Steve Dahl Update Page
Steve Dahl Sucks Message Board
8-30-99: Top Jocks! Howard Stern is still the Chicago mornings money $ demo king (25-54). Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) slips from 2nd to 3rd. Eric & Kathy (WTMX-FM) make a slight comeback from 5th to 3rd. Steve Dahl takes a hard tumble from 1st to 4th.
Pause for criticism? John Smyntek of Detroit Free Press took a shot at Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) in announcing Dahl's replacements "Deminski & Doyle" weekdays on WKRK-FM. Smyntek says "Steve Dahl, a Detroit radio hit in the '70s, frittered away any afternoon listeners WKRK had during a ratings-disastrous six-month simulcast from the Windy City this year". Jeff Deminski in describing himself and Mike Doyle said ". I think people are starving for some honesty and humanity.... I just Think that our show is the most honest on radio". WKRK-FM vice president Bill Figenshu said of the current Extreme Talk station "the format is successful in LA, Chicago,Washington and Orlando. I would think a world-class city such as Detroit could support one, too"
EX-treme talk. Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) spent the majority of his Wed show (8/25) ridiculing Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) and his "Mancow TV" show on WCIU-TV (Ch 26) which features videotaped segments of previous Mancow morning shows on WKQX-FM.. Apparently Dahl caught the show featuring Mancow lamenting about the loss of his girlfriend who dumped him. Dahl ridiculed Mancow's grammar and called Mancow's on-air sililoquiqy "stupid" and said he was an "idiot". But several times throughout the afternoon he seemed very interested in the name of his ex-girlfriend. Our email strongly suggests that his ex-girlfriend was "Angie Congine. They have lived together for years, despite his claims that 'phonegirl' is still a virgin. Angie, who is only 25ish, broke up with him because he wanted to do nothing all night but sit around and watch movies, and she wanted to go out with her girlfriends." Wonder if our other email suggesting that Dahl is talking to Mancow's ex-phone girl is true?
Cheap shot? Jim Kirk of the Chicago Tribune reports that Steve Dahl's producer "Shemp" (Mark DeYoung) has been fired by Dahl. Kirk reports "no one in an official capacity at the station seems to want to say what happened. But apparently something happened last week that prompted a hasty exit for DeYoung when Dahl came back from vacation" and added the "timing of the move was a surprise to some insiders, though many said there had been some tension between Dahl and DeYoung in recent weeks". Email we received say Shemp was fired because "Disney (WCKG-FM general manager) was pissed off and wanted heads to roll because Joe Walsh (vacation fill-in for Dahl) played an X-rated song! And Dahl didn't want to take the heat so he let Shemp get the axe!!". Another email says "I'm amazed at how Dahl fired Shemp who just bought a house!" and adds "what kind of guy fires somebody whose wife is 7-and-a-half months pregnant!!!!". And speculation is running wild about Shemp's replacement one email suggests "Stever is gonna hire Mancow's ex-girlfriend who played the role of Phone Girl on his show!".
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Dull show? We received an interesting email about a website that pointedly makes fun of The Steve Dahl Show (WCKG-FM). We checked for the owner of the website but our search turned up anonymous. The site makes fun of Dahl's famous screened calls allowing positive calls and constant on air requests for free merchandise from vendors. It's well known that Dahl's on-air position makes it easy for merchants who are desperate for publicity to try to give Dahl free merchandise (something which is frowned upon by other stations). "It's called 'The Official Steve Dull Website'. Check it out for yourself Steve Dull.com"
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Cause and Effect. Even Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) who was given a major on-air snub by Rock Legend Pete Townshend would have to give Townshend credit for NetAid. Townshend has lent his name to help lead an eclectic array of artists at a multimedia benefit that NetAid claims will help eradicate severe poverty. Organizers promise the event will feature three overlapping concerts and will be the most ambitious, technologically sophisticated effort undertaken by the entertainment industry. Concerts are scheduled for Oct. 9th with simultaneous shows at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; Wembley Stadium in London; and the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Along with Pete Townshend it also includes George Michael, Celine Dion, Bush, Counting Crows, Eurythmics, Robbie Williams, Jewel, Michael Kamen, and the Corr and more expected. It will be a full plate even big enough for Dahl! [btw Steve- Krispy Kreme has planned an IPO]
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8-3-99:"No dead air!" Our Detroit email says that Steve Dahl's replacement on WKRK-FM in Detroit have been found and "they promise no dead air or boring talk!" WKRK-FM has hired Jeff Deminski and Bill Doyle to be the new afternoon team replacing Steve Dahl who literally pulled the plug that transmitted his Chicago show to Detroit raising the ire of CBS/Infinity Corporate bosses. Deminski & Doyle are the wild & wacky afternoon team that have "predicted the weather with a pig spleen, used a Ouija board on the air, and forced a co-worker out in public with an inflatable sheep." Mancow Muller remains with Detroit's WKRK-FM on tape delay late at night.
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7-29-99:Stever embarrassed again! This time it was Pete Townsend of the Who. Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) spent most of the week promoting an appearance by Townsend today (7/29) and even suggested that he was going to get Townsend to "jam" with him on the song "Magic Bus". The big day arrived this afternoon and Dahl who makes a point of always having his microphone on should have turned it off. Instead of background insight Dahl gave his listeners an inside look at a major slight. Here's what happened: Dahl walks in to greet Pete Townsend and introduces himself as Steve. Townsend: "Who are you?" Dahl: "Steve, Steve Dahl". At that point Dahl himself stated he sensed something was wrong and tried to change the conversation in a different direction. A few seconds later a very bored Townsend got up and left with Dahl standing there. Meanwhile Dahl's son and others who gathered watched in amazement as Dahl stood there dumb founded saying "whatever"..
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7-29-99:Cyber Scammer strikes Dahl again? Robert Feder Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) who enjoys taking other DJs to task has been taken this time.. again. That alleged email that we mentioned he read on the air from WGN-AM John Williams according to Feder was never written by Williams. It appears that the Cyber Scammer who nailed Dahl about ex-partner Garry Meier (WLS-AM) has embarassed Dahl again! Wonder how Dahl will handle this one on the air? Will he ignore it?.
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7-28-99:Sleeping Lion? Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) read an email (7/27/) supposedly written by Midday host John Williams (WGN-AM) responding to an email informing him that Dahl was making fun of his show. Dahl given the alleged Williams email read it on air. The email ridiculed Dahl who is "famous for pausing" and added that his show has "absolutely no preparation, no thought" and added "I was praying that I would be given the opportunity to go head to head against him in airshifts because in that competition I feel I would prove victorious." Williams email scoffed at Dahl's ratings and said "In the hour that we do compete directly against one another I beat him in every age group except young men. So he should be careful what he says on the air he wouldn't want to wake a sleeping lion". We checked the ratings: 25-54 WGN-AM Middays ranked 16th and WCKG-FM Afternoons ranked #`1. In 18-34 WGN-AM Middays ranked 27th and WCKG-FM Afternoons ranked 11th. In 35-64 WGN-AM Middays ranked 4th and WCKG-FM Afternoons ranked 4th. Maybe the lion needs to wake up..
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7-24-99:Dahlxing? Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) could possibly be positioning himself for the future. Will we hear Dahl doing his show from the comfort of his home over Dahl.com and not WCKG-FM? This past week at the Summer Internet World show at McCormick Place which featured e-Commerce companies Dahl did a special "live" broadcast over the Internet featuring companies such as: eCode.com offering a universal Internet ID perfect for business people. Accuweather.com offering their reliable weather service to a reunion with an old radio friend Seth Mason who is now involved with Fastweb.com. However, during the broadcast Dahl was asked about the pending suit his wife Janet Dahl has with Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM). Dahl revealed that in his opinion it's an "air-tight" case in Janet's favor. Dahl also admitted that he's received some heat from WCKG-FM management about his website Dahl.com. At one point saying that WCKG-FM General Manager Mike Disney requested a portion of Dahl.com's banner advertising revenue. Dahl stated that he has "not made one penny off the Internet". A Northfield Internet company Audiocast.net which "offers Internet distribution of existing talk-radio programs, original talk-radio content, streaming audio services and development of in-house radio stations for corporate communications and marketing" offers the entire 2 hour Internet show on their website. And, presumably would be interested in a long term future broadcasting relationship should Dahl not come to terms with WCKG-FM and CBS. And who knows if the Dahl family falls into a cash windfall Dahl could afford to tinker with Internet broadcasting.
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7-20-99:#1 the loneliest number? Number one rated adult afternoon talker Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) expressed his frustrations with CBS management and their lack of understanding on his radio show. Dahl briefly touched upon a subject that will be the topic of future discussion as live Internet audio streaming becomes more common and the quality improves. Can well-known personalities break away from standard broadcast mediums such as Radio and TV establish an Internet website and broadcast live on their own website and draw viewers and listeners? Dahl has proven his drawing power in the past as he has switched from various Chicago radio stations. As computers stores give away free computers attracting more Internet users this could be a reality in the future. Dahl expressed his unhappiness with CBS management and said on his show today (7/19) that when his contract expires in a couple of years he is seriously considering broadcasting his show over the Internet and presumably marketing and selling ads from his own website. To test the waters Dahl will broadcast a special Internet only show "live" 10am - Noon on Tuesday (7/20) on his website Dahl.com from McCormick Place at the Summer Internet World show which runs this week through Thursday. Maybe Steve will hookup with Lou Dobbs who recently left his position as business editor at CNN and anchor "Moneyline News Hour" to launch his own Internet venture, Space.com.
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Update 6-28-99:Plug in! Wondering what all the commotion was about Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) unplugging himself from his simulcast to WKRK-FM in Detroit? You can hear RealAudio in case you missed all the excitement. And the audio is available on Dahl.com! Wonder if the Leykis tirade will also be included? And will Dahl continue his hilarious critique this week of Tom Leykis taking shots at him. Enjoy!
"The Pause Guy" On his Friday show (6/25) Steve Dahl played back a tape of the Tom Leykis show aired in place of the unplugged Dahl show on WKRK-FM in Detroit. Leykis welcomed the opportunity to take Dahl's place and made fun of Dahl's departure and ridiculed his famous long pauses. Leykis at one point said "I was talking to the (WKRK) general manager of 97.1 they were talking about like putting spots in there (Dahl's pauses) . You know, this Pause in the Steve Dahl Show brought to you by Heineken!" Dahl listening to the Leykis tape made fun of his rock-jock delivery style calling Leykis a "Puker". Leykis was amazed that someone would pull the plug on his own show and added "nobody was listening. Nobody. People thought it was another pause in the show, they were waiting for the next thing!" Apparently there is no love lost between Dahl and Leykis the two crossed paths in Boston earlier last year. Leykis called him "Mr Steve Pussy" and added "if Steve had any guts he would play this on the air". It seems Dahl is turning this entire incident into a radio bit and firing back at Leykis and WKRK-FM. Dahl also brought up the fact that Leykis was arrested in 1993 when he worked at WRKO-AM in Boston on charges he assaulted and threatened to kill his wife. We checked and those charges were later dropped by Boston prosecutors and Leykis agreed to enter a program for batterers. Word is that WKRK-FM will move up the Leykis Show to 6-10pm slot. No word on what time Mancow Muller will air on WKRK.
"He thinks all bridges lead to him anyway" Gonzo and Erin were back on the air on WKRK-FM taking shots at Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) and his recently unplugged show in Detroit. According to the Detroit News Dahl's show has been replaced by segments of arch nemesis Mancow Muller and Tom Leykis until WKRK-FM finds a permanent replacement. It appears that the Dahl experiment is over in Detroit whose latest ratings went from 0.7 to 0.4 (12+). Erin Carmen of Gonzo and Erin (WKRK) made the comment "I guess he's not worried about burning bridges, because he thinks all bridges lead to him anyway" and the Detroit News adds "during the January-March ratings period, Dahl's show had the smallest audience share of any major commercial station on the Detroit dial."
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6-24-99:Steve Dahl vs WKRK-FM saga continues. According to Dahl today (6/23) he was asked by CBS management for a written explanation about yesterday's incident with Detroit's WKRK-FM. Dahl mentioned he was ready to comply until he heard WKRK-FM midday talk hosts "Erin and Gonzo" at 3pm when Dahl normally began his show giving more airtime to Rudy DeSantis the board op who dissed Dahl during commercial breaks demanding backpay for having to endure Dahl's show. It was called "Rudy's Rave" a direct shot at "Dave's Rave" a feature by Dahl's newsman. Rudy began his rave with "Webster's dictionary defines the word Suck as Steve, Steve Dahl!" the Detroit board op added that he celebrated yesterday's demise of the Dahl show and "I also calculated the amount of thought provoking dead air during his show from December 11th. The day he started to yesterday at 5:30pm the 22nd day of June, a total of 166 Dahl broadcast days multiplied by a very generous estimate of 15 minutes of dead air, or just Joy giggling during the show. This amount of non-broadcast broadcasting time has accumulated to 36 standard hours of my life that I will never ever get back! To which I am demanding that a week's salary by reimbursed by the Dahl show!"after hearing those slams an irritated Dahl indicated he would not comply with the CBS request for a written explanation. Dahl did mention that he would put audio on his website for his Detroit fans and presumably CBS bosses in New York.
Dahl Da Bomb? Steve Dahl's Detroit's simulcast appears to have ended today on WKRK-FM in Detroit. According to Dahl WKRK-FM general manager Steve Sinicropi was unhappy with the latest Arbitron ratings ranking 23rd (12+) sent a scathing fax with a graph showing Dahl's downward ratings trend. Dahl said the Sinicropi fax was about his (Dahl) low ratings with a caution that they (ratings) would not be tolerated. An incensed Dahl unhappy with the marketing efforts and treatment he's received from WKRK-FM (including the board op who during breaks has taken shots at Dahl) said he had had enough and walked over to the unit transmitting his show to Detroit and pulled the plug to end the "live" transmission from Chicago's WCKG-FM to Detroit's WKRK-FM.
Here's what happened. Dahl had his producer monitor WKRK-FM via phone (aired on WCKG-FM) to make sure his final goodbye was aired. Here's what Chicago heard: Dahl saying good-bye to his Detroit listeners saying he hoped that CBS should "get rid of that general manager cause he's a moron" and "I can't take it" and concluded with "thanks for listening" and Dahl pulled the live transmission plug. Here's what Detroit heard: dead air and what appeared to be the board ops final shot at Dahl by playing a promotional announcement for Mancow. The balance of the afternoon on Detroit's WKRK-FM featured the best of "Erin and Gonzo" the midday DJs. What will happen next? Is this another radio stunt? It doesn't appear to be. Will CBS corporate bosses get upset with Steve Dahl? Will this bold move effect his status with CBS WCKG-FM? Stay tuned. It's not boring!
Dahl dose. On Dahl's website reaction from Detroit is coming in "I was listening to the Stever today and he was talking about WKRK sucks (which it does!) and all of a sudden the audio got all missed up and it sounded like a broken record and I heard Steve say something like 'Sorry guys, it's been fun but I'm not doing this anymore' and before you know it WKRK starts to play the best of Gonzo Greg and Erin Carman. Screw those two idiots!!! I hate WKRK!!! Steve and Howard were the only two people wroth listening on that GD station."
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What Goes Around Comes Around Dahl Seemingly Can�t Take His Own Medicine
Another Day, Another Lawsuit:
Mancow Sued Again
Update 6-16-99:Cow is now. The media will be paying more attention to the "Cow" in court than the cows on Michigan Ave. Janet Dahl wife of Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) has filed a $110 million dollar defamation lawsuit against Mancow Muller, WKQX-FM, Emmis Communications, WCIU-TV Channel 26, Weigel Broadcasting just to name a few. At issue is Mancow Muller who began in January making fun of Steve Dahl's show and took shots at Dahl's wife calling her a "stupid bitch!" and "disgusting skank". And even said that Dahl's kids would rather hang out with Mancow and at one point related a story when Dahl "came over to me and asked me for my autograph for his kids". And wondered how it was "sleeping with that bitch wife he puts on his show" and even stated that "he (Dahl) spent all of his money on drugs and ugly shirts." and that he was a "bloated pig who has no talent." Muller is also being sued by Keith Van Horne a former Chicago Bear player. These lawsuits are going to be watched by the industry and will probably be a future barometer how far DJs can go in their radio bits.
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Update: 6-10-99Dahl faux pas? Rumors circulated on the Internet including major newspapers that some Chicago radio personalities were possibly being considered for the new Talk format change for WNEW-FM in New York. Now it appears that Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) is not one of the candidates for the WNEW-FM format change expected next week. WNEW-FM management still refuse to comment on the impending format switch, but the industry rumor is that it will Tom Leykis from Los Angeles as one of the new additions. No word on Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) being considered for the position. But, WNEW-FM afternoon hosts Opie & Anthony would certainly not welcome Mancow. They are miffed at Mancow for stealing one of their radio bits "Whip 'Em Out Wednesday". Opie & Anthony were forced to cancel their radio bit by management, but reportedly Mancow lifted their idea for his radio show.
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6-4-99:"I won't quit!" Steve Dahl is claiming WKRK-FM in Detroit is trying to get rid of his show. Apparently Dahl's slow delivery is a main point of contention. WKRK-FM is even running announcements during his show informing Detroit listeners their afternoon show is different and not to be concerned when they hear dead air during Dahl's show. An irritated Dahl suggested WKRK-FM is unhappy with his show and is using his slow deliberate style and trying to get rid of him. "I won't quit!" Dahl added and said "we have a deal, there's no contract (with WKRK-FM) but I guarantee you that Mel Karmazin dude will honor (the) deal..contract or no." and he says WKRK-FM is just trying to push his "hot button!" to make him quit. "I expect to be on the air (in Detroit) for a year" Dahl emphatically stated. The dead air issue is not something new with Dahl and became more evident when his ex-partner Garry Meier (now on WLS-AM) quit. Meier was good at weaving his own humor in between Dahl's pauses and even triggered comical exchanges that were the trademark for the Steve & Garry show. The dead air issue could present a problem for national syndication for Dahl since other markets have not grown up with Dahl and would have trouble understanding the constant pauses. It appears obvious that if Dahl wants national syndication he will have to look for another partner like Garry Meier.
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5-28-99:Internal problems! Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) was tipped off by his Detroit listeners on WKRK-FM that the "board op" was making Dahl look like a buffoon during commercial breaks. WKRK-FM in Detroit does not have as many advertisers as WCKG-FM which means there is extra time to fill until Dahl returns. Apparently during those breaks the Detroit board operator is doing news, weather and traffic. During that time the "board op" cuts in and makes comments about Dahl's weight and appearance, according to Dahl's Detroit listeners. An obviously incensed Dahl began listening to Detroit's breaks to "catch" the culprit in action. According to Dahl the "board op" actions were very unprofessional.
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5-11-99:Mancow & Dahl in New York? Even though they may wind up in court in a lawsuit both Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) and Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM)could also wind up in New York together. If you remember we first reported the story several weeks ago that WNEW-FM did miserably in the ratings and the email we got from New York pointed to a format change for WNEW-FM. Now, the New York Daily News is reporting, "WNEW-FM, is canning the music and switching to an all-talk format" and "the new format is expected to be in place before the next radio ratings period starts June 1". Rumors are circulating that it may include Mancow Muller and to some degree Steve Dahl. Dahl is considered to be too "local" even though he is on in Detroit. However, we are now receiving email from New York indicating that CBS not only is considering "talk", but now since CBS has unveiled it's "Dancin' Oldies" format in Hartford. CBS is also looking at the new oldies format and it's also on the table for consideration. At this point, it's a matter of deciding which direction to go. One industry watcher has suggested that CBS, "would be smart to put Mancow on WNEW-FM in the mornings to go head-to-head against Howard Stern on K-Rock", if WNEW-FM goes to a talk format.
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5-10-99:Dahl dose? Chicago Sun Times columnist Neil Steinberg had an interesting column on the Mancow-Dahl battle. Steve Dahl has threatened to file a lawsuit against Mancow Muller for bashing his wife Janet. Steinberg in Sunday's column stated, "Obviously, Dahl wants to get back at Muller. But a lawsuit? To me, a lawsuit is the last resort of the powerless, the fired employee facing a big corporation, the abused neighbor with no other recourse. Isn't Dahl sitting in front of an open microphone five days a week? Couldn't he, oh, I don't know, say something biting that would return the favor and end the matter without dragging it into a courtroom? After all the FCC trouble Dahl has been through, is he really the kind of guy who wants to rush to law? It's whiny, like a kid running to the teacher and saying Billy is teasing him.". I mean, Muller is a pretty broad target. I had never heard his show until my publishing company sent me there to promote a book. Muller kept me cooling my heels for an hour in a side room, which would have been OK, but I had to listen to the program. He's Pat Buchanan for lowbrow teenagers". So much for Rush Jr.
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Update 1-12-99:"Back Stabbing Prick!" The chains are off and the battle seems to have started. Mancow took major shots at Steve Dahl today (1/12). Even though in Chicago Mancow is heard in the mornings at WKQX and Steve Dahl is on afternoons at WCKG they share the same station in Detroit on WKRK-FM (97.1) Steve Dahl live (3-8 p.m.) and Mancow taped re-run of his morning show (8-midnight). Mancow knowing that his show begins immediately after Dahl's show ends in Detroit wasted no time in spending almost the first half hour taking aim at Dahl saying, "there's a guy that has to work...he pissed away all of his money." and that Dahl is "not equipped to do battle with me. (He is) so slow and so pathetic...and here's a guy that would sit and tell me over and over that he could've been huge. He could've been Howard Stern." he further went on to say that Dahl wanted to be the King of All Media and didn't make it. And even mentioned that at one point Dahl and Mancow were friends until Dahl trashed his father and at that point all gloves were off for Mancow. Detroit listeners are being treated to a big battle. It will be interesting to check the Detroit ratings in a few months to see how both are doing.
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