The New York State Broadcasters Association, Inc., announces the addition of six new inductees into the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place at our gala luncheon in the Rainbow Room, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
Regarding the class of 2024, David Donovan, President of the New York State Broadcasters Association, stated, “The Hall of Fame Class of 2023 sets the “gold standard” for broadcasters throughout New York State. The inductees represent a lifetime of achievement serving their profession and communities throughout the Empire State and our nation. We are honored to have them join the Hall of Fame.” Here is the class of 2024.
Blanca Rosa Vilchez, WUXTV-41, Univision, New York City
Blanca Rosa Vilchez is an Emmy Award-winning journalist in New York. She is the senior national correspondent for Univision’s premiere weeknight news show, Noticiero Univision. For more than 30 years, she has appeared on the program, becoming a leading fixture on the screens of Latinos around the country — Noticiero Univision is the number-one evening newscast for U.S. Hispanics.
While New York has been her home for four decades, Blanca Rosa is proudly from Peru. There, she first discovered her love for the profession. At 22, she became the first female news director in the nation, leading the daily newscast 90 Segundos (90 Seconds). When she moved to the United States some years later, she started her career at WXTV Channel 41, the local Univision network station. She then went on to Univision at the national broadcast channel.
Her in-depth, revelatory, and more than anything, compassionate reporting of the tragedies on and after September 11, 2001, still resonates with New Yorkers and Latinos today. Blanca Rosa was one of the first to arrive at the scene that morning, mere moments after the second tower had been hit. While reporting right under the Twin Towers, she and her camera operator witnessed the collapse of the second tower. The video of Blanca Rosa running from the collapsing tower was seen around the world. Today, the clothing she wore that day and her press badge can be found on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian also collected her oral history about her work and the field of broadcast journalism. Most recently, Blanca Rosa Vilchez has covered extensively the criminal trial of former President Trump, the corruption trial of Senator Bob Menendez, and the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Craig Carton, WFAN & Fox Sports, New York City
Craig Carton’s 33-year career started in the summer of 1991, at WGR AM Radio in Buffalo, NY, and quickly became a fan favorite. He was then lured away by the legendary radio station WWWE in Cleveland. His success soon led to WIP Radio in Philadelphia, where he was the youngest person in the country to host a daily sports talk radio show in a major market. His success led to a nationally syndicated show broadcast on over 60 stations nationwide by Sportsline USA. He was wooed back to local radio by KKFN in Denver, Colorado, and later hired by crosstown rival KBPI to "Rock the Rockies." In 2000, Craig returned to WIP in Philadelphia.
New York called and he became the new morning drive host of The Sports Guys Show at WNEW. In 2002, Craig hosted the Jersey Guys at New Jersey 101. Over the next five years, Carton became the highest-rated host in the station’s storied history.
WFAN in New York hired Craig along with fellow Hall of Fame member, Boomer Esiason. For the next ten years, Boomer and Carton dominated the ratings as the most listened-to local morning show in the country and the highest-rated show in FAN history. Winners of countless awards, Boomer and Carton were quickly simulcasted, first on MSG Network and then on CBS Sports Network.
After a three-year hiatus, Craig had a remarkable comeback. In 2020, he returned to WFAN to host the new Afternoon Drive Show, Carton and Roberts, reaching # 1 for two years. In 2021, Carton and Roberts became the first show to be simulcasted on the SNY television network. In 2022, he became the host of a national television show on Fox Sports 1, where he has enjoyed double-digit ratings growth.
Craig is credited with popularizing the "Guy Talk" brand of sports talk, a tremendously successful format and widely copied. Craig also hosted the first-of-its-kind prime-time show on Spike Network called MMA Uncensored, as well as The Weekend Pregame on Spike. He penned his first book titled LoudMouth, in 2013.
Most importantly, Carton has used his platform to support many worthy causes and has helped raise millions of dollars for local charities throughout the 5 boroughs. In January of 2021, he and WFAN debuted “Hello, My Name is Craig,” a public service show aimed at humanizing gambling addicts and bringing their stories to light. The show is now in its 4th year of airing on Saturday mornings on WFAN.
Mike Catalana, Sports Director, WHAM-TV Ch.13, Rochester
Mike Catalana is the Sports Director at 13WHAM ABC in Rochester and the Co-Founder of Buffalo Plus, a YouTube channel and podcast focused on the Buffalo Bills. After graduating from Ithaca College, Mike began his career at WMGC-TV in Binghamton as Sports Director in 1986. Two years later, he came to Rochester at WOKR-TV (now 13WHAM) as a weekend sports anchor and reporter. In August of 1989, he was promoted to his current role.
Mike has covered nearly every major sporting event in the country including
multiple Super Bowls, beginning with the 4 trips made by the Buffalo Bills from 1991-1994. In 2024, he began his 37th year covering the Bills.
In addition to his work at 13WHAM, Mike was the sideline reporter for the Buffalo Bills Broadcast Network for 20 seasons. He was also the team’s postgame show host for 8 years. Mike worked with the Rochester Americans hockey team as game host and analyst for a total of 11 seasons.
During his years in Rochester, Mike and his team have won multiple awards from the NY State Broadcasters Association for Best Sportscast. He is also a multiple time winner of the Rochester Press Radio Club’s Media Excellence Award.
Mike has volunteered his time with the Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House, and Daystar Kids among others throughout the years. He and his wife Jenni live in Pittsford and have four children (Carly, Courtney, Ben, and Charlotte).
Sean McMaster & Richie Phillips, Sean & Richie Show, Albany
For more than 16 years, Sean McMaster and Richie Phillips dominated the morning drive in Albany by hosting the “Sean and Richie Show” on WGNA (107.7 FM). Together, this dynamic team brightened the mornings of listeners throughout the Capital Region.
Sean McMaster - Sean currently co-hosts the top-rated morning drive show, “Sean and Andrea” with his wife Andrea on Pamal Broadcasting’s “The CAT” (100.9/107.1 FM). He is a veteran broadcaster of over 30 years and has been a morning drive on-air personality for 25 years.
In his career, he has won multiple awards, including CMA Personality of the Year, multiple New York State Broadcaster's awards, and many awards and citations for his work with charities.
With a focus on children, over his career Sean has raised millions of dollars for charities like St. Jude, Make A Wish, the Special Olympics, and The Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Capital Region. Sean also had a hand in creating his own Charites including Pennies from Heaven and Blue Friday.
Sean, a lifelong native of the Capital District, lives in Clifton Park with his morning show partner and wife Andrea, and three amazing boys Ryan, Andy, and Caden. He also has a cat named Pluto and his best friend, a black lab named Sam. On a personal note, Sean loves music, movies, travel, football, golf, anything science fiction, and hanging out at home relaxing.
Richie Phillips - In 1980, Eastern Long Island native and former tenured high school history teacher Richie Phillips decided to trade in the security of a blackboard for a keyboard and move to the Albany area to entertain in clubs and piano bars. As luck would have it, he landed a gig in the prestigious 21 Club in downtown Albany, a popular haunt for politicians and influential business leaders—a position he held there nightly for over seven years between 1981 and 1988.
Boring quickly of playing background music, however, he decided to try his hand at lampooning the issues of the day in song - patterning himself after national satirist, Mark Russell. That caught the ear of a local radio station program director, the late “Uncle Fred” Horton, and landed him a morning radio spot with Horton on WTRY AM in Albany. They became the morning breakfast flakes with “Uncle Fred and Rhymin’ Richie.” Together, they enjoyed top ratings, only to quickly receive a new opportunity: a move to country station WGNA in August of 1988, after only 6 months on the air. Knowing very little about country music, Richie took the job basically as a lark - a temporary move. Temporary? Hardly! He stayed for 29 very successful years, the last 16 with Sean McMaster as part of the “Sean and Richie Show.”
Richie won a national CMA award in their first year together in 2000 and has garnered multiple awards over the years for his community involvement, including two New York State Broadcasters Association honors for his school songwriting program - Reading, Writing and Rhyming. To add this latest “NYSBA Hall of Fame” acknowledgment to his mantle is an amazing addition and a highly cherished one. He is eternally grateful to the NYSBA for this honor. Richie retired in 2016 and has been married for 38 years to his wife Dorrie. Richie has a wonderful son Ben, who is married to his equally wonderful wife Colleen, with two amazing grandchildren, Arron and Tess.
John Murphy, Voice of the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo
John Murphy has spent more than 35 years on the Buffalo Bills radio broadcast team, including his role as the play-by-play voice of the team from 2003 through 2022. The lifelong Bills fan is a native of Lockport, NY, and has lived in Orchard Park for 30 years.
Murphy began on the Bills broadcast as “color-man” with legendary play-by-play voice Van Miller in 1984. When Miller retired following the 2002 season, Murphy assumed the play-by-play role.
He has also done play-by-play for University of Buffalo football, local college basketball (Canisius and Niagara), and Buffalo Bisons baseball. His play-by-play experience began as a high school football announcer at WLVL radio in Lockport.
For more than 20 years, Murphy was a familiar face on Buffalo television as a sportscaster and then Sports Director at WKBW-TV (Ch. 7) and WIVB-TV (Ch. 4) in Buffalo. Before, during, and after his career on TV, he spent several years as a radio host. At WBEN Radio, he hosted “One on One Sports” and other shows. He worked for the Buffalo Bills for 12 years as host of “The John Murphy Show” and “One Bills Live.”
A member of the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Murphy has won numerous awards during his career, including a citation from the Associated Press of New York State for Best Sports Coverage for WBEN Radio, Artvoice “Best Sportscaster,” and Buffalo Spree “Best Broadcast Reporter.”
He is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Murphy and his wife Mary have two sons, Mark (Lexi) and Jack, and two grandsons, Cormac and Frank.
For information about the New York State Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame go to https://hof.nysbroadcasters.org/
For additional information contact David Donovan at ddonovan@nysbroadcasters.org
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