Remembering Tom Bigby
• Legendary major market programmer Tom Bigby, who was widely considered to be the pioneer of modern Sports-Talk radio, died Monday, Jan. 4 in Ft. Worth, TX at the age of 77.
Bigby spent the bulk of his radio career in Philadelphia, most notably 15 years at the helm of Sports-Talk WIP, along with subsequent stints at WIFI & WPHT-AM, and later in his career, he served as OM of the former WYSP. Bigby’s extensive programming resume also included WNEW/New York, KFI-AM & KOST/Los Angeles, WXYT (97.1 The Ticket)/Detroit and KLUV, KRLD-FM & AM Dallas. He also served in a corporate role for CBS Radio as VP of Strategic Programming before launching his consultancy in 2011. More recently Bigby owned and operated a Ft. Worth Irish pub/sports bar called Dublin Square.
Eric Johnson, PD of Beasley’s WJBR/Wilmington, DE worked for Bigby at WIP in 1994 when Bigby created an APD role for him. Johnson shared his thoughts in a Facebook post that reads, in part, “Working for [Tom] was like PD grad school. One experienced every emotion working for Tom, but if you appreciated the great knowledge he had to share with you, worked proactively… and didn’t bullshit him… I found him to be very fair.”
Johnson added, “I will always be grateful that the opportunity Tom gave me at WIP made me qualified to successfully program [WKXW] New Jersey 101.5 for so many years. Knowledge I gained from Tom also helped me at [WPEN-FM] The Fanatic, and today, at WJBR. Thank you Tom for being my mentor, my friend and for being so supportive of my career for so many years. I will miss you. My sincere condolences to his wife Phyllis, Tom’s children and grandchildren, and friends.”
• WIP PD Spike Eskin posted an online tribute to Bigby.
