Indiana Broadcast History Archive

Bill Shirk graduated from Ball State in 1967 with a degree in education and initially worked as a repairman and as an account executive for his dad’s advertising agency. He taught a year of middle school in 1965 then talked his dad and mother into applying for the license for WERK-FM in Muncie, Indiana. They received the license and Shirk’s parents wanted him to start at the bottom, so he began at WERK-FM as the janitor. A year later, he became a weekend DJ at WERK-FM and by 1968 not only became the station manager of WERK-FM but also served as sales manager, program director, production manager and remained as a DJ in the afternoons. Throughout the next three decades, Shirk went on to own, general manage, program and serve as an air personality on 10 radio stations and two TV stations in Muncie; Indianapolis; Greenwood, Indiana; Greencastle, Indiana; Cloverdale, Indiana; and Lebanon, Indiana. A member of The Garden United Methodist Church, in 1983 Shirk was the executive producer and starred in “The Escapist,” the first motion picture ever produced in the state of Indiana before the film commission was established in Indiana. He now owns 12 radio stations in Hawaii and does mornings on the oldies station in Honolulu.

Shirk was inducted to Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2016.

-Indiana Broadcast Pioneers