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Robert James "Bob" Kevoian (born December 2, 1950) is a retired American radio host of the nationally syndicated
radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...
''
The Bob & Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premiere ...
'' together with his partner,
Tom Griswold Thomas "Tom" Bruce Griswold (born April 22, 1953) co-hosts the radio show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' together with Chick McGee, Kristi Lee, and Josh Arnold. Co-host Bob Kevoian retired at the end of 2015. This comedy-based early morning program is ...
. The show is broadcast from WFBQ's studios in
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
.


Education

Kevoian is a 1973 graduate of
California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...
. With no formal training in radio, Kevoian had never set foot in a radio studio until his time at WBMN in Petoskey, Michigan, where he met future business partner Tom Griswold. Kevoian was awarded an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
in Communications from
Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...
where he gave the
commencement speech A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the world. The commencement ...
in 2003.


Entertainment career

After touring the U.S. for three years as sound engineer of
The Young Americans The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group was credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral ...
, Kevoian began his radio career at
WMBN WMBN (1340 AM) is a radio station in Petoskey, Michigan, United States. The station, owned by MacDonald-Garber Broadcasting, airs Fox Sports Radio format of sports. WMBN went on the air in April 1947 and is the oldest continuously operating rad ...
in
Petoskey, Michigan Petoskey ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat and largest city in Emmet County. Part of Northern Michigan, Petoskey is a popular Midwestern resort town, as it sits on the shore of Little Traverse Bay, a bay of La ...
, in 1979. That lasted until 1982, when Kevoian joined cross-town
WJML WJML (1110 AM) is a radio station licensed to Petoskey, Michigan, which is owned by John Yob, through licensee Mitten News LLC. The station airs a mixture of liberal and conservative talk, and is simulcast on WJNL 1210 in Kingsley, Michigan, WHAK ...
where Bob and Tom teamed up as a regular morning show. "We were there for 12 to 18 months," Kevoian recalls. The pairing of one of syndicated radio's most successful morning shows came when radio personality-by-day Kevoian moonlighted as a bartender at Harbor Springs, Michigan's Bar Harbor. "In small town radio, you needed to supplement your income by doing anything," the Long Beach State University alum states. "Tom came in after a J. Geils concert at Castle Farms in
earby Earby is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, Earby has been administered by Lancashire County Council since 1974 and regularly cele ...
Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...
and ordered a drink. At the end of the bar was another guy who worked in Country radio." The two radio talents were talking about the inferior nature of their respective stations’ cart machines. "Tom overheard us and asked if we worked in radio and I told him I was doing middays," Kevoian remembers. "Tom said he did a year of radio in Florida, but was out of work and wanted to visit the station and look at the trades. Two days later, he was hired as my PD; it was pretty wild." They achieved a 44 share in the ratings and in order to get rid of them the competition made a compilation tape of their best bits and mailed it to the Superstars Convention, a gathering of program directors from 300 stations, where it was played. They started getting offers from all over the country. He is the producer, director, writer and composed credits for The ''Bob and Tom Show Home Movie'', 2004. Bob participated in the Bob and Tom Radio: The Comedy Tour shows recorded in
Anderson, Indiana Anderson, named after Chief William Anderson, is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison County. Anderson is ...
. Bob has personally produced over 15,000 "bits" used in his show, some of which are actually his original ideas.


Retirement

On November 5, 2015, after being inducted along with Tom Griswold into the National Radio Hall of Fame, Bob announced his retirement effective at the end of 2015. His last live show as co-host aired on December 17, 2015. On November 17, 2016 Bob and Tom were reunited when they were inducted into the Indiana Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Bob made his first post-retirement appearance as a guest host on April 3, 2017, when the show was in Cincinnati for the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
home opener. Bob returned again on December 8, 2017, filling in for Tom Griswold. Bob returned March 30, 2018 and March 28, 2019 for the Cincinnati Reds opening day broadcast and again on May 24, 2019 for the Indianapolis 500 Bob and Tom Show. Bob returned once again on April 17, 2020 to the show.


On TV

The
Bob and Tom Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals * Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...
Show aired nightly on
WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ran ...
and occasionally weekend best of airings until its cancellation in September 2010.


Personal life

Kevoian was born in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California, to John Hike "Toby" Kevoian and Jean Baker. On April 2, 2005, he married his current wife, Becky Martin. He has a son named Toby.07 Kevoian has stepsons named Wade and Joey. Kevoian is almost always seen wearing a
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
hat as a tribute to his father, who was a longtime employee of the Dodgers, but considers himself "a big Cincinnati Reds fan." Kevoian is an avid
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
player and has written some of the lyrics and music for the show's comedic parodies. Kevoian's brother-in-law (Becky's brother) is world-renowned
tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...
player Rex Martin. Kevoian's younger brother is actor Peter Kevoian. His mother was on ''
Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...
'' and won a Brunswick
pool table A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that i ...
, which she traded for cases of oyster stew. She retired from the
Los Angeles County Office of Education Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
in
Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program. It is also the home of ...
. Kevoian also likes to collect "large" ordinary items, such as coffee cups or safety pins that are extremely large compared to their normal sizes. Kevoian likewise keeps a collection of these "large" items in his studio.


References


External links


The Official Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold Radio Show Website
*
Bob Kevoian SoundCloud profile

Inside Radio interview with Bob Kevoian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kevoian, Bob 1950 births California State University, Long Beach alumni Living people People from Indianapolis Radio personalities from Los Angeles American people of Armenian descent The Young Americans members