Ken Conrad Added to Crockett On-Air Talent Roster

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

For years we've wondered about the name of one of the promo announcers for Jim Crockett Promotions in the early 1980s. Through the recent help of some friends of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway, we've solved that mystery.

We can now confirm that the man interviewing Jim Crockett, Jr. in the video above is Mr. Ken Conrad.

Conrad worked for Jim Crockett Promotions from the fall of 1981 until around February of 1982 (we're still researching the exact dates) hosting the local promotional spots that were inserted into the syndicated programs "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" and "World Wide Wrestling." He began not long after Crockett moved their studio television production from WRAL in Raleigh to WPCQ (now WRET) in Charlotte. He was a local radio personality at that time and may have even been involved with studio work at WPCQ.

Ken Conrad in 2009 (WTVI Blog)

Conrad has been on the radio in the Charlotte area for several decades, including successful stints at WEGO-AM in Concord, WAVO-FM in Rock Hill, and WNMX-FM and Lite 102.9 WLYT-FM in Charlotte. He currently serves part-time on the creative staff at WTVI television, the PBS affiliate in Charlotte. You may also recognize his voice as the P.A. announcer at BB&T Park in Charlotte for the Charlotte Knights baseball franchise.

With a little help from our friends, here's how we confirmed his identity:

I recently posted a photo of Conrad interviewing Dusty Rhodes and asked if anyone could help us identify him. Greg Price at NWALegends.com Fanfest linked our post to a Charlotte Radio/TV forum on Facebook and a fellow named Roy Rosen responded that it was Ken Conrad. Greg googled it and found a WTVI blog post about Ken joining them with a photo that pretty much confirmed it was him. The final confirmation came from Debbie Mrozinski of the Crockett Foundation who confirmed through Tommy Viola at the Charlotte Knights that our interviewer in 1981-1982 was indeed Ken Conrad. (He is listed on page 4 in the 2016 Charlotte Knights Media Guide.)

We are happy to finally know his identity and add his name to the roster of on-air broadcasting talent that worked for Jim Crockett Promotions over the years. That list can be found on the right hand side of the Studio Wrestling website, which is part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway family of websites.