20 The Countdown Magazine

20 The Countdown Magazine is a weekly Christian music countdown program, syndicated to Christian radio stations in the United States, Canada and worldwide. The show is now offered as a podcast, audio stream, and can be played on Amazon smart speakers.

History[]

The program is hosted by William Ryan III, and counts down the top twenty Christian songs. Each countdown also includes special features like Artist interviews, stories behind the songs, and interactive features like the Future Fan Favorite. Occasionally, the program would also feature weekly special programmings, such as a countdown for the top twenty songs for the year, an annual Christmas program, and tribute shows.

20TCM was created by Jon Rivers (who also hosted Powerline which was produced by the Southern Baptist Convention) in 1985 while he was on his way into work where he hosted the morning show on KLTY-FM in Dallas/Fort Worth. It was around 2:30 in the morning while driving in where Jon clearly heard Jesus speak to him to start a weekly countdown show called, "20 The Countdown Magazine."

There was already a big show called American Top 40 hosted by Casey Kasem that was counting down mainstream songs but nothing for Christian music at the time (although Christian Countdown USA first hosted by Jim Channell a.k.a “Captain Whammo,” and later Bob Souer, predates the debut of 20TCM by a few months). Jon felt like Christian music is as good as anything and there are always at least 20 great Christian songs you can count down. And so... 20 the Countdown Magazine began!

Jon did most of the writing and production himself at first, chasing after the FedEx truck late at night to make sure cassette tapes of the show made it out to radio stations all over the world in time! Technology has surely changed since then, but the heart behind the show has not.

In 2019, Jon Rivers announced his retirement and the new host of the show William Ryan III. Jon did his farewell show on September 7, 2019 along with the new host, William Ryan III. Dozens of Christian Artists also were heard on the farewell show congratulating Jon on his retirement and welcoming William as the new host of the show.

In 2021, 20TCM became a listener supported non-profit program and is a recognized 501(c)3 organization of IRS code. The show is offered free of charge to affiliates.

External links[]

20 The Countdown Magazine (official site)

This Christian music-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This article about a radio show or program in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .