By Mike Rhodes, Editor-in-Chief, MuncieJournal.com—
MUNCIE, IN—Zach Johnson, a well known local radio on-air talent has been named Sports Director for Anderson’s WHBU radio, 101.1 FM and 1240 AM.
Johnson has been a full-time member of the MAX and WERK air staff since 2011 and also worked for the radio stations part-time beginning in 2005. Johnson was a radio force in high school sports even as far back as when he was in high school himself.
“Back then, the radio station needed somebody to do play-by-play or color commentary for high school sports,” said Johnson. “Whenever they needed me, I filled in because that was back when we did high school sports on all the stations. We would sometimes have three games going on—on three different stations. So they needed a commentator. I’ve really been involved in covering Madison County sports since high school.”
Johnson has been honored as a finalist in the Indiana Broadcasters Association’s (IBA) Spectrum Awards four times for “Best Sports Commentary” on WHBU radio.
In 2018, Johnson won the IBA’s Spectrum Award for “Radio Personality of the Year” in radio market two for his work on MAX.
J Chapman, CEO of Woof Boom radio said, “We work by a set of values. One of those values is to work with passion. Everybody who encounters WHBU sports knows Zach’s passion. He cares greatly about doing a professional broadcast and lifting up local high school athletes. He is a great reflection through his work of how we want to be perceived and viewed. He is well deserving of this promotion.”
In conjunction with the Herald Bulletin, Johnson has been the host of the annual THB Sport awards, recognizing the best in area high school athletics both on and off the field of play. He also serves on the committee that helps to select the annual recipients of the Morry Mannies Woof Boom Radio Scholarship. For the last several years, Zach has also proudly volunteered as the emcee of the local “Walk to End Alzheimer’s”— a cause he feels a close connection to.
Johnson is excited to continue to improve the sports coverage in Madison County. “A lot of the work that I’ve been doing has been behind the scenes, so it’s good to be recognized,” Johnson said. “Now that I have the official title, I really want to continue to grow and expand our sports coverage and what we do on WHBU for our listeners. This is going to provide me the opportunity to work even harder at doing that.”
About WHBU
WHBU currently broadcasts an “oldies and talk” format from studios located in Anderson, Indiana. The station is owned by Woof Boom Radio LLC., headed by President J Chapman. WHBU is the longest running commercial radio station in Anderson, the second oldest radio station in Indiana, and the oldest commercial station in Indiana. In addition to the oldies, WHBU has live and local talk shows headlined by “Oldies 101 Talk Time” with Bruce Munson, weekdays 7-9am. Plus, shows Saturday and Sunday morning. WHBU also has Madison County high school football and basketball, Purdue football and basketball, the Indy 500, and the Brickyard 400.
