Bill Beckett

Program Director

     Bill became Program Director for Red River Radio in January 2010. He is an honors graduate from Bowling Green State University in Ohio where he was also inducted into the Golden Key National Honor Society. He began his professional career in 1985 as Traffic Manager and Recording Engineer for WGTE-FM in Toledo Ohio, where he later served as Operations Manager. While in Ohio he taught beginning and advanced multi-track recording studio techniques at his Alma Mater, Bowling Green State University. In 1990 Bill accepted the position as Program Director for WUFT-FM in Gainesville Florida, serving there for 19 years. He is a seasoned radio producer of both music and documentaries programs and has been honored with numerous awards over his career from the Ohio Educational Broadcasters, the Florida Associated Press, the National Association of Community Broadcasters, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Council on Contemporary Families, and The Radio and Television News Directors Association. In 2000 he was a co-recipient National Edward R. Murrow Award: Best Documentary for the program Apalachicola Doin’ Time, along with co-producer Donna Green-Townsend and student associate producers Daniel Beasley and Joshua Azriel. He was co-recipient of a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for the documentaries Ground Water Garrison  (2003) and The Long Road  (2007). 
     Bill has a passion for art, music, theatre, literature, and film. He also has a keen interest in history, the sciences, and politics and he brings this broad range of interests and knowledge to his role as Programmer and Producer. 

 

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11:42am

Thu September 13, 2012
10:01 Spotlight

10:01 Spotlight: Dodging The Bullets

Bill Beckett talks with David Barker, author of the one man play Dodging The Bullets and Patric McWilliams, Artistic Director on River City Repertory Theatre about this One Man Play and the life events that lead to it's creation.  For show times and information visit River City Repertory Theatre.

8:00pm

Mon August 6, 2012
Cultural, Community, Information

RISE: Climate Change and Coastal Communities

Airs Monday, August 6 at 8:00 p.m.
Program One: Sounding the Waters

Sea level rise and increasingly extreme weather patterns are two of the impacts of climate change. How are these phenomena created? What effects will they have on our coastlines? To what extent are we feeling them already? And what can we do to adapt to changing conditions? We explore these questions with a visit to San Francisco’s financial district and other spots around the Bay.

8:00pm

Thu July 19, 2012
Cultural, Community, Information

Savannah Music Festival: Cherryholmes

Airs Thursday, July 19 at 8:00 p.m. When the family band Cherryholmes burst onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere during the first few years of the new millennium, they quickly developed a loyal audience, followed by a wealth of honors and awards. On January 12, 2011, after more than a decade together, Cherryholmes surprised the music world by announcing that they had decided to disband the group and would be performing their last show in May of 2011. In this episode, we listen to Cherryholmes' performance at the Savannah Music Festival.

8:00pm

Thu July 12, 2012
Cultural, Community, Information

Savannah Music Festival: The Gerald Clayton Trio

Airs Thursday, July 12 at 8:00 p.m.  Tune in to this episode to hear one of the most exciting young pianist in jazz, Gerald Clayton, performing with Hareesh Ragovan on bass and Justin Brown on drums at the 2010 Savannah Music Festival. The most common piano trio format in jazz has usually included a pianist, a bassist and a drummer. Communication between these three players is built around the talents they have amassed through extensive training, so that their reflexes are to the point where the music takes over on the bandstand.

10:01am

Fri July 6, 2012
10:01 Spotlight

10:01 Spotlight - Mahalia

Bill Beckett talks with Vincent Williams, Director of Mahalia and Artistic Director of Extensions of Excellence Performing Arts Inc., about tonight performance of the dramatic Gospel Musical "Mahalia" by Tom Stolz. The show will be presented tonight, Friday July 6 in Shreveport's Riverview Theatre at 7:00 p.m.   Read More Here.

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