N.L. “Larry” Bentsen

In his six decades in broadcasting, Larry Bentson has been a leader and pioneer in virtually every aspect of the industry.

He was one of the founders of Midcontinent Media, Inc. which built one of the Twin Cities first televisions stations, WMIN-TV; and South Dakota’s first television station, KELO-TV of Sioux Falls. Midcontinent later added three additional stations covering the entire state of South Dakota, and three stations were built in Wisconsin, covering Madison. LaCrosse and Wausau.

Midcontinent Media was a pioneer in cable TV, and now has cable systems throughout North and South Dakota.

Larry is past president of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association, has served as a director of the National Association of Broadcasters and the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting. He was inducted in to the Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and was honored by the National Television Academy with induction into the Management Hall of Fame in 2004.

Larry has also been very active in a number of industry and community organizations. Together with his late wife Nancy, he endowed a chair in Pediatric Cardiology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. In 2002 they endowed the Cardiovascular Laboratories at the United hospital in St. Paul.

 

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