Bill Anderson Celebrates 50 Years in the Radio Business!

On Friday, February 13th we held a surprise party in celebration of Bill Anderson’s 50th year in the radio business!  The day included hearing a sea of tributes from friends, family and of course ZoomerMedia head, Moses Znaimer.

Here are 5 things you may not have known about Bill Anderson and his spectacular career:

1. Bill was named Canadian Country Music Awards Broadcaster of The Year 6 times for his work on Big Country & was inducted into The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998

Bill Anderson spent 25 years in country radio, bringing the genre to millions.  In the early 70’s, Anderson helped the late Dave Johnson create Opry North, which eventually led to the creation of Big Country, a syndicated show that Anderson wrote, producer and hosted and which was heard for close to ten years on over 100 stations by more than a million Canadians every week.
(Source: ccma.org )

2. Throughout the length of his career (so far) Bill has met TONS of incredible artists and musicians


Throughout his radio career Bill has been privy to meeting and interviewing some of the best and the brightest musicians in the business, his interview list includes: Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Gordon Lightfoot, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Brenda Lee, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw and Lang Lang…just to name a few!

3. Bill’s a Toronto boy through-and-through

Bill is one of the few on-air personalities in this city who was actually born and raised in Toronto. Bill grew up in the Beaches, spent his teens in Scarborough, and has lived most of his adult life in Etobicoke and Mississauga.

4. Bill started his first radio job on ‘Flag Day’

Bill began working at CKBB, AM980 on February 15, 1965…The same day Canada unveiled the flag that we have today!

5. We’re proud to say that Bill has been a host at The New Classical 96.3 FM for 20 years!

Although Bill’s radio career has included virtually every type of musical format, from Pop to Rock to Easy Listening to Country to Classical. Bill says, “During all of the years when I worked the various ‘pop-music’ formats, I’d tune in classical music stations for my own personal listening time. Now, I can combine business and pleasure while hosting Bill’s Classical Jukebox on THE NEW CLASSICAL 96.3 FM.”

Bill Anderson is the host of Bill’s Classical Jukebox heard weekdays from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM and Breakfast Classics Saturday & Sunday from 5:00 AM – 10:00 AM