VIRGINIA BEACH -- For a total of 23 years, radio disc jockey Jimmy Ray Dunn has made his mark in the mornings on 97-3 The Eagle. That long run ended in two minutes, after being called to his general manager's office right after a show last month.
"It was that clean," Jimmy Ray said. "I will say it was done respectfully."
"I was told they just wanted to go in a different direction," he said. "They didn't really give me a description of a detailed explanation," he said.
"I do believe they respect my abilities and what I contributed to the station, I will say that," he added. "I felt like props were given and I appreciated that. But they just want to do something different and I respect that too. I don't have to agree with it but I respect it."
His legions of fans don't agree with it either. They've taken to social media to voice their displeasure.
"It's humbling," Jimmy Ray said. "Overwhelming to see the amount of lives that I've seemed to touch."
"I'm just very appreciative of the connections I have made and all of the friends over the years. To know that a bond was created with people who are just going to work and working hard to support their families. For them to take time out of their day to provide input about a morning DJ getting canned. It's just humbling. It's just humbling man," he said.
Some listeners wonder if ratings were behind the decision. Stations covet the 18-54 demographic.
"With the ratings system they're using today its just a crap shoot," he said. "You could be a great show and not get good ratings with the current ratings system. My impression is from 6 years old to death, well, near death, we were third in the market. You could break it down into all kinds of demographics to suit what it is you need to sell."
"But I just know now more than ever considering the response that this has generated, we had a lot of people listening to the show of all ages," he said.
Jimmy Ray says he misses his audience, especially members of the military. He also loved doing charity work for St. Jude Hospital, the March of Dimes, and doing their Disney Kids program, where they would take kids who need to be uplifted to Disney World for a week while broadcasting special shows.
Jimmy Ray hosted the morning show on 97-3 The Eagle with Jen Lewis. She was let go, too. He says this firing won't silence him permanently, but he decided to take a rest from radio for a while.
"I'm not really sure what my future holds for me," he said. "I'm leaving my options open because my passion is children's charities, healthy kids. But it's also being with people, touching people, communicating with people, having fun with people, entertaining people. You know I've done that my whole life. That's what I do and that's what I love to do so I hope I get to do that in some way, shape, or form in the near future."
Operations Manager John Shomby posted the following video to YouTube following the firing of Jimmy Ray & Jen:
