WBA Newsroom
A radio host and news anchor with 41 years of experience in the Beloit area is retiring.
Steve Benton’s last day on the air at WCLO-AM in Janesville was Nov. 9.
Benton went to Brown College in Minneapolis to get a degree in radio broadcasting. He started his career in 1977 at WLUV-AM/FM in Loves Park, Illinois. Six months later he was working weekends at WCLO/WJVL in Janesville.
He was hired as the afternoon news reporter at WBEL in Beloit in 1982 and then served as news director until 1997. Benton then came back to WCLO first as the afternoon news reporter and then as the morning news anchor until 2011. He returned to WCLO in 2012 as the afternoon show host until his retirement.
Benton is into music and jammed with Cheap Trick in 1972 before they made it big. He also played SummerFest in the early 70s. Jimmy Buffett opened for him, before anyone knew who Buffett was.
Benton said of working in the radio business, “If you want to have a long career in radio, never burn your bridges.”
He lives in Beloit and figures that if he hadn’t worked in radio, he would have been tuning guitars for a rock band.
Steve Benton