The Road Less Travelled: Radio Host Bobby Welber

Bobby Welber at 101.5 WPDH

In sports media, opportunity is never a lengthy visitor. Nobody knows this better than Bobby Welber. 

Having dreams of being a play-by-play broadcaster in high school, Bobby spent no time hitting the ground running when he got to college. At SUNY Plattsburgh, he called basketball games for 3 years. 

Bobby began his career in local TV with Cablevision after he graduated in 2006, where he covered high school sports and was a jack of all trades. 

“I really focused on technical skills like editing and shooting video, which I think went a long way in jumpstarting my career,” he said. 

Eventually, he graduated to sports director and anchor at Cablevision, where he was on the nightly sportscast. Slowly he was climbing the ladder and feeling confident about his career path, until one day, management cleaned house. 

“The boss walked in one night and said they were cutting the entire sports department,” he said. “It sucked, but this is what happens in this business. You have to keep moving forward.” 

After Cablevision, Bobby spent two years working part-time with both MLB and at CBS 6 Albany. Working nights and weekends at MLB, Bobby leaned on his editing skills and was eventually given the opportunity to do voiceover highlights of games. At CBS 6 during the weekdays, he was the #3 sports anchor and filled in on newscasts, while helping produce Yankee pre-game shows. But at 30-years-old, what Bobby was really searching for was that full-time, stable job. 

“I was in the media room at MLB after a game and this guy came in and asked a Derek Jeter trivia question and I was the only one who knew it,” he said. “Turns out it was the president of Townsquare Media near where I grew up and after talking and sending him my resume, he said he had an opening for me.” 

For the past three years, Bobby has been the morning news anchor on 101.5 WPDH in Poughkeepsie. 

“I honestly never saw myself doing news, but I really enjoy it,” he said. 

After a long journey displaying the tumultuous nature of the sports industry, Bobby finally found a great fit for himself. He still hasn’t been able to leave all those years of sports behind, though, as he’s an adjunct professor at Marist College, teaching sports broadcasting and reporting.