Courtesy Bina Roy
Update 9 a.m. Tuesday Feb. 23: Jerry Springer called from his Sarasota home to talk about his old pal Pat Barry, and told me how and why Pat left radio to become WLWT-TV s main weatherman in 1984. It was Springer s idea.
Springer says he suggested to general manager Tony Kiernan that they hire Barry in an attempt to replicate the success of Willard Scott, NBC s hugely popular
Today show weatherman who was not a meteorologist.
Credit Courtesy Brinke Guthrie Pat Barry was a big name on local radio, on Q102. Instead of hiring a meteorologist, I told Tony, Why not spice up our newscasts with this big, funny, boisterous personality? He could be our Willard Scott.
John Kiesewetter
Pat Barry, who parlayed his Q102 popularity into a Greater Cincinnati radio and TV career spanning five decades, died of COVID-19 Saturday afternoon, Feb. 20. He was 69.
The Springfield, Ohio, native burst upon WKRQ-FM’s airwaves in 1974, playing Top 40 hits, and became one of the best known TV/radio personalities in town, thanks to his welcoming smile, loyalty to friends and self-deprecating humor.
Pat Barry in the WKRQ-FM (Q102) studio in the early 1980s.
Credit Courtesy Brinke Guthrie
He liked to joke that he started his career in his hometown at a really big station – it had 12 pumps!
Barry, who had been on a ventilator at Christ Hospital all February, also worked for WLWT-TV, WXIX-TV, Fox Sports Ohio, WLW-AM, WKRC-AM, WMOJ-FM, WSAI-AM, WDJO-FM, WNKR-FM/WNKN-FM and Hamilton s old WOKV-FM. He started in radio at Springfield s WIZE-AM (1340) while in high school.