George Beasley, founder of Beasley Media Group, and Rush Limbaugh, the groundbreaking conservative talk radio host, will be inducted posthumously into the Florida Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Beasley and Limbaugh are part of the Hall’s inaugural class, which will be honored during the 2024 Florida Broadcasters Hall of Fame Gala and award ceremony on Thursday, June 27, at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach.
Beasley, who died in 2021, was named “Broadcaster of the Year” by the Florida Association of Broadcasters in 2011. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2016 and became a member of the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2020.
Limbaugh hosted the nationally syndicated “The Rush Limbaugh Show” from 1988 until he died in 2021. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1993 and the NAB Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Joining Beasley and Limbaugh in the 2024 class are Ann Bishop, the first female news anchor at WPLG-TV Miami; Waterman Broadcasting Presidents Bernard “Bernie” E. and Edith B. Waterman; President and CEO of the Florida Association of Broadcasters C. Patrick “Pat” Roberts; Emerson Eugene “Gene” Deckerhoff, Jr., the radio play-by-play announcer of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the longtime voice of the Florida State Seminoles; Johnny Magic, host of "Johnny's House Morning Show" on WXXL Orlando; Richard “Dick” M. Lobo, the President and CEO of WTVJ and former Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau; and William “Bill” J. Brooks, GM of WPTV West Palm Beach and former Chairman of the Florida Association of Broadcasters.