After a 48-year career in broadcasting, Marci Burdick retired in 2018. Burdick worked continuously in the broadcasting business since she was 14 years old, beginning with an after-school job in radio in her hometown of Rapid City, S.D. At 18, she moved over to television as a weathercaster and reporter and later rose to positions including news director, general manager and corporate officer.
Burdick spent 12 years in Rapid City television as a weathercaster, reporter, news director and anchor. In 1988, she joined Schurz Communications working for stations in Springfield, Mo., and Augusta, Ga., before she became senior vice president of the electronic division (cable, TV and radio) in 2002. During her tenure, she led efforts to double the company’s size through acquisition. When the family shareholders decided to divest its radio and TV divisions, Burdick led the $452 million sale process. After the sale closed in February 2016, Burdick was named as a senior advisor to work on company and industry projects.
Burdick has won numerous awards for broadcasting both as a reporter and news manager. They include two national Edward R. Murrow Awards, the national Iris Award, the national Silver Gavel Award, a regional Emmy Award and several dozen other regional and state broadcast journalism awards.
Burdick has also been personally recognized for her industry achievements. In 2010, she received the South Dakota Broadcast Association’s Tom Brokaw Award for broadcast excellence. In 2012, the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) awarded Burdick their First Amendment Leadership Award. Burdick was named Broadcaster of the Year in 2013 by Broadcasting & Cable Magazine. In 2017, she was inducted into the Missouri Broadcasters Hall of Fame and in 2020, she received the Broadcasters Foundation of America Leadership Award. She has also been recognized for her community service with honors such as the Rapid City Cosmopolitan Club Distinguished Service Award and the AH Pankow Award from the South Dakota Department of Tourism, and was named 1988’s “Woman of Achievement” by the South Dakota Press Women.
Burdick is board chair of South Dakota News Watch, the first not-for-profit news organization in the state. She is past chair of the South Dakota Hall of Fame Board and is on the board of the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrock Club.
She was previously TV Board chair of the National Association of Broadcasters and president of both the NBC Affiliates Association and Radio-Television News Directors Association. In each case, she was the first woman to hold the top leadership position in each organization. Burdick has testified in front of three U.S. House and Senate committees on behalf of the broadcast industry.
Burdick and her husband, John, have four children and seven granddaughters and live in Rapid City, S.D.
The Chuck Sherman Television Leadership Award, created in 2003, is named in honor of the late Dr. Charles E. Sherman to recognize an individual demonstrating leadership, service and commitment to local television in medium and smaller markets.
