St. Louis Radio: Kevin Slaten Exits KFNS

Kevin Slaten

Kevin Slaten, the longtime boisterous sports-talk radio host who has taken on local teams, high-profile players and members of the media for years, is planning to change formats.

According to stltoday.com, longtime Slaten announced Friday that he is leaving KFNS 590 AM and will be concentrating his efforts on going into news/political talk at one of the Insane Broadcasting Company radio stations run by Bob Romanik — KQQX 1190 AM or KZQZ 1430 AM.

Slaten’s final live KFNS broadcast was Friday, with replays of his shows set to run for the next two weeks while he takes vacation time in order to try to develop a new show.

Also departing is Owen Schroyer, who has been Slaten’s sidekick and is headed to Austin, Texas, to work as a news reporter.

Slaten’s exit comes as the day-to-day operations of KFNS are about to be taken over by Tim McKernan, who is being given an ownership stake by owner Randy Markel. McKernan, who is to start Sept. 1, now controls the weekday programming at jock-jabber competitor WGNU 920 AM and is expected to bring many of those shows to KFNS.

Markel took over KFNS late last year and has vowed to make the station profitable after a long series of financial woes.