When he played oldies on WBNS-FM (B-97) in 1991 in Columbus, he was "Johnny B. Goode." When he co-hosted the Cash and Carey morning show on country music KWEN-FM in Tulsa, he was "Jim Carey."
But for most of his broadcasting career, DJ Jim Day has worked under the stage name of "Jim Day," given to him in 1998 when he started hosting country music on Dayton's WHKO-FM (K99.1).
"The Dayton program director and I kicked around some names. I had been known as 'Johnny B. Goode' on B-97," says Day, who took over the WGRR-FM (103.5) morning show earlier this month after the retirement of Married with Microphones hosts Chris O’Brien and Janeen Coyle.
"I suggested 'Jim Knight.' And he said, 'What about Jim Day?' And I'm thinking in the back of my head: There's another Jim Day, but we're not working in the same market," he says.
That changed in August 2017.
WRRM-FM hired Jim Day from St. Louis to produce WRRM-FM's Bob and Marianne morning show with former Entertainment Tonight co-host Bob Goen and his wife Marianne Curan. A year later, Bob and Marianne left the Cumulus station and Day was promoted to morning co-host with Amanda Orlando. On Jan. 2, he moved to sister station WGRR-FM down the hall.
Sportscaster Jim Day was a TV anchor/reporter for WSYX-TV in Columbus, and WFTS-TV in Tampa, before becoming part of the Reds’ TV team in 2011.
Ironically, both Days are graduates of Otterbein University in Westerville, a Columbus suburb.
"I've never met him," says WGRR-FM's Day. "But I tell people I went to college with Jim Day. He was two years ahead of me. I always clarify that I'm the better looking of the two, that I've got a face for radio," he jokes.
Jim Day wants to invite the Reds Jim Day onto his WGRR-FM show during the baseball season. (Dayton sportswriter Hal McCoy will continue his weekly chats this season with WGRR-FM, Day says.)
"I'd like to bring (Jim Day) in to 'GRR. We could discuss naming rights, like how much do I owe him?" he jokes.
Two years ago, WRRM-FM moved Day from mornings with Amanda to do afternoons solo. He likes morning drive because he has more breaks to chat with listeners compared to the more music-intensive afternoon drive. In his first two weeks, he's asked listeners to call and talk about their favorite memory of Chris and Janeen and about "the most meaningful item" on their desks.
"I have a Twinkie on my desk. I thought it might be worth something someday. In 2021 Hostess went out of business and stopped making Twinkies. Then they were bought by another company, and they resumed making Twinkies. I went there the first day and bought one," he says.
Born in Pittsburgh, WGRR-FM's Day grew up "an Army brat" living in Pittsburgh; Vermillion, Ohio; Albuquerque; Dodge City; Detroit; and Europe before going to high school in Maryland. He started in Columbus radio while attending Otterbein, then worked for stations in Dayton, Nashville, Tulsa and St. Louis.
WGRR-FM's Day knows a bit about Greater Cincinnati and Southwestern Ohio. At the advice of his first program director in Columbus, Day learned to host oldies by driving down I-71 to hear Rockin' Ron Schumacher on WGRR-FM, because the signal doesn't reach Columbus. He also worked five years for Dayton country powerhouse WHKO-FM (2003-08).
Plus, he really knows the streets of Mason, where he lives with his wife and twin high school seniors. He moonlighted as a Mason City Schools morning bus driver while working afternoons at WGRR-FM. He got his commercial driver's license and drove a school bus in Nashville after being let go by WSM-FM in 2008.
"I drove a school bus for Mason City Schools from October 2022 to last month. I had a route for the Mason middle school and another with only four kids for preschoolers through third grade," he says.
Before Chris and Janeen's big on-air party to conclude their Married with Microphones show on Dec. 22, Day got a nice send-off from his fellow drivers.
"That is the only place I worked where everyone truly loved their job and what they did. They loved their kids and were loyal to the hilt," he says.
Day enjoys talking to morning listeners on the radio — but he also misses the children who called him "Mr. Jim."
"Now that I'm working mornings," he says, "I might sign up for some field trips."
