Marie Bergeron:
43 years in broadcasting
BY HOWARD J. CASTAY, JR.
BusinessNews Writer
written November 10, 1997
She met the 'King of Rock and Roll' while working as a cashier one night. Decades later, she went backstage to meet a country music legend to tell him he was an underclassman at her school.
Former President Richard Nixon's brother crossed her path, so did the legendary blues guitarist B.B. King, and his traveling guitar Lucille.
Meet Marie Bergeron, station manager of KTIB AM 640 in Thibodaux. She is a broadcaster with 43 years of experience in the field.
As radio station managers take the corporate approach of operating their FM or AM properties, Bergeron has maintained a more traditional path, by getting involved in her community. Even the night before this interview she was busy, doing an interview of her own with television star Delta Burke who was promoting a fundraiser in Thibodaux.
Originally from Memphis, Bergeron said she had wanted to be in radio ever since she was a child. She saw women involved in the broadcasting field during World War II. "When I told everyone I wanted to be in radio, they laughed," she recalls.
Marie, as she is affectionately called by those who know her, entered the Keegan's School of Radio Broadcasting & Television in Memphis to pursue her dream.
After graduation, she got her first job at WELO AM in Tupelo, Mississippi. "I lasted two weeks. I really didn't know what I was doing, but I was supposed to be writing commercials," she joked. She tried working in a department store, and a paint store, but later accepted a job as a "Girl Friday" at KWEM in West Memphis, Arkansas.
"West Memphis is where I met BB King, Lucille, Lil Jr. Parker, and The Howling Wolf. Another night I stood-in for someone as a cashier at a club called The Eagle's Nest and met Elvis."
Marie said at that time every station had a "Girl Friday," or someone who did a little of everything, and "that was me, with the lowest salary. It was a highly regarded position."
She considers November of 1954, as the starting point for her broadcasting career. It was then that she was hired by Hal Benson, the manager of KTIB. She went to work in the front office handling billing, writing and scheduling commercials.
One year later, Marie met Raymond Saadi who was employed as sales manager. "It was then, that I learned more about the business. I did a little news, covered a few emergency situations, and was really well received by the people of Thibodaux," she said.
At that time, Marie said the big businesses in town were Arthur Coplan's, Block Furniture, Barbera Brothers and Lafourche Motors.
Marie stayed at KTIB until the end of 1968, when Saadi left to become executive vice-president of LaTerr Broadcasting, original owners of KHOM.
"I went with him to Houma, but a few months later he sent me back to Thibodaux to cover news and sell radio ads, from a small office," she explained.
About a year or so later, LaTerr Broadcasting bought KTIB and Marie became the news director for both stations. She has been with the company ever since.
Marie said, "Nowadays, radio in bigger cities has become so corporate-oriented. All they're concerned with is the bottom line, and not so much working in the community. From what I hear from others in the field listeners are treated like numbers, and I don't like that."
Marie credits part of KTIB's success to its long-running "Dialogue" program, heard each weekday at 8:10 am, and its covering of events such as Mardi Gras parades from the stations Green Street balcony. She's been doing so at the KTIB studios on and off for the past 42 years.
Marie attributes a good bit of her success to her employees, whom she believes in empowering. "I've been blessed over the years by meeting many talented people who have worked with and for me," she proudly stated.
Marie's list of former proteges include: WVUE-TV Fox 8's Margaret Dubuisson, WWL-TV's Dave McNamara, and Sue Hymel Poye, with the LA Trial Lawyer's Association. "I would advise any employer to make sure they have employees who are detailed oriented. Mistakes are seen and read by more people than you think," she exclaimed.
Marie has experienced personal tragedies in her life battling cancer twice and the recent passing of her husband, Cecil, in August. "You just can't sit around and feel sorry for yourself," she said.
Marie Bergeron is truly a pioneer in radio broadcasting and a fixture in Thibodaux. But, out of all of her accomplishments the thing she likes the most about what she has done is the people she has met.
"I even interviewed Richard Nixon's brother," she said. "I can't remember his name, but I think he went further than Dick, he actually went to jail."