bill payne - Inducted 2011

 Bill Payne began his professional radio career in 1951 at only 12 years old, spinning records on "Bill Payne's Record Shop" on KWHP in Cushing, Okla. By his early twenties, he had become an FM pioneer in Oklahoma, having built an operable radio station that broadcasted from inside his garage. In 1977, he purchased Tulsa's KTFX and changed the format to Country, becoming the first FM Country station in Tulsa. Today, Payne owns five Country radio stations in Oklahoma, including KEOK/Tahlequah, KTLQ/Tahlequah, KITX/Hugo, KTNT/Eufaula and the relocated KTFX in Warner/Muskogee. Payne's KITX has been nominated nine times for Marconi awards and received numerous awards from the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters.