Bahakel Communications’ Founder Cy Bahakel Inducted Into Mississippi Association Of Broadcasters Hall Of Fame

Bahakel Communications’ founder, Cy Bahakel, was inducted into the Mississippi Association Of Broadcasters Hall Of Fame.

Born April 12, 1919 in Birmingham, Alabama, Cy Bahakel graduated from the University of Alabama and served in the U.S. Army in San Antonio, Texas. After a leg injury that confined him temporarily to Brooks General Hospital, he remained in San Antonio to serve as a newscaster. After short stints at WBRC-Birmingham and WJRD in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Bahakel abandoned a three-month law practice and made a move to Kosciusko, Mississippi where he bought his first radio station. It was in 1947 that Cy N. Bahakel began a successful Broadcast career that would span 50 years and reach millions of viewers and listeners and enable him to fulfill a dream of serving mankind through the miracle of Broadcasting. He would later go on to own radio and television in Greenwood, Mississippi, including WABG. It is his vision that continues to guide Bahakel Communications. Despite the consolidation in the Industry, the changes at the Networks, the proliferation of streaming and all its iterations, the issues with Nielsen and Broadcast Ratings, Cy’s time honored principles of business, of serving our communities, of patriotism to America, of bottom line economics are still guiding principles for all Broadcasters today.

Cy was a true pioneer in the Broadcast industry with an uncanny knack for foreseeing the coming trends in the ever-changing landscape of Broadcasting and being the first on the scene to take advantage of those opportunities, including UHF television and the digital landscape of the 21st Century.

In addition to his broadcast interests, from 1972-1976 Bahakel served in the North Carolina Senate for two terms. He was unopposed for his third term when he chose not to run and to return to his first love, Broadcasting. Bahakel, along with a group of savvy investors, began the Bank of Mecklenburg in the 1980’s which today has merged with RBC Centura. He was also a founding partner of the Charlotte Hornets, and through his vision and contribution, made it possible for pro sports to begin a successful stint in Charlotte.

Cy Bahakel had an impressive career as a public servant outside of politics and broadcasting where he has served on many boards, including Boy Scouts of America and the Presbyterian Hospital Association.

Cy has Mississippi to thank for what he considered his greatest asset, his wife of over 50 years, Beverly Boyd Bahakel, whom he met and married in Kosciusko. He would later credit her for the vision of his key growth, especially the move of the company headquarters, to the growing city of Charlotte in 1963. It was Charlotte which was the springboard for the dynamic growth witnessed by Bahakel Communications today.