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.
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.
The show was created by Jon Rivers 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. 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.