During Tuesday’s broadcast of Devil’s Advocate Radio, hosts Mike Crute and Dom Salvia had some “good news, great news and horribly bad news” to share with their listeners.
First, the good: Ratings for the progressive talk radio show are strong, particularly among listeners age 45 to 74 and among women. Next, the great: The show, which launched on The Mic 92.1 FM in February 2012, has been picked up for national syndication and is set to debut Jan. 3 in about 20 major media markets.
Then, the “horribly bad:” The Mic, which is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, is ending its contract with Devil’s Advocate Radio, effective in about a week. Crute received a letter Tuesday notifying him of the decision, which he says came with no warning and no option to negotiate. “Effectively, we’re fired in 10 days,” Crute said on Tuesday’s broadcast.
“Yesterday was probably the hardest show we ever did, and today’s not going to be any easier,” Crute tells Isthmus. “We live our lives on the radio. [But] we couldn’t not tell our audience, [because] we might not get a goodbye show.”
Devil’s Advocate Radio, which started as a hobby for Crute and Salvia, has since become a platform for progressives to discuss Gov. Scott Walker and his ascension to national prominence as well as Republican control of Wisconsin state government. Both hosts were arrested in the 2013 Capitol Police crackdown on the singing protest. Salvia was awarded $75,000 in a settlement between state Attorney General Brad Schimel and Walker’s administration. Crute also has a lawsuit underway.
The news of the show's cancellation came as a shock to Devil’s Advocate Radio listeners, who swiftly launched a Change.org petition urging The Mic program director Tim Scott to keep the show on the air. But Crute says it’s unclear whether the decision to end the contract came from the local station or from corporate higher-ups at iHeartMedia. It’s also unclear whether Devil’s Advocate is the only show being axed.
“We don’t know [where] it’s appropriate to direct our anger,” Crute says. “We’re trying to moderate our reaction to this.”
A receptionist reached Wednesday at The Mic said Scott was unavailable for comment. Keith Bratel, iHeartMedia’s Madison market president, did not return a phone call from Isthmus.
Devil’s Advocate Radio is an independent operation, meaning Crute and Salvia are not employees of the station. The pair contracts to buy airtime from The Mic and then lines up sponsors for advertising, a model that has become profitable for the duo. “It’s not unusual that we would have a contractual conversation, but they’ve never canceled us before, and they’re not offering alternatives, which leads me to believe that they’re going to flip the signal,” Crute says, referring to a large-scale change in format for the station.
The Mic and iHeartRadio knew that the show was going national, and Crute had hoped for a “seamless transition.” He planned to keep the show’s focus on Wisconsin politics, even negotiating to retain local sponsors and keep a “Wisconsin-centric” hour of content. But now that the contract termination has left Devil’s Advocate Radio without a home, that local coverage connection could disappear. Crute is in the process of looking for a new Wisconsin-based radio affiliate to host the show, but if negotiations fail, he worries about what losing the show might mean for Wisconsin political discourse.
“We didn’t want to go anywhere. Nothing has changed about the governing of Wisconsin since we started doing the show. We have a cause and a fight here,” Crute says. “Our government is just so terrible in Madison under the current Republican chokehold. How can we not be there, speaking truth to the Walker administration?”
