Tom Barnard

Thomas 'Tom' Mark Paul Barnard (born November 7, 1951) is an American talk radio host and former voice-over talent. He is currently the host of The KQ92 Morning Show from 5:40 am to 9:55 am on 92 KQRS and Tom Barnard Show on 105 The Ticket from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm both broadcast in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The show on 105 The Ticket makes up the third hour of The Tom Barnard Podcast known as "The Ticket" where the first two hours of the podcast is known as "The Show". As of February, 2014, the podcast was no longer broadcast on 105 The Ticket[1]

Personal

Barnard was born in Long Prairie, Minnesota and raised in North Minneapolis. He and his wife Kathryn Brandt live in Edina, Minnesota.

Career

Before coming to KQRS, Barnard worked at numerous stations including WDGY and KSTP (as "The Catman"). Until 1986, he was the booth announcer for KSTP-TV.[2]

Barnard, and then-partner Dan Culhane, started the "Tom and Dan" show in 1986 featuring sports reports from WCCO-TV sports anchor Mark Rosen. At one point, the team of Barnard and Culhane spearheaded a write-in campaign to elect Rosen For Governor of Minnesota.[3] Culhane was eventually pushed out of the broadcast in a personnel move, while Rosen was "persuaded" by WCCO TV's parent company to move his morning sports to WCCO-AM.

Barnard is known for being very reclusive, refusing virtually all media interviews and rarely making public appearances. He did however recently give an in-depth interview to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in which he discussed his strained relationship with his deceased father and compared his radio persona to that of his actual personality. Earlier in his career, Barnard and Culhane were guests with two other Twin Cities radio show duos on a local morning television show in 1988.

With podcasting technology, the KQRS Morning Show has reached national and international audiences. Regardless of the growth in his show's market, Barnard continuously assures listeners that the show will maintain its focus on the news, weather, sports and traffic of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Although he is semi-retired from voice-over work, Barnard can currently be heard in radio ads for Home Depot. For many years Barnard's voice was heard in various markets, introducing shows and appearing on commercials.

On September 29, 2009's Morning Show wrap-up, Barnard casually mentioned that he's planning to retire from live radio on December 21, 2012. Tom specifically said Terri would take over the Morning show, moments later the discussion moved to a "play off" for host during the year 2012. Tom explained that the 21st is a Friday and it's just before Christmas.

On December 8, 2009, Tom Barnard said via Facebook, "After many weeks of discussion with my wife, Marc the G.M. of KQ and the guy who hired me, Dave Hamilton, I asked a very bright friend of mine what he thought of me leaving KQRS. He said, 'If there is any proof in this world that there is a God it is the life you have because of the unwavering support of KQ listeners. Only an idiot would walk away from that.' I guess they'll have to fire me someday.

"I will be at KQ until they fire me or I drop over in my tracks. Hopefully , that will be a while. Thank you for your unbelievable support. (For the cynics out there, no, money doesn't enter in to it.)"

On January 3, 2012, Tom Barnard stated via Facebook that this will likely be the last year he does the KQ morning show and that he would like the show to continue after he's gone instead of jeopardizing the jobs of everyone else who works on the show besides him.

On July 12, 2012, Tom Barnard stated via Facebook that he signed a 4-year extension with KQRS.

On March 29, 2013, Barnard announced on the air that he would be entering treatment for issues in regard to anger, not substance abuse as previously reported.[4]

Awards

Barnard won the 2006 Marconi award for Large Market Personality of the Year.[5]

Barnard was inducted into the radio Hall of Fame in 2017, and the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2018.

The Marconi awards recognize excellence in radio broadcasting.

References
  1. http://www.tombarnardpodcast.com/
  2. "The 2010 Minnesota Profile: Getting serious with radio kingpin Tom Barnard". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  3. "Looking Back: Mark Rosen Runs For Governor, Changes MN Politics". Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  4. KQ's Tom Barnard says he'll get treatment but remain on air
  5. "Large Market Personality of the Year". Archived from the original on November 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  • KQRS Morning Show (official site)
  • Radiotapes.com Aircheck samples of Tom Barnard's radio career including WDGY-AM as "Catman," KQRS "Cat and Kincaid" and additional current airchecks from the KQRS Morning Show.
  • Star Tribune Profile of Tom Barnard from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 10, 2010.
  • Tom Barnard Podcast (official site)
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