Excellence in Broadcast Preservation Award
The LABF presents this award each fall at NAB New York to an individual or organization for extraordinary contributions to the preservation of media history.
Inaugural winner 2023
Gleason, seen here with LABF Co-Chair Heidi Raphael after accepting his award, digitized more than nine million pages of industry publications.
LABF Honors David Gleason for Outstanding Contributions to Broadcast Preservation
Broadcaster David Gleason received the inaugural LABF Excellence in Broadcast Preservation Award in recognition of his outstanding dedication and commitment to preserving broadcast history.
The award ceremony took place at NAB Show New York on Oct. 26 immediately following the panel session entitled “Your Content is King: Preserve It!” on which Gleason participated.
Working on his own time and money for the past 20 years, Gleason has built a massive online archive of broadcasting and cable trade publications, books, music magazines, technical manuals, directories, yearbooks, company and station publications, programming guides and more. The archive — www.worldradiohistory.com — now tops nine million pages. Because it is online, the pages are readily available to the public – and searchable.
“There is no stopping him,” says LABF Co-chairman Heidi Raphael. “What he has accomplished – virtually single-handedly — is extraordinary. He’s made an unparalleled contribution not only to the history of broadcasting, but to the story of the modern world as reflected and shaped by the media.”
Gleason’s principal role in life has not been digitizing pages, but radio. Beginning as an intern at an AM-FM combo in Cleveland, Gleason has spent 64 years in ownership, management, sales, programming and engineering across 16 countries in Latin America and major U.S. markets.