Tampa Radio: Sports Talker Steve Duemig Returns To WDAE

tampabay.com photo

After being off-air for about a week over a contract dispute WDAE-AM (620) host Steve Duemig has returned to the air.returned.

And Eric Deggans at The Feed at tampabay.com reports, though he stops short of saying he’s happy how his negotiations turned out, the host insists his absence was a result of WDAE owner Clear Channel Radio’s hardball negotiating tactics.

“I was told to sign a document before our negotiations were done,” noted Duemig, who said back when he left the air that the company wanted him to sign a new agreement before a window opened in his contract allowing him to negotiate with competitors. When he refused, Duemig said, he was taken off the air.

He now declines to say if he talked with any competitors – most obviously WHFS-FM 98.7 The Fan owned by CBS Radio. But Duemig does say that he didn’t get any extra money from the deal, which lasts three years from his current contract’s end in mid-May.

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TB's Take:  Steve could use some guidance from Todd Schnitt on how to negotiate a deal.