Raleigh Radio: Chuck Kaiton OUT After 80% Pay Cut Offer

Chuck Kaiton

NHL Carolina Hurricanes radio play-by-play announcer Chuck Kaiton has covered the franchise since 1979. when it was the Hartford Whalers.

But that will end this season as the 66-year-old Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster declined an offer that asked him to take an 80% pay cut, according to The News & Observer, which spoke to Kaiton’s agent, Lou Oppenheim.

According to the newspaper, the offer also included giving Kaiton the chance to sell sponsorships to help make up for the salary difference.

“I was hoping for a reasonable offer to stay, but obviously the offer was an invitation to leave,” said Kaiton, who won the Foster Hewitt Award in 2004 for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster. “That is how I look at it. I really was hoping we could make some headway. It’s his decision to offer what he offered, and it was quite a substantial decrease. It really basically told me they weren’t that interested in keeping me. That’s life. It’s his team.”

USAToday reports Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon, who became majority owner in March, will instead use a simulcast of the television broadcast on the radio, which is a six-figure loss for the franchise. The Hurricanes’ contract with WCMC-99.9 FM does not have a lucrative rights fee like its television deal. The team estimates it draws fewer than 2,000 listeners per game.

“Radio is not a prudent financial decision,” Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell told the newspaper in May. “It’s important, I think, to have it for the people that still want to listen to it, but it’s something from a business standpoint that doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

According to The News & Observer, Kaiton had not missed calling a game in the 39 years with the franchise.