Steve Dahl made a surprise appearance on former sidekick Garry Meier’s last show Friday on WLUP-FM 97.9. The encounter sounded awkward at best.
Armed with a photo of their first day at the old WLUP-AM after leaving WLS-AM together, Dahl told Meier, “I didn’t want you to leave here without me saying goodbye on the air because, for the most part, we always did everything on the air. Good luck to you. I’m sorry things didn’t work out here for you. I’m sure they’ll work out somewhere else.”
After a few minutes of chilly amenities, Dahl left and commercials rolled. When Meier returned, he told listeners, “I’ll never work with Steve again, that’s final. I don’t have anything else to say about it, so let’s move on.”
Dahl, who hadn’t spoken to Meier since their split, except for a very brief encounter in a hallway, later said he had planned on the visit “because I didn’t want to leave things the way they were.” When WLUP-FM morning man Kevin Matthews offered to tag along, Dahl accepted.
“I thought having Kevin in there would be good,” Dahl said. “I didn’t want to come in on Garry’s show and make him uncomfortable because it was his last show. Then Kevin bailed out, but I decided to go in because it seemed like the right thing to do. . . . It was strange. And kind of sad. We did a lot of good things together and that needed to be said.”
Something new: Apparently WFLD-Ch. 32 executives have found a new spot for Bruce Wolf, who lost his sports anchor role on 9 p.m. newscasts. Wolf, who has two years left on his TV contract, says he’ll be part of WFLD’s 6 a.m. newscast. Station officials won’t comment. Dahl, who uses Wolf as part of his WMVP-AM 1000 morning team, wasn’t concerned. “I figure for a while it’ll be a novelty,” said Dahl. “I’m sure I can work around it.”
Ready to roll: When WGN-Ch. 9 debuts its new “Morning News” at 7 a.m. Tuesday, co-anchors Dave Eckert, Sonja Gantt and weather forecaster Paul Huttner will be nothing if not prepared. Not only has the crew spent the last week rehearsing at 7 a.m., but it also has filled in on “News at Noon.”
“That wasn’t necessarily by design,” says news director Jennifer Schulze. “Tom Skilling is working on a documentary and Roseanne Tellez is on vacation, so Paul was filling in for Tom and Sonja was filling in for Roseanne. It worked out great, but I wasn’t smart enough to plan this. It just sort of came together. They’ve been rehearsing together in real time at 7 in the morning and then turning around and doing the noon news.”
The emphasis at the beginning will be on local news, local traffic and, of course, local weather. By 7 a.m., Schulze says, all the local affiliates-except for WFLD-Ch. 32-have reverted to network programming.
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“Certainly the (morning) show will evolve as newscasts do,” says Schulze. “Our biggest selling point is that it’s the only local news and information at that hour. I’m not discounting (WFLD), but (I feel) my main competition at 7 is the network shows. We’re viewing ourselves as a local alternative to CBS, NBC and ABC.”
Hear and there: WLS-Ch. 7 disabilities reporter Karen Meyer has been selectedby the National Easter Seals Society for its EDI (Equality, Dignity, Independence) Award. . . . WLUP-FM morning host Kevin Matthews was named “Local Air Personality of the Year” in the 1994 Billboard/Airplay Monitor Radio Awards. . . . Dave Collier is dedicating his weekly “Church of Blues” show to Chicago-based Delmark Records this month at 6 a.m. Sundays on WKTA-AM 1330.