{"id":5090,"date":"2014-09-28T07:00:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=5090"},"modified":"2014-09-29T12:03:33","modified_gmt":"2014-09-29T17:03:33","slug":"steve-dahl-calls-wgn-worst-radio-station-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/09\/28\/steve-dahl-calls-wgn-worst-radio-station-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Dahl rips WGN as \u2018worst radio station ever\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Steve<\/a>

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

If Steve Dahl ever considers making a comeback on terrestrial radio, you can be sure it won\u2019t<\/em> be on WGN AM 720<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a 10-minute rant on his daily podcast<\/a> Friday, the Chicago radio legend excoriated the Tribune Media news\/talk station and directed particular vitriol at his former boss, Jimmy deCastro, now president and general manager of WGN.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the worst radio station ever now,\u201d Dahl told listeners. \u201cIt\u2019s as bad as it was when I got to town in 1978, only it\u2019s people my age and younger doing it \u2014 committing these heinous broadcasting crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saying \u201cit\u2019s time to dial up the hatred,\u201d Dahl called Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder \u201cthe world\u2019s worst afternoon show,\u201d and Steve Cochran a \u201cfucking dipshit,\u201d among other things.<\/p>\n

\"WGN<\/a>

WGN Walk of Fame (September 24)<\/p><\/div>\n

What set him off was a photograph posted on Marianne Murciano\u2019s Facebook page<\/a> of WGN employees assembled in front of the station for the dedication of Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes\u2019 plaque on the WGN Walk of Fame. Kneeling front and center in the photo are deCastro and Todd Manley, vice president of content and programming.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know they\u2019ve got that fake WGN Walk of Fame or whatever, which is classic Jim deCastro,\u201d Dahl said. \u201cI refuse to call him \u2018Jimmy\u2019 because he\u2019s a grown man. It\u2019s like the whole WGN staff out there. The great Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder, the world\u2019s worst afternoon show. It\u2019s to honor Pat Hughes, right? But he\u2019s in the back row, and out in front is Jim deCastro, like posing. I wanted to write on Marianne\u2019s post: \u2018When did Jim deCastro announce for the Cubs?\u2019 . . . That guy\u2019s such a fucking glory hog.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/a>

Jimmy deCastro<\/p><\/div>\n

Added Dahl: \u201cWhen I saw that picture, I was: \u2018Really, man? Really, Jim? You\u2019re out in front?\u2019 He looked liked he was in one of those Russian dances, you know, where they get down on one knee and the other leg\u2019s extended. He was stealing all of the thunder of everybody else in the photo \u2014 including Pat Hughes, the guy who was allegedly being honored on the fake Walk of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Radio Hall of Famer became a millionaire working for deCastro at WLUP FM 97.9 in the \u201980s and \u201990s, but apparently that\u2019s all water under the Loop. \u201cJim deCastro made his bones off of Steve and Garry, Johnny Brandmeier, other people\u2019s talent,\u201d Dahl said. \u201cAnd now he acts like he\u2019s the talent behind that radio station. It\u2019s really weird. And then he\u2019s out in front of everybody, making this hammy pose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dahl also ripped WGN for dropping the Cubs broadcast rights and then honoring Hughes on his way out. \u201cThey\u2019re acting like it\u2019s a happy occasion,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna end up being a huge mistake. . . . First off, it was a really bad idea to not re-sign them [the Cubs] because that means more Wendy Snyder and Bill Leff every afternoon. When John Williams is the best guy you have on the air, you\u2019ve got big problems \u2014 with all due respect to Bob [Sirott] and Marianne [Murciano].\u201d<\/p>\n

One more shot: \u201cIf you listen, like every other commercial is \u2018Hey, I just had my gutters repaired by so-and-so, or I just had my, you know, poontang hair removed by so-and-so.\u2019 Stop. Everybody stop. Just stop. Turn it off.\u00a0Turn it off!\u201d<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> Steve Cochran responds: \"Why so bitter, Steve?\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If Steve Dahl ever considers making a comeback on terrestrial radio, you can be sure it won\u2019t be on WGN AM 720. In a 10-minute rant on his daily podcast Friday, the Chicago radio legend excoriated the Tribune Media news\/talk station and directed particular vitriol at his former boss, Jimmy deCastro, now president and general... 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\/5090"}],"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=5090"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5115,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5090\/revisions\/5115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}