Civic Media has announced that the former co-host of “Devils Advocates Radio” will host a new show in the same afternoon timeslot starting Monday, Sept. 9.
Civic says “The Dom Salvia Show” will air from 4 to 6 p.m. with a “rotating cast of co-hosts and guests.”
Drawing on a famous line from Gov. Tony Evers, Salvia said, “I am jazzed as hell to rejoin the Civic Media team and look forward to engaging with the audience for the most important election of our lifetime!”
The announcement said Salvia’s show will air on 10 Civic Media stations.
Mike Crute, host of “Devils Advocates Radio,” announced Aug. 29 that his show was ending immediately after a disagreement with Civic Media.
The Liberal Talk show had aired from 4 to 6 p.m. on Civic Media’s 11 News/Talk stations across Wisconsin, with an additional hour airing at 3 p.m. in Madison. It was also syndicated to KTNF/950 (St. Louis Park-Minneapolis) and WCPT/820 (Willow Springs-Chicago), which both aired it in the evening.
On the Aug. 29 show, Crute emphasized that he and Salvia had not been fired but that he had decided to end his relationship with Civic Media, which had aired the show under a time brokerage agreement. He said:
“I am done with my brokered radio career. I am no longer paying for the right to go to work every day, it ends today. Unfortunately that affects some fine people lime my friend Dominic and my friend Richard, our producer, and I apologize for the disruption to their lives.
I’m done subsidizing the rich guy’s programming. I asked for a job and apparently this product does not merit pay. We are not equal to those that get paid, and that is an inequitable circumstance that I find untenable.
So of my own volition, no one fired us, we’re not Jay Weber, we didn’t do something specifically to get pushed off the air.
We have been informed that we’re not welcome beyond the election, that we’re not a part of the future of Civic Media, and if that’s the case, we’re not a part of the future of Civic Media starting now.”
Crute later added that the decision was a financial choice, and that he has been operating at a “substantial loss” for the entirety of the year. He said he will be looking for a new radio home.
Civic Media’s most recent FCC ownership report indicates Crute owns 10% of the total assets the company, with the other 90% held by Sage Weil.
Shortly after Crute’s announcement, Civic Media issued a news release announcing the end of the show and thanking Crute and Salvia.
“Dom and Crute’s signature mix of humor and political commentary has endeared them to their audience and undoubtedly helped voters make better decisions.
Show founder Mike Crute was a co-founder of Civic Media, and the Devil’s Advocates Radio Show was the anchor around which Civic Media was built. Civic Media would not exist without his inspiration and tireless dedication to talk radio and Wisconsin politics.
We wish hosts Mike Crute and Dom Salvia the best of luck in their future endeavors, and we will not be surprised to hear them on the air again someday elsewhere on the dial.”
This article was originally posted Aug. 29 and was updated Sept. 5.