CLASS OF 2004
Omahan Howard Kennedy is a 35-year broadcast veteran with a third of it spent in his hometown managing KMTV channel 3.
Kennedy graduated from Central High School and then attended the University of Iowa where he played first base for the Hawkeyes. After graduation in 1962, he displayed his on-air talents with the Special Forces in Alaska, broadcasting to the troops there.
He began his long career with Lee Enterprises in 1965. Kennedy served as general manager of KIMT-TV, Mason City, Iowa, as station manager of KOIN-TV Portland, Oregon, and was General Manager of WSAZ-TV Huntington-Charleston, West Virginia. When Lee Broadcasting bought KMTV Omaha in 1986, Howard returned home to take the management reins for the next 12 years
Besides guiding KMTV through the years of increasing cable and digital competition, Kennedy served on many civic boards and committees. He was president of the Nebraska Broadcasters Association in 1993 and was named Advertising Man of the Year by the Omaha Federation of Advertising. He also served as Chairman of the CBS Affiliates Advisory Board.
Howard left the Omaha television station in 1998 to become director of broadcast special projects for Lee Enterprises Inc. Upon his retirement in 2000 Kennedy and his family continued to make Omaha their home.
