As 2008 comes to a close, any observer of Chicago media will note that the following broadcasters all have something in common: Steve Dahl, Mike North, Eddie & JoBo, and Spike O’Dell. None of those names will be on the air when the year comes to close.

These are strange days in the radio business. At one time in the not-too-distant past, all of these broadcasters were considered franchise players on their respective radio stations. All were well-compensated and commanded the attention of substantial audiences. Not anymore.

Mike North’s contract expired and was not renewed. Spike O’Dell decided to talk away from arguably one of radio’s best gigs because he no longer wanted the job. Eddie & JoBo ended their nearly two decade run on B96 a few weeks ago after their numbers plummeted. CBS is paying the duo to sit out. Steve Dahl is being paid several million dollars to also sit out after CBS decided they didn’t have a place for a hugely talented legend of Chicago radio.

Consider that fact for a moment. CBS would rather pay Steve Dahl to stay off the air than use him somewhere. CBS is, in effect, saying that they don’t know how to use Steve Dahl. On all of their Chicago stations, they don’t see any situation in which Steve Dahl would bring any benefit.

In a business run by managers who clearly don’t understand radio and who have run the stock prices of their respective companies into the ground, Steve Dahl has been exiled for the next couple of years because the CBS Radio Chicago boss Rod Zimmerman thinks that his radio stations will perform better without Steve than with him.

This should be a wake-up call to the other high-priced broadcasters in Chicago. If Steve Dahl can be benched, so can you. The general manager chairs are being filled by incompetent, uncreative bean counters whose lack of management acumen is being manifested by cannibalizing what was once the nation’s top radio market.

The city that once played host to the likes of Larry Lujack, Wally Phillips, and John Landecker is fast becoming a vast wasteland. Now, too much of what fills the airwaves is syndicated or voice-tracked garbage, originating from places like New York or Los Angeles.

When an untalented hack like Erich “Mancow” Muller can bully his way into a shift on WLS by striking a shady revenue sharing deal, you know the situation is bleak. When Westwood One’s Metro/Shadow news and traffic service guts their Chicago operation down to a bare bones operation, there’s not much hope. When talented hands like Garry Meier, John Landecker, Tommy Edwards, and now Steve Dahl are on the outside looking in, it’s a sad day.

2009 could be a very tough year for Chicago radio.