Our story about Dale Dudley and Waterloo was our number one viewed story Wednesday so we thought we’d highlight a few of the comments from that story and also get more of your feedback on what you believe is the best way to part company with a long-time on-air host.
Dudley, who had been on the air in Austin for 35 years, went on social media and told his audience that he’d been fired. Waterloo Media sent out a press release stating Dudley wasn’t fired, his contract wasn’t renewed.
After reading our story Wednesday, Jackson Dell Weaver wrote this was poorly managed all around. “Waterloo handled it poorly – it was the termination of a major on-air talent, not a plant services contract. And Dudley was in denial if he didn’t anticipate the end of his agreement and advocate for whatever he wanted to happen next. No one gets out of this one with clean boots.”
On his January 4th podcast every year, former Grand Rapids host Eric Zane retells the story about his firing every year. He’s recovered nicely having launched a successful daily podcast and has fun with his final radio firing experience calling it his “fireversary.”
Zane, who had a bad case of the flu at the time, was called at home by the PD and told he was out. That seems to be the typical way radio terminates on-air hosts, eliminating any possiblilty for the host to use the microphone to bad-mouth the company or seek sympathy from the audience. Social media is the go-to platform now for hosts who want to fill their audience in.
Following our story Wednesday, Mike wrote Dudley wasn’t fired. “Being fired is being let go immediately with cause. Having your contract run out and not being offered a new one is not being fired. It may hurt your feelings, but in this case his last day was the last day of his contract. He obviously saw it coming if there were no negotiations in the final months. So it’s not the same as being fired.”
Tom Gauger disagrees with that perspective. “As talent for many years and under performance contracts throughout, if the contract isn’t renewed, you’re fired. Period. As “Norbert” said, it’s semantics and amounts to the same thing as termination. Waterloo Media’s statement to KVUE-TV is corporate spin to avoid audience retaliation. If Waterloo Media wanted to do it the right way, six months before Dudley’s contract was ending they should spoken with him about retiring. The process could have built up to a celebration of Dave Dudley’s last day, all done with good vibes instead of the mess they’re in.”
Dudley had a follow-up Facebook post Wednesday night that included this:
Omg this is too hilarious for words. Sack of refuse gets sacked, Waterloo says it was just the negotiated end of the relationship. Waterloo isn’t stupid, and they did NOTHING wrong. He wanted something they just weren’t prepared to give, because he’s been slipping down the drain for years, or thought they would just extend the contract end date because he is too “important” to lose….whatever the reason, I’ll bet it boils down to this guy’s malignant narcissistic personality. Bet ya money.
Actually, let me give you folks the REAL reason he wasn’t renewed. Austin has changed. Drastically, over the past few years. It’s gotten richer, younger, more cosmopolitan, and in doing so, it’s swept away the clunky, backyard patio chair beer and joint mentality it’s always had in favor of something newer, shinier, and success driven. This guy is just another step in that direction of success. He’s a relic, he is yesterday’s news, NOBODY in Austin cares about him, he’s old. Tired. Washed up. Finished.
And anyone who knows this….man….., and knows Austin, KNOWS I speak the truth. I don’t agree with many of the changes Austin has made to it’s image, but this one I stand behind and support 100%. Smart move Waterloo. The excision of a tumor is essential to healthy long term growth. And there won’t be much backlash. Nobody really cares that much, if at all. Sometimes, that can be a good thing. When is the funeral?
A number of years ago when I was program director I was told the company was going to cut an announcer position. I was given a choice of 2 guys to pick from. I picked the one who never called in sick at the last minute and didn’t cause me any issues with listeners calling to complain. The one I let go spent years in the area telling anyone who would listen that he was fired because he was “too funny” on the air. He also never found another radio job.
On the other hand, I worked for 9 months at a radio station in Wyoming. It was a difficult place to work, with 7 people leaving in that time. When I told the boss/owner I was leaving, he challenged me to go out back and fight him. You can’t really make this stuff up. It’s radio and you have air personalities and managers. It’s not always going to end well.
You fired a guy who caused had less complaints? So, you made the decision that was best for you, not the audience? Folks, this is why Radio is where it is….
When you tell someone where the line is again and again and the phone rings the next day with complaints about something you told him not to talk about and you ask him why he went there and his comment is, “I just want to see if you were right Mike,” that’s where I draw the line. He also called in several times right before his shift began to say he was sick. Folks, this is why we have second guessers in the business that know better than the people in the building.
I guess many have been on both sides of the desk and gained perspective from that. I can appreciate that. That being said, this guy is a real turd, though. For real. Austin will be a better and bigger place without him, and everyone knows it.
I liked his voice and his frequent blow up antics but I did not like his perversion, nor his on air activism. The US government so called deep state maybe classified as a conspiracy but Texas has it’s own and this liberal alcoholic, drug pushing troll stepped on all of them.. from Abbott to Paxton, Dudley’s hatred of conservative values and Real True Christian identities set him apart and sealed his fate. Please seek counseling and beg forgiveness for your very soul. Amen
Someone tell Gauger that performance contracts have ZERO to do with Employment contracts. You can really tell the guys who didn’t have sharp agents (or didn’t have the talent to hire an agent). If you have an exclusive window of negotiation, then that’s where you get your answer. Negotiate dumb contracts and you get dumb endings. It’s that simple. Stop asking “your buddy” about your contract and get serious about your employment deal. If you don’t have the balls to negotiate then you’re handing power to the company.
For anyone that has been in radio for any amount of time would know, the feeling you get when you are not apart of the group anymore. The distance from your managers, the looks from co-workers, the stare from HR. Even if Dudley didn’t know it was coming, the way corporate fires on air personalities is cruel and heartless. Its been that way forever. Not re-newing his contract is termination, termination is firing, firing is unemployment. Granted those that get fired tend to seek revenge, not all, but some. I agree the station needs to look out for their best interest but they need to remember they are dealing with people, people who need to feed their families and pay their bills. There has to be a better option for parting ways with an employee than what is practice currently.
It would seem that a lot of this about the actual event is symantics. No one was nasty in any of the posts that I saw. Dale Dudley’s post was very nice in fact. I would think that Mr. Dudley should have been told that his contract was not going to be renewed well before the day that it expired. It certainly seems that he ss a dedicated professional. After nearly 35 years he should have shoud have been given that courtesy. I seriously doubt that he was going to curse out the station on air or destroy equipment. The management should have done better by him.
Jon. Sack up. It’s a business, not a Hallmark card.