Central Ontario Broadcasting President Doug Bingley has been recognized by the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) with the organization’s highest honour, the OAB Hall of Fame Award.
Bingley was among those recognized at this year’s OAB Awards luncheon earlier this week in Toronto. The Hall of Fame Award is a board-nominated honour presented to individuals who’ve spent the majority of their careers in private broadcasting, demonstrating a commitment to broadcast excellence.
Bingley started his broadcast career in 1973, working in Master Control at TVO and later joining CBC as a videotape editor, working on shows including The National and The Fifth Estate.
He went on to spend a decade with Bell in sales and marketing, before co-founding International Broadcasting and Communications, a Russian-Canadian joint venture that established a seven-station network in St. Petersburg under the RadioHits brand.
Bingley founded Central Ontario Broadcasting in 1988, with the launch of Rock 95 (CFJB-FM) Barrie, adding KOOL FM (CKMB-FM) Barrie in 2001, and later Indie88 (CIND-FM) Toronto in 2013, which was sold to Local Radio Lab last year.
“Doug is a prominent industry advocate, a former President of the Ontario Association of Broadcasters, where he champions policies to support the sustainability of local radio in the face of growing digital competition,” the organization said in an announcement. “He continues to work for a regulatory environment that empowers Canadian broadcasters to invest in local talent and community programming.”
Others recognized at Tuesday’s event included Community Service Award winner Kevin Oschefski, Morning Host at Country 90.5 (CFCH-FM) North Bay, for Kevin O’s Walk For the Cure, a 129 km fundraising trek from the Northeast Cancer Centre in Sudbury to downtown North Bay. This is the third year Oschefski has been recognized in the category, after winning in 2023 for Kev’s Kids Radio Marathon and last year’s Big Camp Adventure, a joint initiative with 106.3 Jet FM (CFXN-FM) morning host Mike Monaghan for the YMCA Fill the Bus campaign.
This year’s Creative Award winner was Z103.5 (CIDC-FM) for the Z103.5 Dream Vacation Teaser, produced and written by Sean Galbraith and voiced by Steve Stone.
The Rock 95 Birthday Bash was the recipient of the Station Promotion Award, while Central Ontario Broadcasting’s Farah Miltimore was named this year’s Radio Sales Star.
