Radio station founder Benny Bee Sr. dies at 75

Bee Broadcasting founder and owner Benny Bee Sr. died Tuesday at age 75.

The longtime broadcaster got his start in the radio business as a high school student in Wolf Point, quickly developing an affinity for on-air broadcasting, and particularly play-by-play sports.

During a 2000 interview with Daily Inter Lake reporter Jackie Adams, Bee said the play-by-play sports announcing was the best part of the job.

“I love to go up and hang out with the DJs,” he also told the Inter Lake in that interview. At the time he was a popular presence on a morning talk show.

Before building his career in the Flathead Valley, Bee worked in the radio business in Missoula, Billings, Butte, Salt Lake City and Bozeman prior to landing in Whitefish in 1978.

He took the plunge into station ownership when the radio license became available in Whitefish. As it happened, the U.S. Small Business Administration for the first time in its history was permitted to underwrite loans for radio stations — and Bee’s KJJR got the first such loan in the country, according to Inter Lake archives.

KJJR-AM went on the air on Valentine’s Day in 1979 as an “oldies-based” station offering a blend of country, rock and current music. With just 1,000 watts of power, Bee told the Inter Lake “people were lucky to hear us south of Kalispell.”

But by 1983 the station’s power was boosted to 10,000 watts and could be heard as far away as Missoula.

“I loved the guy. He was a good friend and a mentor,” said John Michaels, who has spent his entire adult life at Bee Broadcasting, starting at age 19 in November 1980.

Michaels, who is program and operations director for The Bear (KDBR) and Outlaw Country (KHNK) and operations director for KJJR and KSAM, said the most important thing he learned from Bee about the radio business was “to do it right, have passion for it, be local and be professional.”

Michaels recalled his start in the business when he was doing “color” commentary for the Whitefish Bulldog games alongside Bee’s play-by-play reporting.

“He was the play-by-play guy,” he recalled. Then, during the fourth quarter of a Bulldog game, Bee turned over the recording equipment to Michaels and said: “OK, it’s all yours.” It was a sink or swim moment for Michaels, but Bee obviously saw the young broadcaster’s potential.

“He could be tough, he could be gentle,” Michaels said. “He was always there for me.”

Bee added B98, featuring classic rock, in 1984 after buying the former Bigfork radio station out of bankruptcy. B98 became the No.1 station in listener ratings in Flathead County.

The Bear, a country music station, came on-line in 1993. Today, Bee Broadcasting and Rose Communications dominate Northwest Montana, with seven radio stations and a combined market share of more than 73%, according to Bee Broadcasting’s website.

By the early 1990s Bee Broadcasting had outgrown its Whitefish headquarters and relocated to U.S. 2 in Evergreen.

Michaels said Bee used his radio stations as a platform to raise millions of dollars through the years for charitable organizations ranging from Wings Cancer Support to St. Jude’s children’s hospital and Toys for Tots.

He recalled one particular radiothon for a young girl with a rare cancer that turned into a two-day fundraiser of extraordinary proportions.

“It just went crazy,” Michaels said. “After two days over $250,000 was raised. The family still uses the money for people who need help.”