Keith Shipman was named President & CEO of the Washington State Association of Broadcasters on January 1, 2016. The WSAB is a trade association that focuses on promoting and protecting free, over-the-air broadcasters’ interests in Congress and Olympia, and represents 247 local radio and television broadcasters across the state. He continues in his role as President & Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Broadcasting Group, a position he has held since 2003. He co-founded the company in 1999, and helped create a stable of 12 radio stations and a minor league baseball team in Oregon and Idaho. Three of Horizon Broadcasting Group’s stations (KQAK-FM, KWPK-FM and KLTW-FM) have been honored as Oregon Radio Station of the Year, recognized by the Oregon Association of Broadcasters for their extraordinary community involvement. In 2008 he formed Summit Broadcasting Group, LLC to acquire and construct KBNW-AM, the first new AM station to sign on in Bend, OR since 1959. He has twice (2005 and 2006) been a finalist for national radio General Manager of the Year by Radio Ink magazine. Mr. Shipman began his commercial broadcasting career in high school as an on-air personality at KPUG-AM (Bellingham, WA) in 1978.
Upon graduating from Washington State University in 1983, he embarked on a 17-year stint in Seattle broadcasting, 13 of which were spent with KCPQ (Fox) Television as its Sports and Public Affairs Director. While at KCPQ-TV he was responsible for sports programming and creating and managing several outreach programs that developed new business opportunities and provided a foundation of community involvement. During his tenure at KCPQ-TV he earned three regional Emmy Awards, and was selected Sportscaster of the Year in Washington state on three occasions by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He also worked for KOMO-AM (Seattle), KIRO-AM (Seattle) and KING-AM (Seattle) and helped launch the Pacific Northwest’s first all-sports radio station, KJR-AM (Seattle) in 1991.
Shipman is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters and serves on the Professional Advisory Board for the Murrow College of Communications at his alma mater, Washington State University. He presently serves on the Board of Directors for MultiCare Health Foundation in Tacoma, WA. He is past chair of the Board of Governors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Oregon and past chair of the Board of Directors of the Deschutes Children’s Foundation. Shipman served as President of the Bend-Mt. Bachelor Rotary Club in 2014-15 and is a past member of that organization’s Board of Directors. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of Deschutes United Way, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, the Education Foundation for Bend-LaPine Schools, the Oregon Association of Broadcasters and the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He was inducted into the Washington State University Edward R. Murrow College of Communication Hall of Achievement in 2009. Keith is the father of three adult children and resides in Tacoma, WA.