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So the word is semi-official, according to Robert Feder ... Steve Dahl is moving from afternoons at WCKG to take over mornings on WJMK, better known as JACK-FM. On one hand this move makes perfect sense. No one has really dominated Chicago's morning-drive since Mancow's popularity plummeted, and Howard Stern took to satellite. Dahl is a pretty dependable commodity that we're reasonably certain will deliver the ratings.
At the same time, WJMK has been the only commercial radio station we've been able to tolerate for more than 10-minutes over the last year or so. We're certainly aware that we lie smack-dab in the middle of their target demographic, and most of our enjoyment has roots in sentimentality. At the same time they are -- outside of the low-watt indie or college stations -- the best bet at truly delivering a pleasantly jarring mix of styles and eras that can occasionally offer honest surprise and intriguing juxtaposition. We hope Dahl's arrival is not the harbinger of a larger format change.
And there is also the larger question of what is going to happen to WCKG's format. Phil Rosenthal opines that Dahl's departure might usher in the station's switch to either a Spanish format, or one targeting the adult female-listener demographic. Would that be an improvement? What do you think of these developments? Or could you really care less since you gave up listening to commercial / terrestrial radio years ago?
Photo of Big Steve Dahl from Dahl's website
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The day I first heard a radio station play Limp Bizkit was the last day I listened to a radio.
Really, you can get an mp3 player that holds 10,000-20,000 songs, or if you're at a computer you can use Pandora, Last.fm, or any number of other online radio options. Music-wise, what exactly is the purpose of terrestrial radio? Because it certainly hasn't been about discovering legitimate, quality new music for over a decade now.
AM 560 9AM-12.
XRT when needed.
now Steve on JMK in the AM....Chicago radio rules.
Love that pic of Pat Bertoletti with Big Steve Dahl. Too bad Pat did not beat Joey Chestnut this past weekend at the Krystal Burger Challenge. Would have loved for a Chicago native to be the undisputed #1 competitive eater in the world!
Go Berto!
I can't wait until Tankboy jumps ship to another blog.
crookcounty, you're gonna be waiting a while!
Awww, c'mon Tankboy!? You mean you don't like the stale & blatantly unfunny attempt at humor & wit on Q101's Morning Fix!?
I can't even describe how unpalatable I find them. Eric and Kathy are a better alternative!
am i the only person that likes brandmeier?
Yes Magilla, you are. The shouting clip-happy Johnny B schtick was old when he starting doing it.
I like "personality radio" as a side dish to my ipod really. Dahl can be pretty funny when he gets on a tear, usually tearing into someone. Hopefully the morning shift will give him back a bit of an edge.
As for WCKG as a whole, Garry Meier was actually pretty funny, he needs to be paired with someone. Dahl's son was kind of excruciating to listen to and the Black guys in the middle of the day were godawful. No great loss really.
Well most talk radio sucks in my opinion but FM isn't remotely stomachable in Chicago anymore. Try XM or Sirius and you will never go back, trust me. Yes it cost, but it is about the price of 1 cd/mo, well worth it. Sirius offers live DJ's with their music content too, so if you are into that experience you can still get the quips along w/ your music too. The only thing in Chicago on FM worth catching is NPR, or any of the college stations like WNUR or WCRX.
I got Sirius after Dahl's ego was allowed to program the entire line-up at 'CKG. Not only did I get to hear Stern again, but the choices and quality of music is amazing.
Even better, is that unlike XM, Sirius uses jocks on their stations that REALLY know and love the music they're playing. I never thought I'd get as much use out of it as I do, but much like TiVo - once you have it, you'll wonder how you lived without it.
I grew up listening to Dahl, but his show is nothing more than dead air, live reads, and sounds of him eating. It's no wonder nobody listened anymore.
I wasn’t too shocked with the format change at WCKG announcement yesterday because of the rumors left by Chicago newspaper columnist Robert Feder weeks ago. I was curious however to see exactly where Steve would be going. I really didn’t think he would wind up at Jack-FM because it doesn’t have DJ’s which is the main idea behind their format. Having Steve really contradicts their philosophy. However I believe Steve's remaining contract and CBS having to honor it had a lot to do with this decision. Truthfully I would like to see a Steve and Garry reunion morning team again. I think that would be even more of a ratings juggernaut over the plain Steve Dahl show with Buzz Killman as his sidekick. I think a lot of Steve’s faithful listeners feel the same way. I was actually hoping that when Garry returned to the radio that it was with Steve and not as a solo act. Buzz could still be the “third” person part of the team. When Steve and Garry had an impromptu North Avenue Beach lakefront reunion last summer they worked so well together as if they had never parted ways years before.They seem so natural together. I hope others comment here in agreement with me and CBS management reads the postings. Maybe they will decide to add Garry to Steve’s morning drive and revive the "Steve & Garry" Show that proved to be as much of a ratings giant for many years as The Howard Stern Show was when it was on in the mornings in Chicago.
Let’s hope!
Mannnnnnnnn,I listened to Steve Dahl and Garry Meier in the 8th grade! But why am I not suprised that yall morons are still listening to this crap, those under 15 are excluded. The you've got Stern,god awful Black guys in the middle of the day, Eric and Kathy, and the stupid angry white males on WLS and the rest of the shock jock culture. Yea further proof of our growing rank stupidity, people growing older, but refusing to grow up.
And you complain about your public officials not being representative of you. I think its a great fit.
Keep up the listening yall
Can't we just put all of these has-beens on XRT? That way much of the crapy talk and crappy music will be in the same place!
I agree with XM or Sirius, well worth the money never to have to listen to commercials again. That and some internet radio stations for music, that's all you need.
JACK actually has had a morning person delivering some fairly lame bits. I think Dahl will be a good fit. Hopefully, the JACK format is finished. It was a good idea on paper, but the way WJMK did it was just too repetitive.
Currently listening to XM right now, not sure what Tony B was talking about when he said XM does not have live DJs. It really is worth the money for either, I just prefer XM over Sirius (Baseball and Ron & Fez!)
Ah, I like Steve Dahl. He's okay. Sure, he can be infuriating and childish at times, but thats just who he is.
I missed having Ed Tyll (did I spell that right?) on late night and I'll always leave the station on when Johnny Mars is on the air, but yeah, corporate radio does suck for the most part. Internet radio is what I listen to during the day, and one of these years, I'll pony up for Satellite, but until then, I'm just going to enjoy the sound of silence.