In a fictional world, “WKRP In Cincinnati” was a 5,000-watt AM that had a cast of characters, but was hardly dominant. In the real Cincinnati, Jerry Thomas dominated the ratings — not at WKRP but at WKRC-AM 550.
Now, many across the Ohio market are remembering Thomas, who retired in 2006. The longtime morning show host died Thursday morning (12/9).
Thomas was 83 years old. He suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease.
News of his passing was first shared Thursday by veteran Cincinnati radio and television news reporter John Kiesewetter, who presently writes for NPR Member station WVXU and was formerly associated with the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“Thomas woke up Greater Cincinnati radio listeners with ‘punch lines you missed’ and quips from his Granny character for four decades on WKRC–AM,” Kiesewetter wrote.
Thomas was also instrumental in the growth of sibling WKRQ “Q102,” where he hired one Randy Michaels as a programmer early in the iconic broadcast industry figure’s career.
Following Jerry Thomas’ 2006 retirement, son Brian Thomas succeeded him on the WKRC morning show. He’s still in the 5am-9am slot on the Talk station today a part of the iHeartMedia family.
Against 50kw powerhouse WLW-AM, Thomas gave WKRC top ratings for most of the 1980s, Kiesewetter says. He joined the station in 1962, taking overnights. Under then-owner Taft Broadcasting, he would become Q102 Station Manager in the early 1970s, taking on those duties after the 9am-noon shift at WKRC. It was Jerry Thomas that abandoned the automated programming on WKRQ and introduced live radio personalities, luring Michaels from Buffalo. Among the air talent he attracted: Jim Fox, who would enjoy a successful career at Q102.
“Jerry Thomas” was his on-air name; he was born John Gerald Crusham on Nov. 11, 1939, and is a native of the Price Hill neighborhood. He began his broadcasting career in 1957 as a WLWT-TV “floor boy,” Kiesewetter said.
Thomas’ tenure at WKRC was briefly interrupted in 1992, over a salary dispute. At the time, Great American Broadcasting owned the station; it proposed a 40% salary cut, which Thomas refused. At years’ end, he returned to WKRC under a new owner; Michaels was in charge and ensured that Thomas be brought back.
