Deminski & Doyle

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Deminski & Doyle was a popular and award-winning talk radio program hosted by Jeff Deminski and Bill Doyle. The show began broadcasting at WKRK-FM on August 23, 1999 after several years at Trenton, New Jersey station WKXW. Two long-time associates of the show also often appeared on air. Rudy DeSantis, the show's call screener, was often the butt of the hosts' good-natured jokes (along with Nicole Salem, the show's traffic reporter). Rudy is also the lead singer for the Detroit-area rock band, MindCandy. Beaver (whose real name, Bill Tortarello, was rarely mentioned) was the long-time Executive Producer of the show and often participated in wacky on-air stunts, such as getting drunk on the air or dressing up in costumes (a beaver costume stunt was the source of his nickname). Prior to working at WKRK, Beaver worked with Deminski & Doyle as a phone screener at WKXW in New Jersey.^[1]

The show previously aired weekdays from 3PM to 7PM on Live 97.1 Free FM (WKRK) in Detroit, Michigan. Beginning at 3PM on October 1, 2007, 97.1 flipped to an all-sports format (save for D&D) and was rebranded as "Detroit's Sports Powerouse 97.1 FM & 1270 AM" [later rebranded as "97.1 The Ticket"] WKRK-FM changed to WXYT-FM; a simulcast of 1270-WXYT-AM was launched and "D&D" began airing between 6 AM and 10 AM during the morning drive, competing against rival station WRIF's Drew and Mike show.^[2] They were unable to come to terms with CBS Radio for a new contract during the following months, and after more than eight years in Detroit, they will not be on the air on WXYT in 2008.

On November 29, 2007 it was reported that their final show on WXYT would be on December 14, 2007 as they look to find "greener pastures." ^[3] During the December 2, 2007 broadcast, Deminski and Doyle did not implicitly confirm their resignation, but they alluded to the fact that they might not be around forever and that they "had a good run." They denied the reports by their agent, Mike Novak, that they referred to CBS as "Cheap Beyond Suspicion," and that they decided to leave the station due to salary issues.

1 Departure from WXYT / Future of the show
2 Show content
3 Controversy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Departure from WXYT / Future of the show

The last live broadcast of D&D was on December 7, 2007; their show was put into repeats ("Best-Of") starting on December 10, 2007, a week earlier than the hosts had planned. In a blog interview on December 13, 2007 with former WKRK personality Gregg Henson, Deminski implied that the show will not be returning to WXYT in 2008.^[4] On December 18, 2007, Mike Novak, the agent for Deminski and Doyle, reported that "officially, Deminski and Doyle has left the station and they will not be back on the air on CBS in Detroit."^[5] All references to Deminski and Doyle have been removed from the WXYT website, including the removal of Bill Doyle's name as a co-host to his weekend video game-themed show, Pwned Radio.^[6]

The high-rated duo are currently undecided about their future; they had a one-year no-compete clause in their most recent contract that will keep them off the air in Detroit until 2009 at the earliest.^[7] It appears that they would prefer to remain in Detroit and wait out their no-compete clause, but Deminski has said they would consider leaving the Detroit area "if the offer is right."^[8] As for the show's supporting cast, Beaver is leaving the radio industry^[9], Rudy was fired on January 2, 2008^[10], and Nicole Salem (who worked for an outside company) spent a few months doing traffic reports for WXYT (and other stations), but was let go in March 2008. ^[11] Former WKRK "Motor City Middays" hosts Jay Towers and Bill McAllister took over the 6am-10am timeslot starting January 2, 2008^[12] -- their midday show was cancelled when the switch to an all-sports format occurred in October, but they were not fired; McAllister was retained by WXYT as a co-host of Remodel It Right, a local weekend home improvement show, and Towers worked temporarily as midday personality at CBS RADIO owned oldies station WOMC.

[edit] Show content

The Deminski and Doyle show was a non-political, comedy-based talk show that aired during rush hour commutes. Topics varied from entertainment news, to local Detroit and Michigan issues, to other offbeat news topics (many of their offbeat discussions were based on stories found on Fark). Jeff Deminski described his show as "a radio version of the corner bar, where guys will come in and B.S. with the two guys drinking beers at the end, who would be Bill and me. That's kinda the philosophy we've always had."^[13] Interviews were sometimes conducted with comedians, authors, and other individuals of interest to the hosts. Almost all interviews during the history of the show were done live, either in-studio or via telephone. The only pre-recorded interviews were done with Detroit Lions then-head coach Steve Mariucci when, for a short time, Bill Doyle hosted a small, weekly Lions segment but was forced to tape the Mariucci interviews in advance.

Listeners were heavily encouraged to call into the show, either during discussions or to play games with the hosts. During the final hour of every live Friday broadcast, various games were held and prizes were given away. Also, during the hockey season, Thursdays were known as "Red Wing Thursdays," and at some random point in the show, Detroit Red Wings tickets were given away. Callers would have to identify a celebrity, based on a poorly-done impression recorded by Beaver.

[edit] Controversy

The show (and the radio station) was the subject of an FCC fine in 2002. During the January 9, 2002 broadcast, a discussion of odd sexual practices was conducted, with listeners calling in with their own experiences. A transcript of the segment that resulted in the fine can be found on the FCC's website here. Future shows rarely discussed this incident (though a theme song was recorded for the show at one point by Detroit-based AC/DC cover band Dirty Deeds to the tune of "T.N.T." which contained the line "...just ask the FCC") and the overall tone of the show was made more family-friendly afterwards.