You’ve heard the saying: “Nice guys finish last.”  If you ascribe to that adage, you’ve never met Mark Bunting, general manager of WFSA-TV.  Talk to anyone who knows Bunting and you’ll hear him described as motivating, smart, encouraging, giving, and accomplished. For using all of those characteristics to contribute to the lives of those who work for him and to the community in general, the ABA is pleased to induct Mark Bunting into the Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame as the 2026 Broadcaster of the Year.

“If naming Mark as the Broadcaster of the Year was based on just one thing, it would be the way that he makes you want to do good,” says Tina Coffman, general manager of Bigler Broadcasting.   “I would venture to say that every employee, every team that he has led, wanted to do good for him. You really want to, not just for the company, not just for your client, not just for yourself … you want so badly to make him proud of you.”

“It was the way he treated you,” says Brian Weis, Owner of  RedLine Athletics and former employee at WKRG. “He was different than everyone else. Like when media people would come down – typically they don’t really want to go out to dinner.  But if Mark was coming, everybody wanted to go. It was like an event because of the way he treated everybody. He always makes you feel like you’re important.” 

“He’s so generous with personal compliments and making you feel good. He makes you want to have that feedback from him because he is just so consistent at giving it and he’s just so positive,” Coffman continues. “And you know, he also does a good job on the business side of rewarding you  – making sure you’re compensated fairly.”

“I’ve learned from him how important it is to do things that are unique and personal,” says Weiss. “Like once we had a Mardi Gras event and we gave homemade king cakes for everybody. That’s something that he would do. So, I learned that if you want to have an event, try to have some personal impact to it versus just hiring somebody to plan it all.”

Coffman says he looks after people in a corporate environment as well.

“One of the stations where he worked was family owned and operated and then it transitioned to corporate. That was a hard transition for all of them,” she explains. “He was trying so hard for things to not change.” 

“He had a way of making sure we did what we were supposed to do corporately – like meeting our goals – but still being able to serve the people that worked for him. He was able to make sure they were happy and got what they needed out of it.” 

Mark Bunting, grew up on St. Croix, attended college at Spring Hill in Mobile where he graduated in 1984 and started his career at WEAR.  In 1989, he joined the sales team at WKRG where he would spend a total of 26 years between 1989 and 2017, interrupted by a short stint at KDRV in 2006.  From his post as General Manager, Bunting left WKRG a second time in 2017 to become the General Manager of WSFA-TV in Montgomery where he continues to strive for success for his company and his team.

“He’s just a great person to honor,” says Weis. “He’s done a lot. I know he’s done a lot for the community. He’s done a lot for the business, and he has represented Alabama and the industry in the right way.”

“All of the qualities and his character, his faith, all those things that are in his personal life, says Coffman, “ … they just carry straight through into business, because he is who he is. He does not talk about it. He just walks it and lives it every day.”

Bunting is notorious for discovering secrets. Friends have their doubts about whether his Broadcaster of the Year announcement will be a surprise. But they agree he’ll be pleased with the honor.  “Oh my gosh, number one: he’s very competitive. Number two, he loves an award,” laughs Coffman. “If we were doing a chili cook off, we were going to win even if it meant we won best decorated booth. He’ll probably plan a whole Broadcaster Hall of Fame week!”