Thursday, September 26, 2013

Detroit Radio: Rock HOFer Steve Kostan OUT At WCSX

Steve Kostan
Steve Kostan, longtime Classic Rock WCSX- 94.7 FM on-air personality, says he was told Monday that his contract with the Greater Media-owned station, which expires Oct. 1, would not be renewed.

According to The Detroit News, Kostan’s last show was his usual 7 p.m. to midnight shift last Friday night. He had been at WCSX for 18 years, “almost to the day.”

“This isn’t completely out of the blue,” Kostan said. He’s watched as radio stations have been slicing their staffs down to nothing, particularly at night, and replacing local legends with cheaper, syndicated fare, or in some cases, younger, cheaper talent.

“We have not renewed Steve’s contract,” confirmed Greater Media spokeswoman Heidi Raphael in an email to The Detroit News. “We are going in a different direction. We are very grateful to Steve for the contributions he made to the station over the years. Dave Dahmer will be filling in until a replacement is named.”

The veteran jock doesn’t intend to retire. Although the conventional radio landscape has changed, he said he believes there’s still room for a Steve Kostan in some form of radio.

Kostan started out at the legendary WABX-FM, where he was dubbed “the Kid.” A musician himself, he has long-championed local Detroit music and played it more often than most Detroit radio hosts, including on several Sunday night local music shows over the years. Most recently, Kostan was able to stretch out and play more local Detroit music on WCSX’s HD radio channel.

Alone among his peers, Kostan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

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