DAWSON TO LEAVE KSDO FOR KANSAS CITY

Dave Dawson is going to Kansas City, Mo.

After five years as the controversial morning talk-show host on radio station KSDO-AM (1130), Dawson is packing up his microphone and moving to Kansas City’s KCMO-AM (810), where he’ll have the same duties, KSDO president and general manager Chris Conway said Monday.

Both stations have news/talk formats and are owned by Gannett Broadcasting. KCMO joined the fold only a month ago, said Conway, who recently returned to KSDO after a three-year absence.

“The exact timetable is yet to be determined, but at this point in time, we’re going to accede to his request to go to our other station in Kansas City,” he said.

“But we’re first going to have to get a replacement--and Dave is such a tremendous talent that he’s going to be hard to replace, if that’s even the right word.”

Fittingly, Dawson’s departure is shrouded in as much controversy as his three-hour call-in talk show, where his arch-conservative views were routinely criticized by liberal groups.

Dawson himself refused to comment. Conway added that John Mainelli, KCMO’s new operations manager, had worked with Dawson at KSDO when he was program director from 1983 to 1985.

KSDO publicist Nikki Symington, however, said Dawson is leaving to strengthen his affiliation with the Unity Church, which is based in the Kansas City area, “and Dave wants to explore a little of his religious background.”

But a station source close to Dawson, who asked to remain anonymous, said Dawson is leaving KSDO because he feels threatened by newcomer Roger Hedgecock.

The ex-mayor took over as KSDO’s afternoon talk-show host in January and has been steadily catching up to Dawson’s high ratings ever since.

“Dave’s real jealous over Roger,” the source said. “Dave always has to be No. 1, and whenever there’s a threat of someone even coming close to his ratings, he gets very protective.

“In the last ratings book that came out (in mid-July), Dave’s ratings were still higher than Roger’s, but Roger’s audience increased by a higher percentage than Dave’s did.

“And that made Dave a little more squeamish.”

The source added, though, that Dawson’s departure was in the works long before the release of the latest Arbitron ratings survey--and well-known around the station “because he was always complaining about something.”

In late June, the source said, Dawson’s complaints led KSDO management to prevent him from going on the air minutes before the scheduled start of his shift. A temporary replacement filled in for Dawson that day and the entire next week.

The first week in July, the source said, Dawson fired his producer of five years, Steve Casio. KSDO management, in turn, switched things around to placate Dawson: Casio was moved to afternoons, and Doug Young, producer of the Hedgecock show, went to mornings.

Two weeks later, the source said, Dawson fired Young as well.

“He felt neither one was being loyal to his show,” the source said. “But in the end, it became apparent to everyone that Dave just needed a scapegoat for his own dissatisfaction.”

Hedgecock may have been the motivating factor in Dawson’s decision to leave, but the ex-mayor insists he harbors no ill will toward his morning counterpart.

In fact, he would like him to stay.

“If this news is true, I think it’s very bad for San Diego,” Hedgecock said. “And as soon as this comes out in the paper, I’m going to personally start a petition-gathering campaign, on my show, to keep Dave Dawson in San Diego.”