Get to Know HFC: Bob Burnham brings forty years of experience to WHFR

A closeup of Bob wearing a yellow baseball cap and a blue WHFR.FM jacket.

For WHFR-FM (89.3) production manager and chief operator Bob Burnham, coming to HFC in 2018 was a full circle moment for him.

“My radio career really took off when I became a DJ back in college,” said Burnham, of Dearborn Heights. “Being at HFC is like coming home in some ways.”

Building a radio station in his parents’ basement in his teens

The eldest of two, Burnham has been in the radio business for more than 40 years. As a kid, Burnham would listen to DJ Warren Pierce (who would later make his mark on WJR-AM (760) as a DJ and host) play old radio shows from the 1930s, including The Jack Benny Program and The Shadow, on WCAR-AM (1090) in Livonia – a station where he would one day work. Burnham would also pick radios out of the garbage and repair them, something he still does.

“I like rebuilding antique radios,” said Burnham. “People give them to me and I can make them work again.”

By the time he was 12, Burnham built a radio shack in the backyard of his parents’ home in Livonia. By the time he was 17, he built a radio station in his parents’ basement.

“I'm a hands-on guy,” recalled Burnham. “This was around the time when FM radio was up and coming and my friends and I would work on DJ demo tapes in the basement. We used a homebrew audio console I had built. My friends and I would do radio show tapes in hopes we could get jobs in radio. This was the center of my life in high school."

Having too much fun being a DJ

After graduating from Stevenson High School in Livonia in 1975, Burnham took an adult education course at Southfield High School. After one class, instructor Bob Sneddon, a former WXYT-AM (1270) DJ and host, determined that Burnham was good enough to be on the air. Burnham DJed the graveyard shift (midnight to 6:00 a.m.) for the SHS radio station, WSHJ-FM (88.3).

“Back then, there was no computer automation,” he said. “Everything was live around the clock.”

Burnham studied journalism and liberal arts at Schoolcraft College and later at Eastern Michigan University. At EMU, he was a DJ at WEMU-FM (89.1), EMU’s public radio station, for a year. He also took a course through the Cleveland Institute of Electronics, where he completed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensing curriculum.

For three years, he was the on-air DJ at WAAM-AM (1600) in Ann Arbor, working six days per week. He also served as production director and assistant to the chief engineer.

“That was the real start to my broadcasting career,” said Burnham. “It also spelled the end of my college career because I was having too much fun. I was in my early 20s. At that age, all you want to do is have fun.”

Marketing and selling old radio dramas becomes a full-time job

Throughout his long career, Burnham has worked at numerous radio stations (some of which he used the on-air name of Bob Marshall), including:

Burnham also began a side business called BRC Broadcast Services, where he would market and sell 1930s radio dramas and comedies. In 1987, Knight Ridder published an article about BRC Broadcast Services, which was syndicated around the nation. As a result, his side business became a full-time job for the next four years. He was selling 500 copies per week of old radio shows.

“I didn’t have to work anywhere for the next several years because I had so much business! I had a private mailing list of 7,000 names!” he said. “But I missed radio and wanted to get back into it.”

His radio show called Radio Vault played the old radio shows on satellite radio during its infancy. It was syndicated through Yesterday USA Superstation. Radio Vault made its Metro Detroit debut on WCAR. There, he met HFC Chair for the Department of Communication and Media Susan McGraw. Burnham worked at WCAR for 10 years, while McGraw, an HFC alumna, worked at WCAR for 14 years before returning to HFC to teach.

“We went through two ownership changes at WCAR,” recalled Burnham. “Susan and I were the only employees left after it was sold to a satellite network and then to a religious group.”

From 1999 to 2013, Burnham worked as the chief engineer for what is now the Specs Howard School of Media Arts, now affiliated with Lawrence Technological University in Southfield. He worked alongside his old friend, the late Dick Kernen, who was vice president of industry relations at Specs Howard and a mentor to many on-air media personalities that included Arthur Penhallow, alias “Big Daddy Arthur P” of WRIF-FM (101.1) fame and 5-time Emmy-winning news anchor Glenda Lewis of WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) fame.

“I built 20 studios for Specs Howard. I converted turntables and cassettes into digital,” said Burnham. “I learned what I loved doing as an employee of Specs Howard – helping others be successful at what I’ve spent my whole life doing.”

WHFR's “keeper of the archives”

When Jay Korinek, WHFR’s founder, permanently retired from the College in 2018, McGraw recruited Burnham to come to the radio station. He initially served as a volunteer host and engineer before being hired by the College in 2021.

"I've known Bob for more than 30 years and his reputation is unsurpassed in the industry," said McGraw. "We're fortunate to have him as part of the WHFR radio team, both on the air and behind the scenes. Working in radio is where he belongs, and his commitment to making WHFR the best college radio station around is evident. It's a blast to collaborate with him and witness his contribution to our success on a daily basis."

Burnham helped upgrade the radio station with the installation of a new antenna and transmitter on the WHFR tower atop of the Reuther Liberal Arts Building (Building K on the main campus) in 2022. This new antenna, new transmitter, and associated equipment bolstered the radio station’s FM broadcast signal solidly back on the air at 89.3 FM.

“My good friend, Dick Kernen, encouraged my involvement at HFC,” said Burnham. “That was all I needed.”

Burnham, who has been called “the keeper of the archives,” also brought Radio Vault to WHFR, along with Sunday Night Mysteries. Radio Vault plays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. Burnham doesn’t just play the old radio serials, he talks about the history of each episode. He has even invited and interviewed radio archivists on the show. In 2022, Sunday Night Mysteries – which is in the same vein as Radio Vault – debuted and plays from 9 p.m. to midnight on Sundays.

“It’s what I do,” said Burnham. “WHFR is an easy-going, low-pressure environment. The people involved in this radio station really make this place hum. They make it a pleasure to work here.”

From L-R: Susan McGraw and Bob Burnham during their WCAR days.
Bob Burnham in his element circa 1981.
Bob Burnham poses with his bass guitar.
Bob Burnham built a radio shack in his parents' backyard when he was 12.