On July 15, KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot are taking the time to remember Bob Knight, who was considered a legend in Arkansas broadcasting but always kept his community at the forefront of his life. The late co-owner, president and general manager of Mountain Lakes Broadcasting Corporation would have been 79 on this day.
It also marks three years ago when the city of Mountain Home proclaimed July 15, 2021, as “Bob Knight Day.” It was his 76th and last birthday before his passing later that year on Oct. 28.
For more than four decades, Knight helped Twin Lakes Area residents greet the day as the voice of KTLO with his familiar “It’s time to rise and shine” each morning shortly after 6. His calming voice brought comfort to his community of listeners during storms, the coronavirus pandemic and other uncertain times, bringing vital life-saving information and reassurance.
Knight was born in 1945 at the old Rollins Hospital in Gassville. He graduated from Mountain Home High School in 1963, where he was a member of the first undefeated football team in Mountain Home history in 1960, and the Wichita School of Broadcasting in 1965. He served four years in the U.S. Navy from 1965 to 1969 and was stationed in Morocco and aboard the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey.
Knight started working at the station in 1968 at the age of 23, when there was only one station, KTLO-AM. KTLO-FM went on the air in 1971.
Knight and his wife Sue, who died in February of 2020, were part of a group including two local doctors, Johnny and Bobby Ahrens, which purchased KTLO in 1973. In 1994, current co-owner Danny Ward and his wife, Velma, became partners, along with Charlie and Scottie Earls to form Mountain Lakes Broadcasting Corporation. In the late 1990s, the stations purchased KCTT, moving the studios to Mountain Home and the tower from near Yellville to Gassville. The group of stations added KBOD in 2012. Also in 2012, the Knights and Wards bought out the Earls.
KTLO and Knight became synonymous with community support. He spent nearly 16 years as president of the Mountain Home Education Foundation Board of Directors and was inducted into the Mountain Home Education Foundation Hall of Honor in 2009. He was also a past president of the Mountain Home Lions Club, the Baxter County Razorback Club, the Mountain Home Industrial Park Board and the Mountain Home Planning Commission and served as a board member of the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce, the Baxter Health Foundation (formerly the Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation) and the Arkansas State University-Mountain Home Advisory Board.
Over the years, Knight and the KTLO staff collected items for the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas, worked with the Salvation Army for the Angel Tree program and collected school supplies and coats for area children. Radiothons and concerts have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local entities like Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, Baxter Health, the Mountain Home Christian Clinic, the Mountain Home Education Foundation and more. Knight also helped raise $12,000 for the Girl Scouts of America to bring the Vietnam Moving Wall to Mountain Home.
In addition, Knight served on the Arkansas Parks and Recreation and Travel Commission for 14 years, initially appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee and then reappointed by Democrat Gov. Mike Beebe, and is a past president of that organization.
Knight is also a past president of the Arkansas Broadcasters Association (ABA) and was active with the organization for decades. He was awarded the Silver Mic Award in 1999 for outstanding service to the ABA. He was also elected twice to serve as the ABA’s legislative liaison chairman. In that role, he lobbied for broadcasters not only in Little Rock, but in Washington.
Knight and his late wife were married for 48 years. The Knights have one daughter, Heather Loftis (Chris) who continues to operate KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot with the Wards, and two grandchildren, Mia and Zane Loftis.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI