John McDonald was inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame May 2 in Murfreesboro, TN. NAFB Executive Director Tom Brand responded to a request from the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame for more information about John, who was 1956 President of the National Association of Television and Radio Farm Directors (NATRFD) and was named to the NAFB Hall of Fame in 1992. He was farm director at WSM (Nashville, TN) and had grown up on a farm in western Tennessee. He was hired by WSM in 1945 and his Noontime Neighbors radio show became a mid-day institution all over the mid-South. About the show, it was said that when the dinner bell rang on WSM and John McDonald said it’s Noontime Neighbors, everyone within 100 miles of Nashville sat down to eat and listen. John McDonald was hailed by Broadcasting magazine as “America’s best known Farm Director” for his work at WSM from the late 1940s through the 1960s. Listeners became familiar with him through his early morning farm report, his work on the Waking Crew and his role as host of the extremely popular Noontime Neighbors broadcast. He was in such demand as a commercial spokesman that he commanded a $3.00 talent fee each time one of his recorded commercials aired. John testified before Congress on several agricultural issues.
