Don Geronimo is making a return to Washington DC.
iHeartMedia Classic Rock “Big 100” WBIG-FM Washington will debut “The Don Geronimo Show” in mornings beginning Thursday, September 23. Geronimo made the announcement on-air this morning.
Geronimo is one of the biggest radio stars in the history of Washington radio. He began his career at the age of thirteen on 1600 WINX Rockville MD. He would bounce around the country to work at multiple Top 40 stations throughout the 1970s and early 80s with stints including WXLO New York, KIIS-FM and KFI Los Angeles, and WLS-FM and WBBM-FM Chicago as well as 1260 WWDC and 95.5 WPGC-FM in the Washington market. In 1985 he joined 105.1 WAVA-FM Arlington VA first as afternoon host and then quickly teamed with Mike O’Meara in mornings. The “Don & Mike Show” would move to afternoons at 106.7 WJFK-FM in 1991 and soon enter syndication via Westwood One. Outside of a brief move to middays in the early 2000s, the Don & Mike Show continued until Geronimo retired in 2008 following the death of his wife.
Geronimo would later spend three years hosting middays and then mornings at 1140 KHTK Sacramento CA. He then briefly hosted nights and weekends back at WJFK-FM in late 2013/early 2014 and hosted a daily podcast from 2014 to 2019.
Geronimo completes the previously planned lineup changes due to the move of current morning voicetracker Ron ‘Big Rig’ Michaels to afternoons following the relocation of WBIG-FM APD/afternoon host Brent ‘Bodhi’ Ebright to “Rock 105.3” KIOZ San Diego.
INSTANT INSIGHT: There are very few talents available in a given market with the ability to potentially move the needle and bring lapsed listeners back to radio. It’s not a guarantee that it’ll work, but Geronimo at least has the name value in Washington to do so.
Geronimo was the answer to this blind item we tweeted two weeks ago.
Is a personality, who could potentially be considered one of the most popular to ever be heard in that market, about to make a big comeback? #RumorMill
— RadioInsight.com (@radioinsight) August 31, 2021
iHeartMedia Washington, D.C’s BIG 100, Washington’s Classic Rock, announced today the debut of the new “Don Geronimo Show,” effective, September 23. The “Don Geronimo Show” will broadcast weekday mornings from 5:30– 10 a.m.
Each weekday morning, Geronimo will broadcast the most popular hits from the biggest chart-topping classic rock artists as well as feature the latest entertainment news, sports and lifestyle experiences that apply to the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia communities.
A broadcasting veteran, Geronimo joins iHeartMedia from Sacramento, California, where he has been hosting “The Don Geronimo Podcast” from 2014 to 2019. Geronimo has over forty years of on-air experience in talk, sports and top forty formats, most recently serving as morning show host of KHTK-AM in Sacramento in 2013. As co-host of the “Don and Mike Show” on WJFK-FM from 1991 to 2008, Geronimo was syndicated in more than 50 markets including New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; and Tampa Bay, Florida. Geronimo also served as host for the Washington Football Team Pre-Game show on WJFK-FM and The Washington Football Network from 1995 to 2001. Geronimo also served as on-air host on multiple stations in the Washington, D.C. region including WAVA-FM in 1986 and WPGC-FM in 1980. He began his career at WROK-AM in Rockford, Illinois.
“This fall, we usher in a new era on BIG 100 with the return of a DC legend,” said Dustin Matthews, Director of Rock Programming. “The reality of having Don home to wake up Washington’s classic rock fans is incredible and just the beginning.”
“I am thrilled to wake up with Washington D.C. on the iconic BIG 100,” said Geronimo. “I can’t wait to return to my hometown to host a morning show that engages our D.C. listeners, allowing them to participate in live show content and games while hearing the best classic rock.”
