The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Broadcast Pioneers member Kevin DeLany

Broadcast Pioneers member Kevin DeLany has long and deep roots in Philadelphia, including a remarkable 45 continuous years on the air. A 1977 graduate of Temple University, Kevin had already established himself as one of the youngest disc jockeys in Philadelphia, first on air in 1972 at country WLDB, Atlantic City and by 1973 spinning jazz at WWDB-FM, with a stop at WJWL and WSEA-FM Georgetown, DE in between.

In a 1975 format switch from jazz to talk, the entire on-air staff at WWDB was released, with the exception of Kevin and former jazz program director Sid Mark. Kevin moved to the news department, while Sid started an evening talk show to go along with his popular Friday with Frank program featuring the music of Frank Sinatra. Building on the success of the Friday night program, in 1975 Sid launched a second program, "Sunday with Sinatra" with Kevin as the news anchor and weather reporter.

Kevin became so associated with Sunday with Sinatra, that Sid invited him to guest host the program from time to time while Sid was away. During Sid’s extended absence from the program in 1998, Kevin hosted both the Friday evening and Sunday morning Sinatra programs, carrying all the sponsorships and listeners until Sid returned some 12 weeks later. Kevin said “It was a remarkable time for me, knowing Sid and the listeners trusted me with such a legendary program.”

As production and imaging director for the nation’s first FM talk station, Kevin created the unique on-air sound of WWDB during the early days of the format in the mid and late 70’s. In 2001, WWDB abandoned the talk format in favor of pop music, and Sinatra migrated to 1210 WPHT, with Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Famer Sid Mark at the helm and Kevin covering news, sports, weather and occasionally guest hosting. That relationship continues to this day, where each Sunday Philadelphians tune to the very popular Sunday with Sinatra program.

To mark the 25th Anniversary of Kevin’s on-air work in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia City Council proclaimed March 17, 1998 as Kevin DeLany Day in the city. Kevin has twice been presented with the AIR (Achievement in Radio) Award for Best Newscast in Philadelphia, first in 1998 while reporting the death of Frank Sinatra, and again in 2003 reporting the loss of the space shuttle Columbia.

While maintaining his association with Sid and Sinatra, Kevin’s career has also flourished in network radio, having risen in the ranks from producer at The Mutual Broadcasting System to his current role as Vice President of News & Talk Programming for Westwood One. In this role, Kevin manages a staff of 30 network news correspondents, anchors, editors and producers at the Westwood One Newsroom in Washington DC, with over 800 affiliates across the country, including KYW in Philadelphia.

Kevin has produced coverage of every major news story of the last several decades, including the 9/11 terror attack, the tragic mass shootings in schools from Columbine to Santa Fe, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the attack at a concert in Las Vegas, two wars in the Middle East, and has covered the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com