Changes are coming to KFNS 590 The Fan in St. Louis, beginning with Dino Costa leaving his late night show on the station.
Costa’s second stint with KFNS was longer than his first, but still short-lived after concluding last week. In January, Costa rejoined The Fan for their 11pm – 1am timeslot, returning to the station where he once served as host of their morning show.
In 2016, Costa spent just six weeks at The Fan, quickly departing because of a potential change in management, with station owner Randy Markel bringing in Tim McKernan. McKernan left in 2017, but now appears to be closing in on a deal to purchase KFNS from Markel, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Markel hired Costa for both of his KFNS tenures.
“Whenever there might be a change in management structure, not only for me personally, but I think a lot of people who are at the station have to think about where they might fit in — or not,” Costa told Dan Caesar of The Post-Dispatch. ”Would a new management team have kept my show on board when or if they took over? I don’t know, perhaps not?”
When Markel brought Costa back for his second go-round in St. Louis, the plan was to eventually move him into a more prominent timeslot with the station. After seven months in late-night, Markel still said Costa was set to take over their afternoon show once current host, Frank O. Pinion retired, which was expected to happen by the end of the summer.
With Costa leaving, KFNS restructured O. Pinion’s contract, now planning to keep his entertainment show on afternoon drive indefinitely. Markel, however, would like to refocus The Fan with sports talk. The station’s current owner noted they’ve veered from sports recently with O. Pinion’s afternoon show and Larry Connors political-based program which airs from 9 – 11pm.
“This wasn’t a good fit from the start, we need to go back to our roots, which is sports,” Markel said. “We thought we could change it, but people look at 590 as sports.” For now, O. Pinion and Connors shows will continue to be part of The Fan’s lineup.
Costa is a talented radio host, but his polarizing commentary on politics and social issues have played a role in his struggle to find a consistent home on the dial in recent years. After being let go from SiriusXM in 2013, Costa attempted to create his own platform, charging listeners an annual fee. The sports radio host also had short stints in Portland and New York before returning to St. Louis. According to Costa, he has a new gig lined up which weighed into his decision to leave KFNS.
“I won’t talk about this in any specifics, but I will say that it could be a tremendous opportunity with a platform that plays to my strengths as a talk-show host,” he told Dan Caesar. ”I’ll also say that it’s a project that will expose my show and provide it with visibility that I haven’t known since my days of doing national radio with SiriusXM.”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is also reporting that The Fan’s midday lineup will look different beginning this week with 6pm host, Cam Janssen joining Charlie Marlow in the noon hour. Marlow’s previous co-host, Martin Kilcoyne will partner with Frank Cusumano from 10am – noon. Taking over for Janssen in the 6pm hour could be former KXFN host Nick Trupiano, but an official announcement has not been made.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
