During a very special webinar on September 11, Christian Music Broadcasters announced the 2019 Station of the Year, CMB Special Awards, and Board of Directors recipients. Please join CMB in congratulating these honorees.
CMB STATION OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
SMALL MARKET WINNER: WAYP • Panama City, FL
WAYP Aircheck Submission • WAYP Production Submission
MEDIUM MARKET WINNER: KLRC • Fayetteville, AR
KLRC Aircheck Submission • KLRC Production Submission
LARGE MARKET WINNER: WAWZ – Middlesex-Somerset-Union, NJ
WAWZ Aircheck Submission • WAWZ Production Submission
MAJOR MARKET/NETWORK WINNER: WMIT – Charlotte, NC
WMIT Aircheck Submission • WMIT Production Submission
CMB SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS
Community Service Award
Presented to a Christian broadcaster, radio station or associated professional who, during the past year, has shown outstanding effort in community service.
KLJY – St. Louis
Encouraging believers. Uniting the city. Sharing Jesus. That’s the mission behind everything JOY FM does.
During Help & Hope, which is a morning of being vulnerable about real struggles, St. Louis pastors answered studio lines while over 800 listeners called in for prayer. Several listeners gave their lives to Jesus for the first time. JOY FM and over 100 inner city/suburban pastors also met weekly for prayer and ideas. As a result, hundreds of listeners worked on projects throughout the summer to rejuvenate areas of St. Louis.
A sense of pride and unity is being restored in St. Louis.
JOY FM also held a month-long effort to pray for children impacted by foster care. Over 700 foster kids requested prayer. Thousands of listeners wore prayer bands as a daily reminder to pray for them by name.
Last summer, JOY FM led 50 listeners on a mission trip to Guatemala. They installed smokeless stoves and water filters in 60 homes and served orphans and students with Down Syndrome.
JOY FM’s unique Sofa Concert Series and Summer Nights Concerts were broadcast live for the city to enjoy together. These concerts reach tens of thousands of listeners each night as the artists literally sing over the city.
You just got “JOY’D” – is the note listeners share when they do a random act of kindness in St. Louis. Tens of thousands of notes are shared each year. This grassroots campaign encourages listeners to Share Some JOY each month in creative, meaningful ways.
Industry Achievement Award
Presented to a Christian broadcaster or associated professional for outstanding and long-term contributions to the growth of Christian music radio.
Chris Lemke – Executive Director, WCSG
As a student at Cornerstone University, Chris began his career in radio as an intern and part-time employee of WCSG. Upon graduation in 1984, he was hired to handle production and on-air responsibilities. Over the years, as PD and then GM, he helped lead the team to become a top three station in the West Michigan market. In 2009, he was appointed as the executive director of Cornerstone University Radio, tasked with leading the university’s media ministries to greater growth and influence.
While at WCSG, Chris was an early adopter of online forums, facilitating discussions and collaboration with colleagues from around the nation. Over the past 20 years, he’s given assistance to other stations in programming, fundraising and management, inclusive of Arizona Shine where he also spent three years on the station’s Board of Directors. Chris served for several years on NRB’s Radio Advisory committee and has contributed articles to various trade magazines. As opportunities arise, he’s also served as a panelist at NRB and CMB conferences.
Chris’s passion for serving was most evident when he volunteered and led the charge of restructuring and retooling Christian Music Broadcasters. In 2011, he was appointed as CMB’s interim executive director and board chairman. He coordinated CMB’s new board and staff to forge the organization’s mission, vision and operation as it’s known today.
Rich Mullins Artist Impact Award
Presented to an artist or group to recognize their long-time contributions to the music and ministry of Christian radio.
Casting Crowns
CMB Board of Directors Award
Presented by CMB’s Board of Directors for the advancement of the gospel through radio.
Lee Geysbeek
Lee Geysbeek began his radio career as a Cornerstone University freshman in 1975 at the school’s fledging station of WCSG. Within six years, he became the station’s manager, and soon after moved WCSG from its small basement studio to a new facility. By 1990, he led the station to be among the top ten stations in West Michigan.
By 1987, Geysbeek and his team launched and developed the Children’s Sonshine Network, a programming mix of Christian music, drama and stories designed for kids. CSN was broadcast on dozens of stations across the country either as supplemental programming or on a station’s SCA service.
In 1995, Lee initiated the university’s acquisition of the daily news feature, Mission Network News. With his oversight, MNN paved the way in providing timely, compelling news of God’s global work through believers. MNN grew from ~200 stations to over 1,000 outlets worldwide. And by 1997, Lee’s passion to connect with youth and young adults came to fruition with the delivery of the hot contemporary Christian formatted, WaYK and WaYG.
In 2009, Lee’s 34-year leadership role at Cornerstone took an intentional turn to become the U.S. Radio Marketing Director for Compassion International. Visiting scores of stations over the next ten years, Lee introduced tens of thousands of children to listening families, building bridges to make a positively eternal difference.
By our standards, Lee was taken home to be with Jesus unexpectedly and far too early. In Lee’s mind, he was ready to meet Jesus at any time. His example of grace, of joy, of urgency and zest for life and the transforming power of the Gospel continues to inspire those who served with him, knowing, as he would say, “the separation between here and Heaven is but for a moment, we will all be together with Jesus soon enough.”
Mike Novak
Initially poised to pursue Agronomy in college, Mike Novak’s life took a radical turn that led him to radio and to eventually fulfill God’s purpose of leading the largest radio networks in the world. While attending college in Modesto, California, Mike left his studies to pursue a job as a weekend announcer at KYOS in Merced, CA. After only six months, he was offered a full-time position as afternoon drive announcer at rock station KDON in Salinas, CA. From there, Mike continued to excel in radio at various top radio stations such as KFRC in San Francisco and KSON in San Diego.
After 11 years in San Diego, Mike joined K-LOVE as an on-air personality. Mike would go on to be the Program Director, Senior Vice President, and ultimately President and CEO of K-LOVE and Air1 networks. Since 2007, he has led a team of people to transform a Christian music ministry into a successful radio network reaching listeners in the U.S. and around the world. Looking back on his journey, Mike has realized his calling and is thankful to God for entrusting him with such great opportunities to share the mission of K-LOVE and Air1.
“Never in one million years could I have guessed the path God has taken me on,” reflects Mike. “But, His plans are greater than ours, and all we can do is trust Him for the ride.”
Mike and his wife, Cheri, now live in San Antonio, TX where they are both enjoying Mike’s retirement.
98.5 KTIS strives to point people in the Twin Cities to Jesus on the air, online, and on the street. Through remarkable service projects, 98.5 KTIS listeners are the hands and feet of Jesus to multiply the KTIS impact in our community. The first Friday of each month was 98.5 KTIS Drive-thru Difference Day, as listeners shared God’s love by paying for the order of the person behind them in the drive-thru. Moms overcame health, financial, and family difficulties through 98.5 KTIS’ Heart of a Mom initiative; meeting needs for a kitchen update, fulfilling a missed honeymoon with a cruise to Alaska, securing a reliable vehicle, and more. 98.5 KTIS’ Christmas Blessing resulted in remarkable stories of goodwill in the community, meeting needs by blessing people battling cancer, overcoming miscarriage, and recovering from financial devastation. Collecting thousands of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes filled with toys for kids around the world, the 98.5 KTIS Shoebox Showdown shared the hope of Jesus from the Twin Cities to children around the world. Listeners continued that generosity by working together to collect over 11,000 pencils for boys and girls in the Dominican Republic. 98.5 KTIS listeners ‘Shared the Warmth’ as a local business paid listener heating bills during the cold winter months, and listeners used those funds to bless their favorite Twin Cities nonprofits. 98.5 KTIS’ Ministry of the Month connected listener passions and talents to local ministries, highlighting the good being done in our community by these organizations on-air and online.
Through intentional, community focused service initiatives, Spirit 92.9 partners with listeners and businesses to help make their community better, together. The station’s first “Community Spirit” project in 2022 focused on showing God’s love to children entering foster care in the area after the ministry learned that there were more children than ever before in the system. During a weeklong collection drive, Spirit 92.9 listeners and business partners generously helped provide a new pair of pajamas and a stuffed animal for over 1,100 kids. Hoping to lead by example through serving, the Spirit 92.9 team helped prepare over 800 free meals for individuals and families in need for Easter, prepared and served a meal at the local homeless shelter, and helped clean up trash at an abandoned property near their studios. Hundreds of women in the community were served and uplifted in January at the station’s first Ladies’ Night Out-an opportunity to worship, laugh, receive support and prayer. In the fall, listeners and business partners joined together to help three local organizations provide free homemade, holiday meals to those in need. This ‘More Than A Meal’ on-air and online fundraiser helped feed over 3,000 in Central Minnesota. At the end of the year, Spirit 92.9’s “Share The Joy” promotion offered listeners the opportunity to nominate someone to receive a financial blessing. Single mothers, elderly homeowners, and the family of a father badly injured and hospitalized out of state were among the 12 people granted a $500-$1000 gift.
From entertaining the airwaves on KFRC-FM in San Francisco, to dancing away the late 90s on WKTU-FM in New York City, to encouraging and uplifting Atlanta on WFSH-The Fish every afternoon, Beth Bacall’s three decades on the air have had a lot to say. In 2003, she embraced CMB and the CCM sphere when she started working at Star 99.1 FM in NY/NJ. Since 2005, she has served on the Momentum Leadership Team while also offering mentorship to CMB’s Women in Radio community. Beth is a champion for others, taking a sincere stance of integrity and leading by example with her on air work, community engagement, and show prep. As a top talent coach, she equips multidisciplinary broadcasters and artists to embrace their authentic self, grow awareness, share stories effectively, and create meaningful Christ-centered content with all audiences. Beth specializes in moments that matter and is a driving force behind The Fish Christmas Wish Program and Fish Acts of Love. Working on all aspects of creating promotional, reward-based content, including research and execution, Beth is a dot connector that the Lord uses to bring joy and experiences into the lives of others. Even after these promotional seasons, she’s always looking for the next opportunity to be a blessing.
For over four decades, Rick Dunham has been at the forefront of marketing and fundraising for Christian nonprofits. In 2002, he founded Dunham+Company, which has become a global leader in providing multi-channel strategies across some of the world’s most influential sectors. Through radio and television, local churches and overseas missions, medical relief and philanthropic initiatives, Dunham+Company is multiplying the reach of the Gospel. The company currently serves nearly 100 clients in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand – whose collective effort is reaching nearly every corner of the globe. Rick is the author of Secure: Discovering True Financial Freedom and If God Will Provide, Why Do We Have to Ask for Money? He serves as a member of the board of The Giving Institute and is a former chair of the Giving USA Foundation, which publishes the most widely respected annual report on giving in the U.S. He has been published and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post and more. From devotionals to blogs, webinars to books, Rick’s personal faith in Jesus and his Biblical training are the driving conviction of his communication.
Over the decades, Jacobs Media has become known for advising broadcasters on strategic planning and digital transformation, championing forward thinking of the in-car audio experience, developing its innovative Techsurveys, and driving research initiatives with some of the most influential companies in media. In partnership with Radio Ink, the Jacobs duo created the DASH Conferences in 2013-15, bringing together leadership from both automotive and radio broadcasting industries. Working with CMB, Jacobs Media launched the first of its annual tech surveys for Christian music radio in 2014. Working in collaboration with the NAB’s Connected Car Committee, they developed the original “Best Practices” report in 2017. Fred Jacobs, a 2018 Radio Hall of Fame inductee, is credited with the creation of the Classic Rock radio format in the mid-80’s. Paul Jacobs specializes in revenue generation for Jacobs Media’s clients including heading up jācapps – the industry’s first, and now largest, mobile application development company with more than 1,300 apps worldwide. In 2022, Fred and Paul were recipients of the National Radio Award, the highest honor from the National Association of Broadcasters. They were the first duo to receive the award as well as the first consultants.
Jim Leightenheimer has passionately pursued the mission of teaching, mentoring, and preparing college students to serve Christ in radio since 1982. A 30-year radio veteran, Jim implemented and developed a student radio station that started as an AM carrier current, transitioned to a low power FM, and is currently streaming as Resound Radio. Under his leadership, student radio has served to jump-start the careers of many current leaders in Christian radio stations and networks across the United States. His students, both past and present, credit Jim for being the catalyst in building their love for radio. Throughout his career, Jim has enlisted graduates and other professionals to serve as mentors to his student radio staff. He has introduced scores of students to CMB by bringing them to Momentum and, more recently, CMB University. Jim currently serves on the board of directors at WCVO (104.9 The River) in Columbus and continues to be a resource not only for his current students, but for those who are living out his legacy in radio.
Joe Paulo has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hope Media Group since 2018. With an extensive background in media and leadership, he began at KSBJ (now Hope Media Group) as Vice-President of Operations in 2017 after serving at Educational Media Foundation (K-LOVE/Air1) as the Director of Donor Stewardship and Communications. Prior to that, he led a division of Columbia International University as Director of Broadcasting until 2014, overseeing the growth of successful radio stations in Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC. Joe has also provided volunteer leadership at the board of directors and advisory levels for other nonprofits such as Youth Commission International, CMB, and Crime Stoppers of Houston. In addition to speaking on leadership, fundraising and media, Joe and Kelly, his wife, have spoken at marriage and parenting events to share their passion for marriage, parenting and adoption.