Paul Harvey, the famed ABC broadcaster, is no more. Harvey captivated radio audiences for more than 60 years with his distinctive voice and style. About the secret of his successful style he’d say that he imagined having a conversation with his sister-in-law when reaching out to millions on the radio.
Harvey was blessed with not only fame but also longevity. He was still active when he passed away in Phoenix, Arizona on February 28th. Harvey was 90 years old.
His radio program – Paul Harvey News and Comment – began with “Hello Americans! This is Paul Harvey. Stand by! For news!”. He was conservative in his views, leaned right, and was the dearly loved voice of the American heartland. So much so that in 2000 ABC Radio Networks awarded 82-year old Harvey a 10-year, $100 million contract. Harvey had a unique individualistic style of pitching for products, people trusted his words and advertisers knew this.
Harvey’s twice-daily news commentaries were in many ways a precursor to the blogging phenomenon on the internet today. He was a radio blogger.
At the peak of his popularity Harvey had 24 million Americans listening to him on the radio everyday waiting for his plainspoken commentary that often told them more than what hour-long news broadcasts did.
