Johnny Donovan is an American radio announcer and former producer at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

WABC (AM) WABC (770 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a conservative talk radio format known as "Talkradio 77". Owned by John Catsimatidis' Red Apple Media, the station's studios are located in Re ...

. He grew up in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

, nicknamed "Sarge," after his father's rank in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A radio enthusiast from an early age (with an

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

station K2KOQ in a corner of the basement), he became a DJ ("Large Sarge") on

WHVW WHVW (950 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Hyde Park, New York. It airs an eclectic format based on Americana music, pop hits, classic country, adult standards, blues and oldies. It is independently owned by J.P. Ferraro, with stu ...

in nearby Hyde Park, after helping build the station. He went on to stations in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

(

WBAZ WBAZ (102.5 FM) is an adult contemporary music formatted radio station licensed to Bridgehampton, New York, and serving eastern Long Island and Southeastern Connecticut. The station is owned by WEHM on-air talent Lauren Stone (68.8%) and her ...

) and

Binghamton Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the con ...

( WENE), New York and

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

( WMID) before landing in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, first at

WOR-FM WEPN-FM (98.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "La Exitosa 98.7") is a radio station in New York City, owned by Emmis Corporation. The station carries a Spanish-language format with a gold-based mix of Latin pop and English-language adult contemporary musi ...

, and finally at WABC (at the time the "Holy Grail" for DJs), where he preceded

Dan Ingram Daniel Trombley Ingram (September 7, 1934 – June 24, 2018) was an American Top 40 radio "disc jockey", in a 50-year career on radio stations, which included WABC and WCBS-FM, both ln New York City. Career "Big Dan" started broadcasting at ...

on the air. Donovan stayed on at WABC as Production Director and chief staff announcer when WABC went to a talk format in 1982. With the assistance of Peter Kanze, Rob Frankel and Allan Sniffen, he produced the now defunct WABC ''Rewound'' program each

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

. In May 2015 he retired from WABC after 43 years. He remained the "voice" of

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...

's syndicated show, for which WABC was the flagship station from 1988 until the end of 2013, since then airing on WOR.

References

External links

WABC Rewound
— pictures of Donovan and his usual studio {{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Johnny American radio DJs Radio personalities from New York City People from Poughkeepsie, New York The Rush Limbaugh Show Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people