Bob Kevoian
Kevoian holding a signed photograph of Paul McCartney in 2013
Born
Robert James Kevoian

(1950-12-02) December 2, 1950
Los Angeles, California
Career
ShowThe Bob & Tom Show
Station(s)WFBQ Indianapolis, Indiana
Station(s)Nationally Syndicated
(150 stations)
StyleComedy
CountryUnited States
Websitewww.bobkevoian.com

Robert James "Bob" Kevoian (born December 2, 1950) is a retired American radio host of the nationally syndicated radio show The Bob & Tom Show together with his partner, Tom Griswold. The show is broadcast from WFBQ's studios in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Education

Kevoian is a 1973 graduate of California State University, Long Beach. With no formal training in radio, Kevoian had never set foot in a radio studio until his time at WBMN in Petoskey, Michigan, where he met future business partner Tom Griswold.[1] Kevoian was awarded an honorary doctorate in Communications from Central Michigan University where he gave the commencement speech in 2003.[2]

Entertainment career

After touring the U.S. for three years as sound engineer of The Young Americans,[3] Kevoian began his radio career at WMBN in Petoskey, Michigan, in 1979. That lasted until 1982, when Kevoian joined cross-town WJML where Bob and Tom teamed up as a regular morning show. "We were there for 12 to 18 months," Kevoian recalls. The pairing of one of syndicated radio's most successful morning shows came when radio personality-by-day Kevoian moonlighted as a bartender at Harbor Springs, Michigan's Bar Harbor. "In small town radio, you needed to supplement your income by doing anything," the Long Beach State University alum states. "Tom came in after a J. Geils concert at Castle Farms in [nearby] Charlevoix and ordered a drink. At the end of the bar was another guy who worked in Country radio." The two radio talents were talking about the inferior nature of their respective stations' cart machines. "Tom overheard us and asked if we worked in radio and I told him I was doing middays," Kevoian remembers. "Tom said he did a year of radio in Florida, but was out of work and wanted to visit the station and look at the trades. Two days later, he was hired as my PD; it was pretty wild."[4] They achieved a 44 share in the ratings and in order to get rid of them the competition made a compilation tape of their best bits and mailed it to the Superstars Convention, a gathering of program directors from 300 stations, where it was played. They started getting offers from all over the country.[5] He is the producer, director, writer and composed credits for The Bob and Tom Show Home Movie, 2004. Kevoian participated in the Bob and Tom Radio: The Comedy Tour shows recorded in Anderson, Indiana. Kevoian has personally produced over 15,000 "bits" used in his show, some of which are actually his original ideas.

Retirement

On November 5, 2015, after being inducted along with Tom Griswold into the National Radio Hall of Fame, Kevoian announced his retirement effective at the end of 2015.[6] His last live show as co-host aired on December 17, 2015. On November 17, 2016, Bob and Tom were reunited when they were inducted into the Indiana Broadcasters Hall of Fame.[7] Kevoian made his first post-retirement appearance as a guest host on April 3, 2017, when the show was in Cincinnati for the Cincinnati Reds home opener.[8] Kevoian returned again on December 8, 2017, filling in for Tom Griswold. Kevoian returned March 30, 2018, and March 28, 2019, for the Cincinnati Reds opening day broadcast and again on May 24, 2019, for the Indianapolis 500 Bob and Tom Show. Kevoian returned once again on April 17, 2020, to the show.

On TV

The Bob and Tom Show aired nightly on WGN America and occasionally weekend best of airings until its cancellation in September 2010.[9]

Personal life

Kevoian was born in Los Angeles, California, to John Hike "Toby" Kevoian and Jean Baker.[10] On April 2, 2005, he married his current wife, Becky Martin. He has a son named Toby.[11] Kevoian has stepsons named Wade and Joey. Kevoian is almost always seen wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers hat as a tribute to his father, who was a longtime employee of the Dodgers, but considers himself "a big Cincinnati Reds fan."[12] Kevoian is an avid guitar player and has written some of the lyrics and music for the show's comedic parodies. Kevoian's brother-in-law (Becky's brother) is world-renowned tuba player Rex Martin. Kevoian's younger brother is actor Peter Kevoian.[13] His mother was on Let's Make a Deal and won a Brunswick pool table, which she traded for cases of oyster stew. She retired from the Los Angeles County Office of Education in Downey, California. Kevoian also likes to collect "large" ordinary items, such as coffee cups or safety pins that are extremely large compared to their normal sizes. Kevoian likewise keeps a collection of these "large" items in his studio.

On June 7, 2023, Kevoian made a guest appearance on the Bob & Tom show to reveal he had been diagnosed with gastric cancer. Kevoian says the outlook is very good and he has responded to treatment well. While on the show Kevoian promoted his podcast "The Bob & Cancer show". The show includes him, his wife Becky Kevoian, and longtime Bob & Tom show friend Whit Grayson. The show chronicles his journey with cancer and highlights the humorous aspects of it. During his treatment, it has been stated that he has experienced no hair loss and his iconic mustache is still intact and ready to celebrate its 54th birthday on June 18, 2023. [14]

References

  1. ↑ "Business & Beyond with Gerry Dick: Bob Kevoian: Radio Legend on Cruise Control".
  2. ↑ Archived July 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "Young Americans Success Stories" (PDF). Socccd.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  4. ↑ Mike Kinosian (March 21, 2005). "Inside Radio : Loyal Armenian article" (PDF). Ftp.media.radcity.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  5. ↑ "Bob Kevoian of The Bob \u0026 Tom Show by The Paul Mecurio Show | Free Listening on SoundCloud". Soundcloud.com. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  6. ↑ Lindquist, David. "Radio icon Bob Kevoian will retire at year's end". Indystar.com. Gannett. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Indiana Broadcasters Association to Induct Five History-Making Broadcasters into Richard M. Fairbanks Hall of Fame". Carmel, Indiana: The Indiana Broadcasters Association. September 14, 2016. Archived from the original on November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ Kevoian, Bob (February 13, 2017). "I'll be back on @bobandtom as guest host for Opening Day in Cincinnati #RedsBaseball". Twitter.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Radio's Bob & Tom are off their nightly TV show". Radio-Info.com. September 21, 2010. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010.
  10. ↑ . Trees.ancestry.com http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/6081553/person/-1349077570?ssrc=. Retrieved 2015-11-12. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ "Kevoian Family". Bobandtom.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2015-11-12.07
  12. ↑ "Bob (from Bob and Tom) — The Exit Interview". 3 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "Peter Kevoian". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  14. ↑ "Bob Kevoian Announces New Podcast on Cancer Diagnosis". The BOB & TOM Show. 2023-06-07. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
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