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Award-winning broadcaster Jim Thompson's radio program, Live! with Jim Thompson, airs every weekday at 1:00 PM (MT) on over 50 radio stations and live on the web.  Jim Thompson's Creative Broadcast Services (CBSI) produces Live! with Jim Thompson, the Heritage of the American West, and other programs and events. Jim Thompson, a great friend to cowboy poetry, is a two-term State Senator, has been named Sports Broadcaster of the Year three times, and is a nationally recognized rodeo announcer, and motivational / entertainer. He has earned many rodeo honors, is an inductee in the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, is a member of the Casey Tibbs Hall of Fame, a Life Member of the PRCA, and writes a weekly rodeo column and delivers a daily rodeo show, both called "On the Road Again."  In 2008, he received two additional honors:  induction into the Black Hills Stock Show Hall of fame and selection as the 2007 John Justin Volunteer of the Year for the Kaycee, Wyoming PRCA rodeo, of which he's been a part since its inception in 1987. Jim says "Baxter Black was my real entry into cowboy poetry...then Bill Larsen, now from Casper...Bill and I began the Hole in the Wall Poetry Bawl at Kaycee, Wyoming  in 1987 as part of the first ever Deke Latham Rodeo." The lively show often features Cowboy Poetry and call-ins and email messages from everyone from Red Steagall and Yvonne Hollenbeck to U. S. Senators and rodeo stars.  Local events and news are covered along with important national issues and a lot of just plain fun and entertainment.  Tune in on the radio or on the web.  Visit the Live! with Jim Thompson web site for more information, a quick on-line connection, and access to archived shows. Photo by Jeri L. Dobrowski; used with permission See her gallery of western performers and others here. Take Part in the Show About Jim Thompson Article by Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns More about Jim Thompson South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame Induction Some Recordings

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Take Part in the Show:  Call, Email, Send Your Books and Recordings

 

Tune in on the radio or on the web.  Visit the Live! with Jim Thompson web site for more information, email links and phone numbers, a quick on-line connection, and access to archived shows.

Call or email weekdays.  The show begins at 1:00 PM (MT)

(800)595-1931
talk@livewithjt.com
jim@livewithjt.com

http://www.livewithjt.com

Jim Thompson welcomes music and poetry recordings for air play and for audience giveaways. You can send recordings and information to:

Creative Broadcast Services, Inc.
Jim Thompson
125 Colorado Blvd.  Suite 2E
Spearfish, South Dakota 57783
605/722-2511 office
605/722-2508 fax

 

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   More About Jim Thompson 

Article by Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns
More about Jim Thompson
South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame Induction

 

Photo by Jeri L. Dobrowski; used with permission
See her gallery of western performers and others here.

 

CBSI Promotes Western Heritage
by Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns

 

Once each month a lot of people from several states gather at a beautiful facility in the Black Hills of South Dakota to remember and honor their heritage. 

High Plains Heritage Center near Spearfish is the place.  The Heritage of the American West is the event.  An entity known as Creative Broadcasting Services, Incorporated (CBSI), makes it happen.

CBSI became a reality in 1996 when Kay Jorgensen and Jim Thompson put their heads together to discover “creative” ways to bring back the many delightful things broadcasting used to do, and no longer does, on small town radio stations. 

As Jim explains, “Much of that is due to limited budget, and many good things have fallen by the wayside. Public radio still picks up some of the slack, but we believed there were other things that should be addressed.”

On their quest for “creative” answers, the first idea Kay and Jim decided to move forward with was broadcasting rodeo live, on the radio.

“We did that about four years,” Jim recalls.  “The first three years we did one rodeo a month, and they were all kinds of rodeos from all over.  To give you an idea, we did rodeos around this region, and as far away as Calgary.  We covered pro rodeo, high school rodeo, Indian rodeo, senior rodeo,” he explains.  “Then, in the fourth year we slowed down, mainly because we didn’t have enough stations interested in carrying this format.”

CBSI gave a lot of people the opportunity to hear and enjoy a lot of live rodeo action over their radios in those four years, but much more important was the scholarship program they linked with their efforts. 

“Each time we broadcast a rodeo,” Jim explains, “we’d donate $1,000 to high school rodeo within that state, to be used for scholarships in the name of that rodeo.”

Wonderful response came from the rodeos involved, high school rodeo associations, and all those interested in helping kids further their educations. 

“When CBSI did the Calgary Stampede, it didn’t really have a connection to high school rodeo so we gave the scholarship to the Calgary Marching Band, and what a celebration that was,” Jim says.

In all, CBSI was able to assist young people across the region with their college expenses to the tune of some $30,000over the four year period.  Each instance of giving blessed both the giver and the receiver, but one stands out in Jim’s memory.

“We were in Pueblo, Colorado,” he remembers, “loading up all our broadcasting equipment after the final performance.  After arriving in Pueblo we met the Colorado High School Rodeo representative. He seemed relieved to find we were real, and confided had not yet chosen a recipient because he wanted to be sure the money would be there before raising any hopes,” Jim explains.  “He also said he had two students in mind, and would have to make up his mind for sure before the rodeo was over.”

“So as we were loading up all this stuff, I saw this great big bulldogger guy coming toward us, across the arena.  I could tell he was looking at us.  When he got to the arena fence, he crawled on over it and walked right up to me and asked if I was Jim Thompson. I could see tears in his eyes as I affirmed that.”

Jim said they’d had a huge $1,000 money order made up to use for the presentation, so as this young man walked up and introduced himself as the scholarship winner, they got it out and handed it to him.  At that point, this big strong steer wrestler had more tears, and gave the CBSI folk tears too.

“He said his dad had cancer, and he was working on the ranch, and didn’t have much time or money to rodeo,” Jim remembers.  “He said him and his mom had a talk before he came to this rodeo, and they’d decided if he didn’t win any money there, he’d better not try to go to college, or keep rodeoing.  You can’t imagine how wonderful we felt to give him that money!”

Over the years of rodeo broadcasting Jim says they had a lot of good help, guys like John Lockie, J.D. Crouse, and Mike Burge, who stepped up to the mic and got some experience under their belts to help them go ahead into broadcasting and announcing vocations of their own.

“It was a win-win situation,” Jim stresses.  “We had employment, opportunity, advertisement . . . and it was frustrating to discover a lack of interest among the radio stations.  Following the Badlands Circuit Finals in 1998, we decided to take a hiatus and consider our options.”

That break was the catalyst for development of the live talk radio “Jim Thompson Show” that has proven to be so successful, both on regional stations and over the World Wide Web, since it was launched in February of 1999.

“It met our criteria of being ‘creative’,” Jim explains.  “It served the wheat farmer in Scobey, Montana, the cattle rancher at Newcastle, Wyoming.  It was a forum for news and discussion in meaningful areas, but our deeper goal was that when our show was over and the next program came on, the listener would be thinking of the positive things he’d just heard on our show, and have a good feeling inside.”

When you sit behind a microphone in a tiny studio and talk to thin air, it’s sometimes difficult to measure your effectiveness.  The phone ringing with callers wanting to discuss this and that is reassuring.  But Jim says the true measure of success, to him, is the volume of email he receives, on a wide spectrum of subjects, especially the positive-type stories he likes to play up.

“Apparently what I’m doing is kindling something with people out there,” he grins.  “Any day I could come into the studio three minutes ahead of show time and have enough material waiting to carry the day.”

CBSI continued seeking avenues of outreach even after the Jim Thompson Show was born. A program called “South Dakota Live” was begun at the old Black Hills Opera House, one Sunday night a month.  There was mixed reaction, but nothing really outstanding - until they happened to have an old western singer, and Jim did some cowboy poetry to go with it.

“We had a great response to that program,” Jim says. 

Following that lead, CBSI teamed with Belle Fourche businessman Gary Ager, to produce such events at his place once a month.  Eventually, through the need for a larger venue and some changing priorities, CBSI proposed holding the event at the Western Heritage Center near Spearfish.

“Leo Giacometto was the director there at the time,” Jim remembers, “and he was enthusiastic about it.  The name ‘Heritage of the American West’ seemed to fit right in. The opportunity to promote the Western Heritage Center and make more people aware of it, along with continuing to preserve and promote the heritage we all love, went hand in glove.”

Seven stations presently broadcast Heritage of the American West, which has showcased a variety of cowboy and cowgirl talent from across America.  Some broadcast live, some on tape in prime time.  More than half the seats in the house are pre-purchased as season tickets.  Heritage of the American West is archived on the internet at www.livewithjt.com, and more listeners pick it up there than Arbitron ratings show for listeners to the largest radio station in Rapid City. 

“Francie Ganje has taken this show to another level,” Jim says, “not only through her lively and enthusiastic hosting but also by adding countless details each time, such as the pre-show reception, displays, artists and historians she’s brought in.”

It’s never easy or popular to do a new thing, and people who do new things usually face struggles.  CBSI is no exception.  Challenges stalk their door like hungry wolves.  Therefore, the focus of CBSI remains on the goals and purposes, not the disappointments, like having to give up live rodeo broadcasts. 

They look forward to making streaming video at www.livewithjt.com a reality.  They offer sponsorships, knowing someone out there shares their vision.  They look to increase their sales staff and get a paid administrator.  And most of all they do whatever it takes to insure the quality of their productions is unsurpassable.

Uncompromising, constant quality is a rare commodity in today’s world.  CBSI is a rare organization.  And the value of rare things never diminishes. 

To learn more, make suggestions, or become involved, call (605) 645-1616 or email jim@livewithjt.com.

© 2007, Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns

This article appeared in the May, 2007 "Ag Pride" edition of a special publication from the Tri-State Livestock News and Farmer & Rancher Exchange. Reprinted with the author's permission.

 

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Jim is a two-term State Senator, has been named Sports Broadcaster of the Year three times, is a nationally recognized rodeo announcer, motivational/entertainer presenter and host of top radio shows including Heritage of the American West and Live! with Jim Thompson.

It was a favorite uncle who first "heard" the resonance in the sound that would become one of the most recognized voices in the rodeo arena ... from amateur to professional events across the U.S.

Over 20 years have added experience and knowledge of the sport. Jim knows more than rodeo - he knows the people, the stock ... from the legends - to the up and comings.

Now semi-retired from life on the road as a rodeo announcer, he stays active and involved with a few arena favorites and keeps a "touch of rodeo" in his daily Talk Radio program, Live! With Jim Thompson.

Jim is particularly proud of having been honored by the Casey Tibbs Foundation. Jim says "Imagine!  He was my idol growing up, and for a cowboy, it don't get no better than that!"

Jim also notes that his children, Kim and Kyle, are his pride and joy. "Kim is married to a South Dakota rancher...though they now live in Winnemucca, Nevada...he's working in a mine there...they have 4 children...and Kimmie, though she'd make an excellent radio sales person,  dreamed of being a mom...and she is a wonderful mother...she has grown up into a wonderful woman...I often read Jimmy Dean's "To a Sleeping Beauty" for her...in fact I read it at her wedding, and cried through most of it!

"Kyle and his wife Deanna have 4 children, and live in Sepulpa, Oklahoma...he graduated from Oral Roberts University...dreamed of being an accountant, but ended up with a company that produces TV commercials for churches...he is now the manager of that operation...

"To paraphrase the ol poem...'If I succeeded in all things in my life, the one I'd want most to be good at, is being "a little kid's dad.'

"Kyle tells me that when he's driving down the highway with his kids and Chris LeDoux comes on the radio, his mind goes back to the mid 70's when he'd go to rodeos with me and we'd play Chris LeDoux songs to get in the rodeo mood!"

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Jim Thompson was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame on April 14, 2007. The South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame is dedicated to the preservation, documentation and display of South Dakota's sports history. Each year outstanding athletes, coaches and contributors are selected to the Hall of Fame. A total of 177 people have been so honored since the Hall of Fame was established almost 40 years ago. Jim Thompson is only the fourth rodeo cowboy to be included (Casey Tibbs, Clint Johnson and Jim Sutton are the other three). 

 

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Some Recordings

 

 Jim Thompson recites Arthur Chapman's classic, "Out Where the West Begins" on The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two (2007) from the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry and CowboyPoetry.com.

 

 Jim Thompson recorded a radio Public Service Announcement (PSA) for The BAR-R Roundup (2006).

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  The Verse & the Voice, Reflections of the West is a collaboration by popular poet Yvonne Hollenbeck and Jim Thompson. Jim recites some of Yvonne's most popular poems (see the list here). The CD is available for $15 from:

Creative Broadcast Services, Inc.
125 Colorado Blvd. Suite 2E
PO Box 1101
Spearfish, SD 57783
605/722-2511

See a review here.

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What's inside is just as good as the cover. Where the Buffalo Rhyme (named by Baxter Black) was recorded live in October, 2003 at the Boss Cowman Cowboy Opry in Lemmon, South Dakota with Jim Thompson as the emcee. It features four top poets: our Honored Guests Yvonne Hollenbeck and Jess Howard and Rodney Nelson and Elizabeth Ebert.  See the list of poems here.

See a review here.

 

 

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