Robert Guyton Barry Sr. (February 28, 1931 – October 30, 2011) was an American television and radio sportscaster, and was formerly the weeknight sports anchor during the 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. newscasts on

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

affiliate

KFOR-TV KFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Independent station (North America), independent station KAUT-TV (channel ...

, until his retirement in 2008. He also previously served as the station's sports director. Barry graduated from Classen High School in 1946, and studied journalism at the University of Oklahoma before joining the U.S. Air Force in 1951. Barry is known for being the longtime voice of both the University of Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State University Cowboys sports teams.

Broadcasting career

Barry began his career in broadcasting began in 1956 at KNOR radio (now KREF) in Norman, Oklahoma, as a salesman, disc jockey and sportscaster. In 1961, former University of Oklahoma head football coach Bud Wilkinson selected Barry to call OU basketball and football games. Barry continued as the University of Oklahoma's play-by-play announcer until 1972, when he began calling games for the University of Tulsa from 1973–1974, and

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

from 1973 to 1990, before returning to OU in 1991. Barry became sports anchor at WKY-TV (now KFOR-TV) in 1966 and was named the station's sports director in 1970. Barry has been awarded Oklahoma's Sportscaster of the Year by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, and was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was recognized as a distinguished alumni by the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

. Barry was a former member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association's Board of Directors and has served on many nonprofit and civic boards in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, b ...

. In 1997, Barry turned over his sports director duties to his younger son,

Bob Barry Jr. Robert Bonnin Barry (December 21, 1956 – June 20, 2015), sometimes known by the abbreviated nickname "BBJ", was an American sportscaster. Barry spent most of his broadcasting career at NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (channel 4) in Oklahoma Ci ...

(who then worked as the 10 p.m. sports anchor). In December 2008, Barry retired from KFOR-TV and television broadcasting. In September 2009, Barry was honored with the

Oklahoma City Public Schools The Oklahoma City Public Schools, abbreviated OKCPS, is a multicultural public school district serving most of the urban area of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the second largest primary and secondary education district in the state of Oklahoma, ...

' Wall of Fame Humanitarian Award. At the end of the 2010-11 OU men's basketball season, Barry retired from play-by-play duties due to health issues, turning the duties over to local sportscaster Toby Rowland (formerly of Oklahoma City CBS affiliate

KWTV KWTV-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship broadcast property of locally based Griffin Media, and is co-owned with MyNe ...

Death

Barry died in his

home on October 30, 2011, at the age of 80. He was preceded in death by his wife Joan Ellen Barry (née Hester) (October 15, 1932 - June 10, 2003), and was survived by two sons, John Franklin "Frank" Barry, and Robert Bonnin "Bob" Barry Jr. (December 21, 1956 - June 20, 2015)

References

External links

Voices of Oklahoma interview with Bob Barry Sr.
First person interview conducted on March 31, 2011, with Bob Barry Sr. Original audio and transcript archived wit
Voices of Oklahoma oral history project.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Bob Sr. 1931 births 2011 deaths American sports announcers Classen School of Advanced Studies alumni Sports in Oklahoma City Oklahoma Sooners football announcers College football announcers College basketball announcers in the United States University of Oklahoma alumni