KFAB legend Gary Sadlemyer shares highlights from his 49-year radio career

You may not recognize his face, but if you’ve lived in Nebraska in the past half-century, you’ll definitely recognize his voice. Gary Sadlemyer is a Nebraska radio legend, and he visited the Pachyderm Luncheon on Monday along with Jim Rose to share some of the highlights from his long and storied career on KFAB.

Gary Sadlemyer began at KRGI in Grand Island in the summer of 1973, shortly after graduating from Brown Institute in Minneapolis. He came to KFAB in December 1976 doing evening shifts playing “middle of the road” music (easy listening, pop, and crossover country) along with news, weather, and sports updates. Sadlemyer moved to afternoons after a failed unionization attempt in 1978, and then to mornings around 1994–1995, where he remained for approximately 30 years.

KFAB’s powerful 50,000-watt clear-channel signal allowed it to reach listeners far beyond Omaha. The station consistently ranked among the top-rated stations in the country for many years, with Sadlemyer’s show in the top 3.

Among the famous voices Sadlemyer recounted working with were Lyell Bremser, AKA “Mr. Football,” KFAB’s longtime vice president/general manager and legendary Husker football play-by-play announcer. (If the words, “Man, woman, and child, did that put ’em in the aisles” sound familiar, then you know who Lyell Bremser was.) Sadlemyer also spoke about Jack Payne, KFAB sportscaster, Husker broadcaster, and longtime College World Series PA announcer, who he described as a “mentor.”

The iconic KFAB newsman Walt Kavanagh, well-known to kids in the Omaha area decades ago as the voice that would tell them when school was closed for a snow day, was also one of Sadlemyer’s long-time associates. Kavanagh had a two-way radio in his car, calling in with his call sign to report to Sadlemyer on-air, “There’s an accident at 105th and Rockbrook Road… And I’m in it.”

Seven-Second Delay

Sadlemyer concluded with one “famous story” regarding Gov. Bob Kerrey, who appeared live on sister station KFOR to answer questions about a controversial school consolidation bill. A similar program with Tom Osborne had been met with success without using a “seven-second delay.” The show was also recorded by multiple stations, since Kerrey rarely made himself available to the media.

During the program, Jim Rose was the call screener, and he told about “Tom in Omaha” who called in to comment, presumably about the school consolidation bill. When he was put on the air, however, his question for Gov. Kerrey was, “Are you still b*tt f*cking Debra Winger?”

Debra Winger, of course, is the three-time Academy Award–nominated actress who had a very public relationship with Gov. Kerrey at the time. “She was around town — they used to make out in the back of the Zoo Bar and all that,” Sadlemyer recalled.

The station immediately went to commercial. In the studio, Jim Rose recalled Kerrey asking, “Did that get out on the air?” Broadcast engineer Greg Jackson, who Rose described as an “Eddie Haskel” type, broke in on the talkback switch and commented, “But Governor, you didn’t answer the question.” Sadlemyer had been listening in after his shift on KFAB and described it as “the greatest blooper in the history of radio.”

And many other outlets agreed. For the next week, Rose said they had requests from ABC News, Entertainment Tonight, and People Magazine. “Every major media outlet in the country wanted a copy of that very unfortunate 14 seconds on KFOR.”

Conservative Talk and Well-Wishes

Talk radio has been a powerhouse platform for conservatives over the past several decades, spearheaded most prominently by voices like Rush Limbaugh. I asked Sadlemyer why he thought this was, and particularly why the left couldn’t achieve the same success.

“I don’t know except that every time liberal talk has been tried, it failed … NPR is their radio, but that’s not really talk radio the way you’re thinking of it. It’s just a different mindset,” Sadlemyer said. “But it’s a good thing that Rush came along, because if you’ve got the alphabet networks and the Washington Post, the New York Times, the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, there was a voice crying in the wilderness, and that was Rush.”

Sadlemyer received a commemorative plaque from John Sieler for his years of service, as well as praise from three of Omaha’s former mayors — PJ Morgan, Hal Daub, and Jean Stothert, highlighting his kindness and working relationship with elected officials.

“Gary is a legend. I think everybody knows that,” Stothert said. “You definitely have a gift for what you do. And you will be sorely missed … But let me tell you one thing. Take it from me — retirement is the best job I’ve ever had. And you’re going to love it too.”