Barry Walters is a broadcast engineer whose career included more than a decade overseeing radio engineering in Denver. He served as chief engineer of the Denver station cluster that ultimately became part of Wilks Broadcast Group and later moved into radio automation support with WideOrbit.
Early engineering career
Trade records document a Barry Walters working as a chief engineer in major-market radio before his Colorado years. A May 1987 Broadcasting personnel report recorded Barry Walters moving from WMJJ-FM in Birmingham, Alabama, to WCSC-AM/WXTC-FM in Charleston, South Carolina, as chief engineer. A 1992 Broadcasting Yearbook also listed Barry Walters as chief engineer of WZHT-FM in Montgomery, Alabama. These records appear consistent with the later Denver engineer’s career, although the Colorado Radio Archive treats those pre-Colorado associations cautiously because the surviving trade items do not provide an explicit cross-reference confirming identity.
Denver radio engineering
Walters became a longtime engineering leader in Denver radio. In July 2011, Radio World reported that he had recently been chief engineer of Wilks Communications’ Denver cluster and had spent 11 years with the operation. The report also noted that he worked as a contract engineer.
Contemporary industry directories document Walters directly at KXKL-FM 105.1 under Wilks ownership, listing him as the station’s chief engineer. Wilks’ Denver operation also included KIMN-FM 100.3 and KWOF-FM 92.5 during the company’s ownership period. Because cluster engineering positions commonly covered multiple facilities, Walters’ Wilks title placed him at the technical center of the company’s Denver operation; individual station associations should nevertheless be distinguished from explicitly documented station listings.
WideOrbit
In 2011 Walters left the Denver cluster role and joined WideOrbit’s radio automation support operation in Coppell, Texas. Radio World announced Walters as one of several new support specialists as WideOrbit expanded what the company described as the industry’s largest radio automation support team. His background as both a cluster chief engineer and contract engineer brought station-level technical experience into the broadcast software company’s support organization.
Legacy
Walters’ Denver tenure represents an important part of the engineering history behind several major commercial FM stations. His approximately 11 years with the Denver operation preceded the later Wilks engineering leadership of Mark Smith and Barry Thomas, providing another link in the technical lineage of the cluster.
Sources
- Radio World, “WideOrbit Adds Radio Automation Support Staff,” July 12, 2011 — documents Walters’ 11 years with the Wilks Denver cluster, chief-engineer role, contract engineering and move to WideOrbit.
- Television, Radio & Cable Industry Directory, 2013 — lists Barry Walters as chief engineer of KXKL-FM under Wilks Broadcast Group.
- Broadcasting, May 4, 1987 — records a Barry Walters moving from WMJJ-FM Birmingham to WCSC/WXTC Charleston as chief engineer; retained as a probable earlier-career lead pending additional identity confirmation.
- Broadcasting Yearbook, 1992 — lists a Barry Walters as chief engineer of WZHT-FM in Montgomery; retained as a probable earlier-career lead pending additional identity confirmation.
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