ROOTS of Country Music

American Country Countdown (ACC)

Bob Kingsley is an American country music radio personality and host of the nationally syndicated programs Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 and "Bob Kingsley with Today's Hit Makers."

For 27 years, Kingsley was the voice behind the nationally syndicated countdown program, American Country Countdown and the two-minute daily Bob Kingsley with America's MusicMakers. He stepped down from both programs in December 2005, after renegotiations with ABC Radio Networks (which distributed the two programs) failed.

Kingsley, while serving with the Air Force in 1959, began his radio career at TFK, the Armed Forces Radio Service station in Keflavic, Iceland. He jocked at Los Angeles country station KGBS, 1961–69, then in 1970 became program director at KLAC, which had just dropped MOR for a country format.

Kingsley rose to national prominence in 1974 when he became the producer of the nationally syndicated American Country Countdown program started a year earlier by Casey Kasem and Don Bustany. Kingsley succeeded the program's original host, Don Bowman, beginning with the May 6–7, 1978 show.

Under Kingsley's watch, "ACC" became a top-rated syndicated radio program, winning numerous awards. That list includes Billboard magazine's "Network/Syndicated Program of the Year: Country" for 16 years in a row, the only air personality and music program in any format to achieve this continued success. Kingsley won Country Music Association National Broadcast Personality of the Year honors in 2001 and 2003.

In 2006 Kingsley signed a new distribution deal with Jones Radio Network (and was later acquired by Dial Global). The new countdown program is called Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40. His two minute program is called Bob Kingsley with Today's Hit Makers.

In 2010, Kingsley was nominated for the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Source Wikipedia, DEc. 2011.