2019 Hall of Fame Inductees
Pam Daale
Pam Daale was born and raised in Iowa. When she was 16-years old she became a paraplegic after a horse-riding accident. However, that didn’t slow down her love and fascination for weather.
She received a Bachelors of Science degree in meteorology from Iowa State University in 1987. She was the morning meteorologist for WOI-TV in Ames, Iowa, eventually becoming their chief meteorologist.
She joined 7 News six years later as morning weather anchor then was promoted to chief meteorologist, working the weekday evening newscasts. After the birth of her daughter in 1997 she wanted to spend more time with her two young children and became the weekend meteorologist.
Pam spoke frequently to groups about her faith and her disability. She was a member of the board of directors for Goodwill Industries, The Easter Seal Society and Mountain States Horse Rescue and Rehab. She participated in the activities of many nonprofit organizations.
She announced in 2002 she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and while fighting the disease she continued on-air and worked to educate the audience via news features and sharing her diary. She left KMGH at the end of 2003 after over ten years on-air in Denver.
She died in April, 2004.
Danny Davis
Danny Davis was born in Idaho and raised by a single mom. He attended Brigham Young University and played baseball.
In March, 1968 Danny Davis first arrived in Denver as a DJ on KIMN. His warm, upbeat delivery was a fixture in Denver into the 1990s, on a multitude of Top 40 and adult formatted stations. He was a strong voice for many charitable events and actively promoted station softball and baseball teams that supported various charities. During three years at KIMN, he moved from nights to evenings to mid-days and took on production, imaging and promotion responsibilities.
In 1971, Davis went to KHOW for the first time doing evenings. He was briefly at KLZ and KWBZ, before becoming the morning man for five years at KPPL, owned by the Des Moines Register. He was also on KTLK and KLDR. From 1983 to 1987 he was back at KHOW on air and behind the scenes serving as music director and production director.
He left Colorado for a few years to work in Portland, but returned in 1990 as morning host on 760 KRZN, becoming Program Director before leaving the station in 1992.
After leaving Denver, he spent over two decades on the air in Phoenix at stations including KOY. He still can be heard on the air doing traffic, and makes regular personal appearances.
Joe Franzgrote
Notre Dame university journalism graduate Joe Franzgrote’s first TV job was as at WNDU in South Bend, Indiana where he was a cameraman and salesman.
Before coming to KBTV Denver in 1967, he also worked in Seattle and Minneapolis. At Channel 9, he rose from account executive to general sales manager. It was his idea to lengthen the 10pm news to 35 minutes to add more commercial time, and to follow the news with syndicated comedies before airing the late-night network programming.
When they bought KARE 11 in Minneapolis in 1983, Gannett Broadcasting sent him there as President and General Manager. In his six years there, he took the station to number one.
In 1989 Joe returned to Denver as the President and General Manager of Channel 9 which had become KUSA in 1986. It was under his leadership that the station moved to their Speer Blvd studios. He was instrumental in the creation of “9Who Care” and the “9Health Fair.” He took the weather outside to the “9News Backyard,” and made sure the 9News logo was everywhere.
He retired in 1999 after 44 years continuous years in broadcasting. He was a member of the International Mensa Society and an avid golfer, fisherman and reader. He was also a committed supporter for many community organizations. He believed it was the duty of broadcast facilities to enhance and enrich the lives of all who were served by a station’s ability to reach the public.
Joe Franzgrote was afflicted with Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a rare debilitating neurological disease. He died in 2010 at 75, shortly before being recognized by the Colorado Broadcasters Association with the Harry W. Hoth Public Service Award.
Max Goldberg
Max Goldberg led a fascinating life, starting as a street corner paper boy and becoming a writer of over 800 columns for the Denver Post and publisher of the Intermountain Jewish News.
At 21 he was “the old sports commentator” on KFEL, joining KFXF (later KVOD) the following year. In 1936 he started an ad agency which specialized in public relations and political campaigns (including that of future Senator Ed Johnson). And, at the dawn of TV in Colorado, he was a leader. KUSA calls Max Goldberg “the Father of 9News.”
It was Goldberg that, in 1951, incorporated the Colorado Television Company (CTC) with his former employers at KVOD, William Pyle and Thomas Ekrem. Late that year, they applied for a broadcast license and Goldberg convinced prominent businessmen to invest in the new endeavor. He also worked with a friend, U.S. Senator Ed Johnson from Colorado, to speed up the application process. CTC was awarded the license for KVOD TV Channel 9 on July 12, 1952, but the name changed to KBTV before sign-on.
He was one of the first personalities on Denver television as host of On the Spot, finding the sponsors, booking the guests and writing the questions. The weekly show (“unrehearsed interviews with the great, the near great and the obscure”) was on KBTV for six years, moving to KLZ TV in 1958. The lists of guests included politicians, justices, journalists, comedians, actors, famous sports figures and the infamous.
The Max Goldberg Show featuring panels of guests, debuted on July 7, 1960 on KLZ, running concurrently with On the Spot. A year later, The Max Goldberg Show moved to Channel 2. In 1966, he signed off from his final broadcast as he had for 14 years: “Thanks for watching and thanks for listening. Good night.”
Max Goldberg died October 25, 1972 at 61.
Ed Greene
Born in Long Island, Ed Greene started his radio career on college radio station WMCR.
He spent almost his entire broadcast career in Denver, starting as an overnight disc jockey at KLZ, then on 95 KIMN, 1090 KAAT and 1280 KTLK (where he was program director in the early 80s).
In 1976 Ed entered television, doing noon weather reports on Channel 7. Veteran weatherman Warren Chandler loaned him a stack of books about the weather, helping prepare Ed for his future career. He’d work on the radio in the morning, go do the mid-day weather and return to the radio station. Even when he went full time on TV, he maintained his connection to radio (primarily at KYGO and KOA).
Ed has worked at all three major network affiliates: KMGH, KUSA and twice at KCNC. He was on Channel 4 for an incredible 32 years. His TV career spanned 42 years –longer that any on-air personality in Denver broadcast television history.
He filled in on the CBS Morning News and in 1987 did an exchange with Granada TV News in England. Retiring from TV at the end of 2017, Ed has returned to radio with weekend shows on both KOA and KHOW. He also regularly fills in on The Colorado Morning News on KOA. Ed is generous with his time, hosting 60 or more charity events a year. He has previously emceed the BPC Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
HaL Kennedy
Born May 23rd, 1924 in North Dakota, Hal Kennedy was a World War II veteran. He survived Omaha Beach and battles in France, Rhineland and Central Europe with the 29th Infantry Signal Corp. After the war, he settled in Colorado Springs, first working at KVOR Radio as a disc jockey and newsman.
When he joined KKTV it was as “sales services director,” according to trade magazines of the time. But quickly he would be the news face of Channel 11. Kennedy anchored the KKTV News for an incredible 33 years, from 1956 to 1989. He served as News Director for most of his time at KKTV, and through the 1960s was Program Director too. He even was Assistant General Manager at one time.
He was widely regarded as the dean of broadcast journalism in Southern Colorado. When he retired, Kennedy was the longest running anchor at any television station in the country. Ten years after his retirement, in a 1999 Gazette Telegraph poll, Colorado Springs residents voted him the best local broadcaster of the century. A devout family man, he would go home every night between the 5:30 and 10pm newscasts to have dinner with family.
Kennedy was on the Board of Directors for the National Radio and Television News Directors Association, The Associated Press Broadcasters Association and was chairman of the board of the Colorado Press Association. He was 1989 Colorado Broadcaster of the Year. Hal Kennedy died in 2006 at 82.
Hal Kennedy in a KKTV Anniversary retrospective
Charley Martin
In 1969, Charley Martin was looking for work in radio in California. His friend Hal Moore, who he’d known in Iowa at Drake University and KSO, Des Moines, was program director at KHOW and offered Charley a job. He was originally hired to weekends, then moving to 9 to Midnight.
When Buzz Lawrence left the Buzz and Barney morning show in 1971, Barney (Rosemary Barnwell) needed a new partner. Hal Moore surprised everyone when he suggested the night guy, Charley Martin (marketing lore was that Barnwell chose her new partner).
For the next 24 years, Charley was a key player on KHOW morning shows, having top ratings with three different partners. He brought the comedy to the pairings, with his partners often being the straight guy (or gal). Comedian Phyllis Diller one told Charley that he was “a very funny guy.
When Barnwell married and moved to London in 1973, a contest was held to find Martin’s “Perfect Partner.” Thousands auditioned, and housewife Lynn Martin (no relation) was selected and went on air as “Marti.” “Charley and Marti” were a ratings hit.
In 1976, the KHOW line-up was revised, with Hal Moore moving from afternoons topartner with Charley as “Hal and Charley.” Then-KHOW General Manager Sam Sherwood said in 1978 “their comedy is all against the establishment—people relate to that.” They were recognized nationally and when contracts came up for renewal there were rumors of them going to a bigger market but they stayed in Denver. The duo would be paired for 19 years, until Charley Martin left KHOW in 1995. He moved to Arizona with his late wife Karla Wompler, whom he married in 1988.
Charley Martin died in 2012.
Francisco V. Sanchez was born in Guadalajara Mexico in 1915. “Paco” studied medicine at the University of Mexico, but his true calling was entertainment and community activism.
Sanchez and his wife were famous entertainers in Mexico, and he was a promoter of shows and orchestras. That’s what brought him to Denver in 1948.
Realizing that the Hispanic market was under-served, he bought airtime on KMYR and KTLN. He was able to speak to an audience not being served by other radio programs and knew there was a larger audience.
On October 7, 1953, the FCC granted Sanchez a broadcast license for 1220 AM. On June 5, 1954 KFSC (which stood for Francisco Sanchez Colorado) signed on from his kitchen at 3343 Lafayette Street. It is believed to be the first Spanish language station owned by a Hispanic. KFSC charged $3 a spot for community businesses. Ironically, the station programmed several hours a week of non-Spanish-language programming including shows in German and English.
Sanchez bought and operated several theaters in the city and promoted shows including Duke Ellington and Count Basie. He was very involved in community issues and one year helped over 250 community members gain their citizenship. He and other community leaders formed the Good Citizens Organization which later became the Good Americans Organization (GAO). The organization would help with low-income housing and other issues. He was elected to the state house of representatives in 1968 and served one term.
Sanchez owned and operated 1220 KFSC for 16 years before his death due to cancer in 1973. He was 57. Paco Sanchez Park at Knox Court and 13th honors his work in the community.
Paco Sanchez
Trux Simmons
In 1968, Trux Simmons was stationed briefly at Lowry Airforce Base. From the east coast, he fell in love with Colorado and vowed he’d return when discharged.
During his service as an air wing briefing officer, delivering information to combat crews, he became interested in TV production. In 1972, out of the military, he enrolled at the University of Denver on the G.I. Bill. His Mass Communications degree didn’t lead to a job in broadcasting though. Everywhere he applied, he was told he needed more experience. To get that experience he formed a video production firm with a friend from the Navy, creating corporate videos. He also made promotional spots for the Denver Symphony Orchestra and created his first documentary, which aired on KBDI.
Simmons finally had enough experience! In 1986 he was hired by KRMA for the new position of producer/director for marketing and development. He produced pledge breaks and directed the Channel SIX Auction, at one time Denver’s longest continual live scheduled broadcast.
KRMA had been operated by the Denver Public Schools. When that changed, much of the production staff was let go and Simmons remained with more responsibility. He produced programming for children, including the Super SIX School News and was writer-producer for Senior Showcase, which was renamed Life-Wise.
He developed a new historical weekly series Rocky Mountain Legacy. He created documentaries that aired during pledge drives including There Was a Time: Denver During the 40s, The Way We Were: Denver During the 50s, and Things No More. His final documentary Jewel of the Rockies- The U.S. Air Force Academy’s First 50 Years aired nationally on most PBS stations.
Trux Simmons was at Channel 6, which became a part of Rocky Mountain PBS, for 23 years. He retired from the Navy Reserve as a Captain with 30 years of service.