The day he lost his job could have been the end of his career. But it wasn’t.
The day he lost his job could have derailed him. But it didn’t.
Instead? The day he lost his job launched him to something better.
After becoming collateral damage of the pandemic at ESPN 96.1 in Grand Rapids in 2020, Jim Costa is now thriving at 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit.
“I really do feel like I upgraded going to Detroit. I don’t have my own show Monday through Friday, which I do miss, but it was a chance to come home and work on this legendary station,” Costa told BSM. “And I’m so grateful that it worked out the way it did. I don’t think a lot of people can say ‘thank you’ for being fired, but I truly feel like it was the best thing for my career.”
Costa works nights and weekends on the powerhouse station in the Motor City, the same station he grew up listening to in nearby Livonia, Michigan, and the same one he once interned at.
After 4.5 years in Grand Rapids, which he spoke very highly of, Costa is now The Ticket’s super-utility player, working nights and weekends while also filling in on shows in all dayparts when people go on vacation. He also hosts Lions pre- and post-game shows in addition to select Tigers, Red Wings, and Pistons pre- and post-game shows.
And while his ultimate goal is to get back to hosting a daily show, he’s not rushing the process and knows he’s exactly where he wants to be.
“I want to be doing local radio in the place that I always grew up. And I think it’s a pretty understandable thing that I do want to have my show, but I understand that we have really established hosts who have a proven track record,” he said.
They say that teams who are underperforming can breathe life into a radio station. After all, when a team underperforms, fans come out of the woodwork and the phone lines generally light up. I can recall the 2020 Patriots who went 7-9 with Cam Newton at quarterback being great for my own show. So, it’s certainly true that those kind of teams and those kinds of seasons can be good for business.
But, what if all your teams are just downright bad? And what if it’s that way all the time?
That’s the situation that Costa and his teammates face in Detroit, where the Lions have had just five winning seasons since 2000 (and zero playoff wins), the Tigers haven’t recorded a winning season since 2016, the Pistons haven’t enjoyed a winning season since 2015-16, and the Red Wings the same.
“It’s tough because I don’t think people quite realize nationally how difficult the situation is, to host when all of your teams are bad. I think people are aware that when your teams are struggling, that can be kind of a lightning rod for sports radio, but you really have to be careful because when apathy sets in, when there’s no optimism at all…I think it forces you to be a better host and find things that are going to resonate, and kind of level with people and acknowledge that this sucks. And we don’t like that all of the teams are bad at the same time.”
I’ve never been a believer that you have to be from a place in order to do great radio there, and while Costa agrees, it’s undeniable that being from Michigan has given him a shared sense of misery that has bonded him to his listeners.
“When you do this job, being able to connect to people is the number one thing. And you don’t have to be from an area to connect to people, I firmly believe that. But I think what it lets you do is speak to similar experiences,” he says. ”In Michigan, the Lions are our punching bag, right? We’ve grown up with the Lions always underachieving and letting you down. I think you can relate to that when you’ve lived it your entire life.”
Costa is just 29 years old, still very young for our profession, but he’s also very accomplished at such a young age. Costa was hired at ESPN 96.1 prior to graduating from Central Michigan and was named Program Director at 24 years old, before he was even in the coveted 25-54 age demographic.
“I always tried to position myself whether I was in college or, or post-college those first few years without really dwelling on my age. I wouldn’t run from who I was, but I didn’t want to draw extra attention to the fact that I was only 22 years old or 23 years old,” he says. “I really wanted the work to speak for itself. But, as I aged into the demo, I realized that I was speaking to things that were on the younger side of the demo, but were things that people care about. And learning to just be who you are and letting the cards fall where they are has been a process, but I’ve enjoyed that.”
And as Costa has learned to just be who he is, he’s also learned what it means to make good sports talk radio.
“For me, it’s creating moments on a show that are going to resonate with people. Sometimes that’s an opinion to challenge the audience, sometimes that’s a hilarious moment that they’re laughing about hours later. Sometimes it’s a stat that people are telling their friends about,” he says. “It’s connecting with the audience and I’m just really grateful to be somewhere where I feel like I can be successful and relate to people.”
It’s pretty cool, isn’t it? To be creating those moments, in your hometown, on the station you grew up listening to.
Who says getting fired has to be the end?
For Costa, it was just the beginning.
Brady Farkas is a sports radio professional with 5+ years of experience as a Program Director, On-Air Personality, Assistant Program Director and Producer in Burlington, VT and Albany, NY. He’s well versed in content creation, developing ideas to generate ratings and revenue, working in a team environment, and improving and growing digital content thru the use of social media, audio/video, and station websites. His primary goal is to host a daily sports talk program for a company/station that is dedicated to serving sports fans. You can find him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady and reach him by email at bradyfarkas@gmail.com.
