightower Awards for Broadcast Excellence
TAB is proud to present two Jason Hightower Awards recognizing individuals with at least 10 years' experience in the broadcast industry who have demonstrated a proficiency for enterprise and innovation in servicing their stations’ audience, advertisers and communities.
Amy Anderson is the Director of Sales for KXAN, KNVA, and KBVO in Austin. As the first Digital Sales Manager promoted to Director of Sales, Anderson has 16 years of multi-platform media and sales leadership experience.
Chelsea Reber works for Bryan Broadcasting as a news and sports reporter, anchor, and producer. She is also a co-host on NewsTalk 1620/94.5 WTAW’s morning
show, The Infomaniacs.
The awards are named in honor of TAB 2009 Chairman Jason Hightower, owner/operator of KMOO Mineola, who passed away in March 2009 after battling brain cancer. He was 37.
Registration is now open and tickets to the Gala are available.
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