CLASS OF 1984
Frank Scott was a true broadcaster, an Omahan who cut his teeth in radio and television in his hometown before moving on to international broadcasting for the Voice of America in Europe. A smart dresser with an acting background (he appeared in a barroom brawl scene with John Wayne), his outgoing personality was a natural for the business.
Frank Scott was born in Omaha, studied at UNL, and graduated with a BS in Journalism at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1954. He has been a broadcaster virtually all of his life. He worked his way through college as a news reporter and film director at KMTV Omaha also producing and writing live TV quiz shows.
After graduation Scott pursued an acting career in New York and Hollywood before returning to broadcasting in 1958 as news director and anchor at KVOA TV in Houston. Returning to Omaha two years later he was news director for KBON. Scott was vice president and a general manager by 1967 and in 1970 changed KBON’s calls to KLNG “Calling Radio,” marking the station’s move as one of the first news-talk operations in the country. In 1973 he was named VP of Welcome Radio, Inc., a subsidiary of the company that owned the station.
Some legendary broadcasters worked under Scott’s leadership in the 1970s. They include the well-known Lyle DeMoss, Carol Schrader who later became a long-time anchor at KMTV, and Chuck Hagel who went on to become U.S. Senator from Nebraska and Secretary of Defense in the Obama administration.
Leaving Omaha for the East Coast in 1976 Scott took over as radio division vice president of NBC in Washington DC and General Manager of that network’s Washington stations WRC-AM and WKYS FM in that news-making market.
In 1982, he was appointed by President Reagan to head the Voice of America Europe operations headquartered in Munich, Germany. There he grew the VOA Europe to be heard in nearly 240 markets and 24 nations of both Eastern and Western Europe and helped establish the first privately owned station in Europe. He stayed in Europe after his stint with the VOA as an International Broadcast Consultant.
In the mid ’90s, Frank and his wife Jeanne returned to Omaha where he took over management of the Omaha Press Club. He missed broadcasting, however, and joined Mitchell Broadcasting Company as a Special Projects Administrator remaining there until retirement in 2002.
Frank Scott and his family moved back to Alexandria, Virginia, where he passed away in May 2010.
