Bruce Rader

Bruce Rader (1954) is an American broadcaster who has been the sports director of WAVY-TV and WVBT-TV in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach market since 1978.[1] In 2017 Rader received the Gold & Silver Circle Ceremony Award from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honoring him for a lifetime of significant contributions to the broadcast industry. In 2020 he was voted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, two years after being the was the first person inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Media Hall of Fame. A 2018 inductee in the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame he is the longest active anchor in the Hampton Roads market and is known as much for his community service as his on-air career.

Early life and career

Born Bruce Reed Rader at George Washington University Hospital in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. on March 11, 1954, the son of Audrey and Orth Rader. Bruce grew up in the Randolph Hills area of Rockville, Maryland and attended Rocking Horse Road Elementary School, Randolph Junior High School, and graduated from Wheaton High School in Wheaton, Maryland. His first broadcasting job came when he was hired by the late Pierre Eaton, the owner, and general manager of his hometown radio station, WINX Radio, in Rockville, Maryland. There he hosted a high school sports show and did play-by-play for local high school football games on WINX, and did a weekly college basketball show highlighting the University of Maryland basketball team known as "Terrapin Talk". During some of these games, he was joined by the University of Maryland basketball All-American Len Elmore who after a successful career in the NBA became a well-known college basketball broadcaster for CBS Sports and ESPN.

In 1974 Rader began his television career working in the newsroom at WMAL-TV (ABC) during the final days of Watergate and the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He was a spotter for Redskins play-by-play announcers Mal Campbell and Len Hathaway and produced the Coach George Allen post-game show and the Chris Hanburger locker room show in 1974 and briefly worked for WMAL-TV Sports Director Steve Bassett before moving to Norfolk.

Television career

In 1975 Rader was hired by news director Tony Burton as the assignment editor at WVEC TV, the ABC affiliate in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1977 he joined WAVY-TV, a Lin Media company now Nexstar Media Group as the weekend sportscaster and weekday news reporter for the NBC affiliate covering Virginia Beach. On January 1, 1979, he was named Sports Director and primary sports anchor. Rader, noted for his energetic style, changed the way local sports were presented in the market. He devoted extensive coverage to NASCAR becoming one of the first local sportscasters outside of Florida to annually spend a week covering the season-opening Daytona 500. He was the first sportscaster from the Hampton Roads market to cover Washington Redskins games on a regular basis, both home and away. During his coverage of Super Bowl XVII in 1983, he broadcast the first live newscast in Hampton Roads television history from Costa Mesa, California. Rader's obsession with local sports coverage on a local station, especially high school events and feature events, served him well as ESPN and other national cable channels gained popularity. He continues to anchor the daily sports segments weeknights on WAVY-TV and is the host of the Fox 43 Sportswrap every night at 10:45 on Fox 43. He is also the host of the weekly Old Dominion University Football Show with Coach Ricky Rahne,The Washington Huddle WFT Show shown in the Hampton Roads, Richmond, Roanoke, Washington DC and Hagerstown, Maryland markets, and the popular high school football show Friday Night Flights.

Community service

The Bruce Rader-St.Jude Golf Tournament,[2] raised more than $1-million during its 20-year run for St. Jude Children's Hospital. Rader's former charity foundation, Bruce Rader Charities, was also very active in Hampton Roads. Bruce also worked with the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, Seton Youth Shelters, Virginia Beach SPCA, Horizons Hampton Roads, and various other local charities. For over 30 years Bruce hosted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on WAVY-TV. An officer of the Priority Charity Bowl that organization has already raised over a million dollars for local children's charities in Hampton Roads.

Awards and professional distinctions

Bruce was honored with the 48th annual Tidewater Humanitarian Award by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities in 2012. In 2007 Rader was the recipient of the George A. Bowles, Jr. Broadcast Journalism Award from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. The award is presented every year to a broadcast news journalist who has longevity in Virginia broadcasting, is respected by his peers, and exhibits enthusiasm for his work and the community. In 2006 Bruce was presented the Abe Goldblatt Memorial Award by the Norfolk Sports Club, a lifetime achievement award.

Hampton University President William R. Harvey presented Bruce with "The Presidential Award for Outstanding Citizenship", recognizing him for virtues of decency, dignity, and human rights.

In 2005 Rader was inducted into the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association CIAA Hall of Fame. Established in 1912, the CIAA is the nation's oldest black athletic conference, rich in history and heritage. He is a multiple winner of the "CIAA Sportscaster of the Year" award, and was twice honored as the "Tidewater Sportscaster of the Year". The Virginia Beach Alumni Chapter at Norfolk State University honored him with an award for Excellence in Sports Media. Honors also include multiple "Best Sports Award" from the Associated Press, "Sportscaster of the Year" from Virginia's United Press International as well as a "District Leadership Award" from the United Negro College Fund. Bruce has also been inducted into the Peninsula (Hampton) Baseball Hall of Fame. He is a lifetime member of the Portsmouth Sports Club.

Rader covered the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. He was selected to carry the Olympic Torch in both 1996 through Charlottesville, VA., and 2002 near the Pentagon. He has also covered six Super Bowls for WAVY, including all four Washington Redskins appearances during the Joe Gibbs era.

Rader started hosting the Jerry Lewis Telethon in 1980 and has been recognized by the Tall Cedars of Lebanon for Outstanding Service. He lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia with his wife Virginia and his four children, Alex, Reed, Bryce, and Haley.

References
  1. He is the longest active television anchor in Hampton Roads television history. WAVY-TV 10 - Bruce Rader Archived October 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Bruce Rader Charities". Archived from the original on 2007-03-07. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
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