Guaranty Media receives nine LAB awards; including “Best Radio Station” and “Best Sports Show in Radio”

2024 LAB Awards

In 2024, Guaranty Media’s family of stations in Baton Rouge received nine accolades during the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters (LAB) Prestige Awards Ceremony, a competition that recognizes excellence in broadcasting. This year, the LAB received over 300 entries.

T-Bob Hebert

Two of Guaranty’s awards were in the LAB’s “Best of the Best” categories: Young Professional of the Year and Radio Broadcast Engineer of the Year. T-Bob Hebert, co-host of Off the Bench on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge, was named Young Professional of the Year, an award for broadcasters under 35 who have significantly impacted their stations and communities. Beau Wegmann, who has been working at Guaranty transmitter sites and rack rooms since 2019, was named Radio Broadcast Engineer of the Year.

In addition to Hebert’s honor, 104.5 ESPN won four more awards. After Further Review with host Matt Moscona, was named Best Sports Show in Radio. Paul O’Neill, Guaranty’s OTT Video Manager and AFR producer, was named Radio Producer of the Year. The LSU Football postgame show, Whiskey and Wine, streamed live by Hebert and Moscona, won the award for Best Use of Digital Media. The sports station also received the Radio Promotion of the Year Award for, “The Mattchelor,” a contest loosely modeled after the TV show, “The Batchelor.”

Talk 107.3, Guaranty’s news talk station, won the Best Election Coverage in Radio award for a series of broadcasts in 2023 hosted by Brian Haldane.

Paul O’Neill

Guaranty’s heritage rock station, Eagle 98.1, received the highest honor in radio, “Station of the Year.”

All four of Guaranty’s radio stations were recognized in the Best Community Service in radio category for their partnership with Dreams Come True, a Louisiana non-profit that grants dreams to children with life-threatening illnesses.

Gordy Rush, Miss. Louisiana, Becky Prejean

“It was an incredible day for Guaranty Media and local broadcasting,” said Guaranty Vice President and General Manager Gordy Rush. “We are so grateful for the LAB and the judges recognizing the hard work of our fantastic team!”

“Every year we are blown away by what our Louisiana radio and television broadcasters achieve. They are truly the backbone of our communities by providing awareness of what’s happening locally. We had a record number of entries this year and I’m incredibly proud of the work they submitted. The winners at the Prestige Awards represent the best of the best and we’d like to recognize their hard work from the past year,” said LAB President and CEO, Polly Prince Johnson.

See all the 2024 winners here.

Photos by: Michael Bacigalupi