Evening star., 1954-10-24
A Day With Gibbons
1t Begins EurIy, Runs Late. and Moy
Lead Him Anywhere on the Mop
By John v. Horner

"A lou OF pTGpaTatlOu 8OcS
into those early morning radio
shows that help wake up
Washington each day. You
know the ones we mean-the
shows done by Bob Reed on
Station WRC, Art Brown on
WWDC, Mark Evans on WTOP
and Jim Gibbons on WMAL.
Take the last named, for
example. Jim Gibbons "Town
Clock" program opens broad
casting on Station WMAL
week days at s am. Long be-
fore most Washingtonians are
stirring, Jim's work day Is 60
ing at full speed.
Gibbons is apparently a tire
less performer on radio and
television. Up at 5 am, he's
seated before a studio micro
phone an hour or.later, for the
sign-on.
For the next three hours,
Jim dispenses information on
the weather, general and
sports news, time bulletins and
music. These are interspersed
with commercials and some
friendly nudging, via the air
waves, for the listener to get
out of bed, drink that cup Of
coffee and get going toward
the job. Jim counsels those
driving to work to take extra
precautions in traffic.
Man With Mission
He has a very definite idea
about his early morning mis-
sion in other peoples lives.
1--WE are here to wake peo-
pie up and get them of to
work." Gibbons says. "At this
hour, people don't want too
much conversation and we try
to keep that down. They are
interested in the days wealth
er. They want to be told the
right time. And they like
good music. So we give them
all three"
It's difficult, Jim acknowl-
edges, to find any two persons
who agree on just which tunes
should be played in the dawn's
early light. But he adds it
isn't too hard to select records
with a general appeal. He
sticks pretty much to popular
music, avoiding extremes.
When time permits, Gibbons
occasionally accepts q tele-
phone call from a fan while
he's in the broadcasting booth.
But this is not often, for the
man constantly shufiies pa
pers, reads announcements.
checks off a schedule and sig
mails the engineer to start the
music.
Proud of Sponsors
Were particularly proud OF
our sponsors, Jim proclainls.
"They are a pretty selective
group. Almost all are local
business people. They are
steady advertisers and are our
real personal friends"
Though advertising agencies
supply most of the commercial
copy used on the program,
Gibbons has wide latitude on
how it shall be presented. He
usually ad Ibis. in a pleasant
and informal manner. AS
many Of his fans suspect, he
smiles most OF the time while
working. even though alone in
his booth.
When the "Town Clock"
stops ticking for the public at
9 am, the Gibbons day has
hardly begun. He spends all
morning preparing for future
programs. Almost every day
he visits a sponsor. He talks
with others by telephone. Thus
he keeps abreast of business
developments while cementing
friendships.
Several times a week he goes
to business luncheons. Some
times he is the featured speak
er. If time permits, he gets
in a round of golf in the after
noon.
His love .of sports is respon-
sible for his breaking into ra-
dio and Tv. Thwarted in sue
cessive plans to study medicine
and law, the Nebraska farm
boy took a Government job in
WASHINGTON. An athlete, him
self. and an easv speaker, he
figured he could report on
sports as well as some men
already in the business. In the
early 1940s, he was auditioned
and landed a job as announcer
It paid better than the Federal
job.
Jim developed a radio pro-
gram on WMAL and in 1916
took over the morning "Towr
Clock" show, as well. He has
been In charge ever since.
He now has q daily TV
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