Posted by chicagomedia.org on December 05, 2008 at 12:08:58:
In Reply to: Steve Dahl will be fired posted by Yo on December 04, 2008 at 20:10:03:
Dahl signs off morning WJMK radio talk show
December 5, 2008
BY LEWIS LAZARE Marketing and Media Columnist
Steve Dahl is gone from CBS Radio-owned adult hits WJMK-FM (104.3). The longtime Chicago radio personality who was being paid in excess of $1 million a year for his services at WJMK said his goodbyes to listeners and his staff just before signing off at 9 a.m. Friday morning.
Dahl reportedly will be paid for the remaining two-and-a-half years left on his contract, though he will be off the air. According to one listener who heard Dahl’s last goodbye, the radio host said he wanted to take some time off and go to Hawaii.
Dahl also praised his staff and expressed the hope they would be looked after.
Dahl, who started doing a morning show at WJMK a year ago, was the only live personality left on the station, which is otherwise filled with pre-programmed music.
With Dahl out of the picture, CBS Radio Market Manager Rod Zimmerman has to decide what to do with WJMK. In the ratings, the station is currently a very lackluster 16th in the Chicago market in the key 25-to-54-year-old adult demo.
WJMK could try and soldier on as is for a while. But sources suggest Zimmerman could opt to stream all-news WBBM-AM (780) on WJMK, opening up that popular product to a potentially younger audience than the one that typically listens on the AM frequency. Such a move would further reduce overhead for Zimmerman in the Chicago market too, a plus, no doubt, for cash-strapped CBS Radio.
(Chicago Sun-Times)