Bruce Kelly (June 11, 1956 –) is an American radio personality.[1] According to Alexander Zaitchik at Salon.com, "Kelly is a flamboyant master of publicity stunts as well as a top-rated morning jock".[2]
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He was the original program director, format creator and morning personality on The 80s on 8 from XM Satellite Radio in Washington, D.C. from September 2000 to November 2005. Kelly was also the first "live" human voice heard on XM or Sirius Satellite Radio during XM studio's beta test launch in May 2001.
In November 2005, he resigned from XM to care for his ailing 79 year old father, who fully recovered in May 2006 after a series of strokes.
On April 30, 2007 Lincoln Financial Media announced Kelly as the replacement in morning drive on WMXJ for South Florida media icon Rick Shaw, retiring after 50+ years on air in the market. His stint at the station lasted only for his initial one-year contract amid decidedly mixed audience reviews. Friday, April 25, 2008 was his last Majic show.[3]
Station management blamed "flat" ratings, however an ironic twist surfaced with the next ratings book in May showing prior to Kelly's dismissal, the show had improved from 10th to 5th place in the prior quarter in the key demographic of listeners aged 35 to 64.[4]
In October 2008, Kelly announced his next position as Co-Manager of Bob Marley's The Original Wailers, the backup-musicians for the reggae legend's career from 1973 until his death in May 1981. Kelly claims to have conducted the last media interview with Marley.
In September 2009, Kelly was an integral part of a three page feature on Salon.com about the career of talk radio star Glenn Beck.[5] The expose became an internet blog sensation because of the re-telling of a 1988 on-air incident between Beck and Kelly's then wife, regarding her recent miscarriage. The articles became the foundation of a new book "Common Nonsense" by author Alexander Zaitchik - scheduled to be released early summer of 2010.[6]
On January 4, 2010, Radio Fargo-Moorhead announced Kelly as the new Morning Personality for classic hits KMJO,[7] joining existing host Ryan Kelly to form the "New MOJO InTheMorning" radio show.[1] As of early June 2010, Kelly had disappeared from the Mojo 104 website and apparently is no longer with the Fargo station. Kelly refused to comment to local media and industry trade publications, citing "contractual agreement" with his former employer.
September 24, 2010, Kelly accepted a new position as morning host of WZFG, a talk radio station in Fargo/Moorhead and program director of sister station KEGK, both owned by Great Plains Integrated Marketing. [8]
In late December 2010, Great Plains Integrated Marketing's Board of Directors appointed Kelly - Vice President Of Programming for the four station group.[9]
Kelly returned to Arizona in October 2011 as the new Operations Manager of 90.7 KVIT "The Goldmine", a non-commercial radio station owned by the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa.[10]
Throughout his career, Kelly has frequently been the subject of national headlines, including the following:
Kelly has also been featured in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Arizona Republic, The Boston Globe, and Nightline, in addition to dozens of local TV, magazine and newspaper features.
Starting in the mid-1970s, Kelly continued a long-held radio tradition of over-the-top publicity stunts for the benefit of local charities. Some of the many stunts that attracted national media coverage include:
In 1976, after college, Kelly worked in Charlottesville, Virginia at then WELK-AM (1400) doing afternoon-drive and later moved on to Richmond's WLEE-AM which was then a rock station.
Kelly was #1 rated in WRVQ Richmond, 96-X and Y-100 (WHYI) Miami, WPGC-FM Washington, D.C., WBZZ Pittsburgh, WHTT-FM Hot Hits Boston, and most notably, fifteen consecutive years as the dominant morning radio personality in Phoenix, from 1985 through 1999, on KZZP, Y-95, and KKFR.
In 1990, 1992 and 1993, he was honored by Billboard magazine as the CHR personality of the year.
Kelly is an alumnus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the student radio station, WUVT-FM. He is also a graduate of T.C. Williams High School.