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Robert J. Hensler
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After high school, Robert J. (Bob) Hensler spent four years in the Air Force, where he became a weekend groupie hanger outer at the KSET radio studios in El Paso, TX. Like so many radio wannabes of that era, his visits eventually led to a part-time job sweeping floors, emptying wastebaskets, and learning everything he could. Once, he even filled in on the air for a deejay that was out sick.
After leaving the military, the native of Woodside, Queens, NY studied at Hofstra College in Hempstead, NY where he was student president of the radio club and manager of the school’s on-campus FM station. He later earned his BA in Journalism/Radio/TV in 1964.
Bob’s air name was “Robert” or “Bob Scott”. Some of his stops included KELP, KHEY and KROD in El Paso, and New York’s WHN. During his years in the business, he held several PD gigs – KCLV in Clovis, NM, New York stations WGBB in Freeport, WLIX in Islip, and Long Island’s first country station, WTHE. In 1967, he joined WTIC in Hartford, CT to do news for the AM/FM/TV combo.
In 1972, he had most recently been with WNBF in Binghamton, NY when he moved to Tampa Bay and the job of station manager for religious talk AM-800 WSST in Largo (which became WRFA in 1985). Seventeen years later, it was on to the Sun Radio Network in Clearwater and its flagship station, Brandon’s AM-760 WEND. Toward the sunset of his career, he accepted the position of director of communications for the Clearwater-headquartered Independent Broadcasters Network and stayed with the company until it closed down in 1995. After that, he retired and wrote a book chronicling his years in radio and the stations he worked for over the years.
Bob passed away May 14, 2021 at the age of 86.
Station History
1972 - 1995 Other Tampa Bay Area Stations (Management)
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