After graduating from Kent State University, Jim Gerard worked for television stations WLW-D in Dayton, KYW in Cleveland, and KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, before coming to WFBM-TV, Indianapolis, in 1962. He co-hosted an afternoon movie show with actress Frances Farmer. The Jim Gerard Show, a talk program with an eight-piece band frequently featured celebrity interviews and aired almost continuously on WFBM and WTTV through 1987. He served as master of ceremonies for many fundraising events and later did freelance broadcast commercials and public relations work in the Indianapolis area. Gerard died May 1, 2020, at the age of 93.