{"id":20282,"date":"2018-12-21T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=20282"},"modified":"2018-12-21T10:28:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T16:28:04","slug":"happy-ending-stellar-career-steve-dahl-leaves-wls-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2018\/12\/21\/happy-ending-stellar-career-steve-dahl-leaves-wls-today\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Happy ending\u2019 to stellar career as Steve Dahl leaves WLS today"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Brendan Greeley, Steve Dahl and Dag Juhlin<\/p><\/div>\n

Forty years after Steve Dahl burst onto Chicago radio as a 23-year-old cocksure kid hosting a morning show called \u201cSteve Dahl\u2019s Rude Awakening,\u201d he\u2019s bowing out as an elder statesman with humility and gratitude.<\/p>\n

Friday marks the final day on the air for the\u00a0broadcast icon and Radio Hall of Famer as afternoon personality on WLS 890-AM. <\/a>The Cumulus Media news\/talk station is replacing<\/a> him with Ben Shapiro, a Los Angeles-based conservative commentator deemed more compatible with Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and the other syndicated hosts onboard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Steve Dahl<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt has been both an honor and a privilege to have been invited into the homes, cars and workplaces of Chicago for the last 40 years,\u201d Dahl, 64, told me Thursday. \u201cI have made a home here, and raised a family \u2014 now with nine grandkids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about what may be his farewell broadcast on terrestrial radio, Dahl said the only thing he has planned for Friday\u2019s show is to \u201cstart it at 2 p.m. and end it at 6 p.m.,\u201d adding: \u201cActually, that\u2019s not true. There are a few surprises planned, but I\u2019m usually the last to know \u2014 by choice. I hate surprises.\u201d<\/p>\n

The subscription podcast he\u2019s been hosting at dahl.com<\/a> since 2011 will continue with Dahl holding forth each day alongside co-hosts Dag Juhlin and Brendan Greeley. (Here is the link to subscribe.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy current agreement with Cumulus doesn\u2019t end until February 28, 2019, so we are still trying to figure out a plan for going forward with a partnership regarding the podcast,\u201d Dahl said. \u201cWe\u2019ll take another stab at it after the first of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the meantime, Dag, Brendan and I will either record episodes at NBC Tower [Cumulus studios], at home or a combination of both. We have a great chemistry together, and it deserves further exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Steve Dahl (1979)<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s not the first time Dahl has signed off from terrestrial radio. After he was cut by CBS Radio in 2008, he began podcasting from his basement in 2009 and launched his ambitious subscription podcast venture two years later. He returned to the air<\/a> to host afternoons on WLS in 2014. But this time around, there\u2019s an air of finality to his departure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have finally learned to say \u2018never say never\u2019 when it comes to radio versus Steve Dahl, but I\u2019m also happy to have the time to focus on the podcast network and see where that leads,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Whatever comes next, Dahl knows he\u2019s had a phenomenal run pioneering a new form of talk radio, defying convention, testing limits, and paving the way for the next generation. (\u201cPeople weren't really sure what to make of me when I came to town, but I wore them down, and it all worked out,\u201d he once shared.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been on some epic stations \u2014 WLUP and AM 1000 \u2014 in what was the best radio market in the country. I\u2019ve had a lot of fun, pissed a few people off \u2014 maybe more than a few \u2014 and met a lot of great people along the way,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my book, that\u2019s a happy ending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s comment of the day:<\/a> Eric Field:<\/strong> An announcer who actually pauses to the rhythm of the game and allows it to breathe. How refreshing. Won't find that anywhere else. Congrats, Pat [Hughes].<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forty years after Steve Dahl burst onto Chicago radio as a 23-year-old cocksure kid hosting a morning show called \u201cSteve Dahl\u2019s Rude Awakening,\u201d he\u2019s bowing out as an elder statesman with humility and gratitude. Friday marks the final day on the air for the\u00a0broadcast icon and Radio Hall of Famer as afternoon personality on WLS... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20282"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20302,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20282\/revisions\/20302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}