Rick Azar

Rick Azar
Born	1929/1930 (age 86–87)
Residence	Buffalo, New YorkPinehurst, NC
Occupation	Broadcaster

Ricardo E. Carballada (born 1929 or 1930), better known as Rick Azar, is an American broadcaster who spent 31 years at WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York.

Prior to coming to WKBW, Azar was an actor and musician in New York City, as well as a staff announcer for NBC in New York.

Rick Azar was the first voice heard on WKBW-TV on November 30, 1958. The station was located at 1420 Main Street in Buffalo, New York and the call letters stood for "Well Known Bible Witness".

Azar signed the station on with the words, "Ladies and Gentlemen, WKBW-TV Channel 7 is on-the-air!" The first broadcast on that snowy night was the James Cagney classic film, Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Azar did not become sports director at WKBW until 1965, when the station's original sports director, Stan Barron, was effectively traded to crosstown rival WBEN-TV in exchange for weatherman Tom Jolls, while Irv Weinstein moved over from AM 1520 to become news director. Azar, Jolls and Weinstein held their respective positions until Azar's retirement in June 1989. Azar also hosted Buffalo Bandstand, a local franchising of American Bandstand, and on at least one occasion substitute hosted the national show in place of Dick Clark.

Rick Azar, Irv Weinstein, and Tom Jolls served as the longest running news anchor team in the nation. Azar also served as a color analyst on WKBW's (now WWKB) radio broadcast of the Buffalo Bills games, play-by-play man on the Bills preseason games televised on WKBW-TV and an intermission host on Buffalo Sabres hockey games televised in the 1970s on Ch 7. Azar also did basketball play-by-play on St. Bonaventure basketball games on Ch 7 during the Bob Lanier era.

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