{"id":21618,"date":"2019-08-06T05:38:04","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T11:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/?page_id=21618"},"modified":"2019-08-06T11:29:45","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T17:29:45","slug":"hundley-batts-sr","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/hundley-batts-sr\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundley Batts, Sr."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hundley Batts, Sr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1958, the airwaves carried something that had never been heard in Huntsville, Alabama; a signal from the first black owned and operated radio station. Hundley Batts, Sr. was only in the eighth grade when WEUP-AM went on the air, but the impression it made on this young man shaped him to become an esteemed leader, not only in the broadcast industry, but in the community of his hometown, as well. The Alabama Broadcasters Association is pleased to honor Hundley Batts, Sr. with induction into the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right. I was in the eighth grade when I heard the station for the first time,\u201d says Hundley. \u201cI went out to the store and I got me a portable radio that had earplugs.\u201d He was so enamored with the station, he wore his earplugs to school, which didn\u2019t go over well with a particular teacher, but getting into a little trouble didn\u2019t curtail his enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

WEUP was owned and operated by Leroy and Viola Garrett, who ran the station out of a pink trailer that sat on the grounds of the Syler Tabernacle Church. They played soul, R&B and gospel, and featured community news and sermons from local churches.<\/p>\n

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Hundley Batts, Sr. and wife, Dr. Virginia Caples<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was so impressed with what they were doing – hey, everybody in town was talking about it,\u201d says Hundley. \u201cAnd Mr. Garrett could be so comical. I fell in love with his imagination and what he did for the community, so I just kind of hung out at the radio station when I could get in there. The Garretts were very kind and showed me around.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in college, Hundley found ways to involve himself with the workings of the station as often as he could, for instance as a volunteer spotter for Alabama University football games. In 1965, his talents as a salesperson and his \u201cgift of the gab\u201d however, led him to a career in insurance and in 1972, he started his own company, Hundley Batts and Associates Insurance.<\/p>\n

He never lost contact with the Garretts, however, and in 1987, after Mr. Garrett passed away, Mrs. Garrett sold WEUP to Hundley and his wife, Dr. Virginia Caples. Under the parent company name of Broadcast One, they eventually acquired WEUZ-FM and WHIY-AM, and launched WEUP-FM, bringing the total to five radio stations in Huntsville, Moulton and Minor Hill, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

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Huntsville-Madison County Chamber 2010 Distinguised Service Award<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hundley runs his radio operations in much the same way as his predecessors. \u201cYou don\u2019t do things out of any kind of showmanship, but because it is the right thing to do,\u201d says Hundley. \u201cYou can help people and it works wonders for you. That\u2019s the most important thing we can do for the future; make changes to individuals that we come in contact with. I think we are blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABA Chairman Stan Pylant of WHNT-TV agrees that Hundley has helped change a lot of lives, \u201cFrom the very start, Hundley has always been actively involved in many civic and community projects and his stations were always front and center of many of those.\u201d Pylant added, \u201cHis radio stations and other successful business ventures have helped make our community a much better place to live. He is so well respected in north Alabama, as well as with broadcasters across our state and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Recognizing Hundley as a servant of the community, the Huntsville\/Madison County Chamber of Commerce awarded him their highest recognition, the 2010 Distinguished Service Award. His list of memberships and accomplishments over the years includes recognition as a Small Business Executive of the Year and Mentor of the Year.<\/p>\n

Name an award or an honor that is bestowed upon a business owner and Hundley has received almost all of them, but he says being inducted into the ABA\u2019s Hall of Fame is just about as good as it gets. \u201cI\u2019m excited that someone would even put my name in as a candidate,\u201d Hundley says, \u201cbecause I know the ABA does its research before they even give you a \u2018hello\u2019. So, I\u2019m just tickled pink \u2026 and that\u2019s an odd color for a black man!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1958, the airwaves carried something that had never been heard in Huntsville, Alabama; a signal from the first black owned and operated radio station. Hundley Batts, Sr. was only in the eighth grade when WEUP-AM went on the air, but the impression it made on this young man shaped him to become an esteemed … Continue reading Hundley Batts, Sr.<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21618","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21618"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21664,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21618\/revisions\/21664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}