Radio lost another icon when Jerry Cesak passed away.
I worked with Jerry briefly back in 1979 at WDRQ in Detroit. I was the night kid, and Jerry did mornings. He left when the station went disco. His last song at that station was “I’d Love to Change the World” by Ten Years After.
Jerry Cesak didn’t change the world, but he made it a lot more fun for his listeners over many years. When I saw Art Vuolo’s video tribute for the Jeff and Jer Showgram, I knew I had to write this.
When has your station or your show done something bigger than life that really stood out? Back in 1991 in San Diego, the Jeff and Jer Showgram got thousands of listeners to show up wearing red, white, or blue, and had those listeners line up to create the largest American flag ever. Google it. You’ll find it remarkable. I’m sure someone at the station told them it was a crazy idea and not to do it.
I’d bet someone said the same thing to Kidd Kraddick when he started Kidd’s Kids to bring a smile to children and their families who needed it by sending them to Disney World. The charity continues today, over a decade after Kidd’s passing, and has sent more than 1,000 families on a life-changing trip. Both of these shows thought outside the box and looked for ways to be larger than life. We desperately need programmers and shows to think that way again.
Morning show coach Steve Reynolds is a dear friend, and he has always preached that his shows must do something big. Far too often, at the first “no” from legal, or the first “that’s too much work” from a promotion director, we abandon ideas and retreat to another caller 10 contest to achieve success. Stop. Radio is still, by far, the best call-to-action medium there is. Let’s use our voice to do something memorable.
Some stations do something big once a year for a charity. Chet Buchanan is famous for sitting on a billboard for toys. The morning shows at WNEW, Mix 104 in Boston, and B96 in Chicago all did stunts for toys that were a huge success.
But what’s next? Sit down with the most creative people in your organization, no matter what department they are in, and do a real brainstorming session. Look at holidays and events coming to your market. It may be too late to do the largest mass marriage vow renewal event for Valentine’s Day this year, but start planning it now for 2027.
We are all aware of radio’s diminishing average quarter-hour audience year after year. Local newspapers used to have someone covering radio. Now, in many markets, there aren’t even local newspapers. Social media helps, but the Meta algorithm doesn’t favor radio stations or shows unless you fall into a convenient niche. When one of my New York morning hosts started posting about his passion, wrestling, his followers immediately increased tenfold because the algorithm knew where to push his posts. But that did little for his radio show.
If you want people to think about your station or your show, you need to do big things that people will talk about. You can have the same effect that Christmas music programming had for AC stations as a cume-building marketing campaign that no one can afford. Let’s do something remarkable that would make Jerry Cesak or Kidd Kraddick proud. Go big.
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Jim Ryan is a Music Radio columnist for Barrett Media. In addition, he runs Jim Ryan Media LLC, a consulting company which assists major market radio brands and top talent including national radio personality Delilah. Prior to relaunching his consultancy in 2025, Jim spent 15 years with Audacy/CBS Radio, serving as SVP of Programming. Among his responsibilities included programming WNEW-FM and WCBS-FM. His career includes additional programming stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston. Jim was voted the #2 PD of 2024 in Barrett Media’s Top 20 series in the AC category. He can be reached by email at Jim@JimRyanMedia.com.
