Danny Neaverth

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Danny Neaverth (born c. 1938) is an American disc jockey and television personality from Buffalo, New York. He is best known for a run of over 25 years as the morning disc jockey at heritage top-40 and oldies station WKBW-AM/WWKB in Buffalo.

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[edit] Radio career

Neaverth began his career at WFRM in Coudersport, Pennsylvania in 1957, where he served as afternoon jock.[1] In 1959, he went to WDOE and then on to WBNY in Buffalo, the city's first rock and roll station. By 1961, WKBW had lured him to host the afternoon drive time slot, but very shortly he would become the station's morning host. Becoming known for the catchphrase "Danny moves your fanny in the morning!" and "I got up early so I could be the first kid on the block to say good morning to you" among many others, Neaverth spent 26 years at WKBW through top 40, adult contemporary and oldies formats before an ownership change and a format change to talk radio led to his termination in the late 1980s.

However, his absence was short-lived, as he would quickly find his way to WHTT-FM, which was launching an oldies format of its own. Neaverth spent another decade at WHTT, again as morning jock, until being dismissed in a cost-cutting move in 2002. Shortly thereafter, he came out of retirement for another three year stretch at a revived "WKBW," where he (along with the oldies format in general) quadrupled the station's Arbitron ratings.[2] After three years, WWKB's owner decided to pull the plug on oldies again, and Neaverth is once again in retirement.

Neaverth is a member of the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame and the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

[edit] Other appearances

Neaverth also had a very long run as the public address announcer for the Buffalo Bills for 13 years.[3]

Neaverth has also been seen frequently on television. Neaverth, while still doing disc jockey work at WKBW-AM, also served as noon weatherman for sister station WKBW-TV, despite taking all the forecasts from Accuweather and admittedly not knowing at all what he was doing.

Later, in the 1980s, Neaverth moved to WGRZ-TV and hosted the talk show Nearly Noon with Dan Neaverth.

Neaverth can also occasionally be seen hosting infomercials.

[edit] Personal life

Neaverth is married and retired. His two sons, Dan Jr. and Darren, are also in the radio industry.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Neaverth traces radio career from Coudersport to Hall of Fame. Olean Times Herald. 21 July 2007.
  2. ^ Violanti, Anthony. War coverage gives WBEN a boost. The Buffalo News. 30 January 2003. "WWKB-AM 1520 had a positive response for its return to an oldies format. The station tripled its overall rating to a 1.5 from a .5. Dan Neaverth was the big reason for KB's rise. The veteran local broadcaster, who had been off the air for almost a year, posted a 2.0 morning rating, up from KB's .5 in the last book. Although those numbers are low, they are the best for KB in recent memory."
  3. ^ Radder, Joseph. Buffalo Wouldn't Be the Same Without Dan Neaverth. Living Prime Time. January 2004.