Rinehart Among IBA Hall of Fame Inductees

Jack Rinehart retired in 2016 after more than 40 years in Indianapolis.

The Indiana Broadcasters Association has announced four new inductees to the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Richard M. Fairbanks Hall of Fame. The class will be inducted November 3 during the IBA’s 2017 Indiana Broadcasters Conference.

This year’s inductees include Jack Rinehart, who served as a senior reporter for WRTV in Indianapolis for more than 40 years. Rinehart came to Indy in 1975 and retired in 2016.

Also being inducted is sportscaster Joe McConnell, who retired in 2009 after more than 45 years in broadcasting. McConnell was known as the voice of Purdue, but also called three Super Bowls, the NBA Championship series, the NBA All-Star Game and the American League Championship Series during his career.

The IBA is also inducting Ken Speck, who served as an on-air personality and managing director of WIRE in Indianapolis from 1970 to 1985. The IBA says he left Indianapolis to WKPM in Seattle "where he helped take the station from number 42 in the market to number one within five months."

Finally, videographer Steve Starnes will be inducted into the hall of fame. Starnes worked as a photographer for WTHR in Indianapolis for more than 30 years before retiring in 2009.

"This distinguished group of broadcasters represents the best our industry has to offer, not just for Indiana, but nationally," said IBA Executive Director Dave Arland. "Joe, Jack, Ken, and Steve join more than 170 other broadcasters in the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Richard M. Fairbanks Hall of Fame and we are looking forward to recognizing their careers in the fall at IBA’s annual conference."