Bobby Skafish

Chicago rock radio veteran Bobby Skafish is out after eight years as afternoon personality at Hubbard Radio classic hits WDRV FM 97.1. His last day on the air was Thursday.

No reason was cited for the move, but The Drive’s afternoon ratings have not kept pace with mornings and middays among the station’s target audience.

“Bobby has been gracing afternoon drive for us these past eight years, and has been an amazing partner, collaborator and communicator in helping shape the sound of The Drive,” Hubbard Radio senior vice president of programming Greg Solk and The Drive program director Curtiss Johnson wrote in a memo announcing Skafish’s departure to the staff. “Please join us in wishing Bobby all the best in his future endeavors.”

A highly regarded mainstay of rock radio here for four decades, the Indiana University graduate began at WXRT FM 93.1 in 1976 and also worked for WLUP FM 97.9 and WKQX FM 101.1 before returning to WXRT in 1994. Skafish joined The Drive in 2007.

Steve Seaver

Succeeding Skafish from 2 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday will be Steve Seaver, a nine-year veteran of The Drive who most recently hosted weekend and fill-in shifts and handled production duties at the station.

Friday’s move follows the retirement earlier this year of Steve Downes after 14 years as morning personality at The Drive.

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, The Drive tied for 15th in afternoons with a 2.6 percent share and cumulative weekly audience of 541,700. Among men between 25 and 54, The Drive ranked 13th in afternoons with a 3.1 share and 177,550 cume. By comparison, the station ranked third in the target demo in mornings with a 5.5 share and first in middays with a 6.0 share.