Dayton not coming to a radio station near you

At least for now, Gov. Mark Dayton will not be joining his predecessors in hosting a gubernatorial radio show.

Dayton, a DFLer, lacked offers that would have given him the state-wide reach and palatable time slots offered to other governors, his spokesman said.

"We were looking for an opportunity for Minnesota's to have a conversation with the governor in every corner of the state and none of the proposals give us that opportunity," said Bob Hume, a Dayton spokesman said Tuesday.

WCCO-AM, which hosted Friday morning radio shows for Gov. Jesse Ventura and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, offered Dayton an hour long 7:00 a.m. slot on Saturday morning. Dayton had requested a time slot "during or as close as possible to the morning drive time."

Steve Moore, operations manager at WCCO, said about the same number of people listen to the station on Saturday morning as listen Friday mornings, when the former governor's hosted their shows.

"We feel like information seekers use Saturday and Sunday mornings. I think the President of the United States does his address on Saturday mornings. The Republican response is on Saturday mornings," Moore said.

The station also requested that Ted Mondale, the head of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission co-host the show.

"One of the biggest issues in the state right now is talk of the Vikings stadium," said Mick Anselmo, vice president and general manager of CBS Radio Minneapolis. He said it was just a suggestion and if the governor's office did not like it Dayton could have come back with a different idea.

The station also said WCCO would not provide equipment, engineers or technical support if Dayton choose to do the show from anywhere outside the station's Minneapolis studio. Not infrequently, Pawlenty took his show on the road.

"The contractor shall provide to the state all necessary equipment and personnel necessary to broadcast the Governor's Radio Show," was one of the mandatory requirements Dayton's office laid out.

Anselmo and Moore said they wished the governor, rather than rejecting their bid, had initiated a dialogue with the station so they could make it more palatable. (Update: The WCCO proposal did not indicate that flexibility.)

"Of course we want the association with the governor," said Anselmo.

On Tuesday, the governor's office told them all that they had "decided not to proceed."