Dwight may be mack on: WHMP manager, host talking it over

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By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - The Bill Dwight Show may be back on the air after a public dispute between host Dwight and management at the radio station.

Dwight, who has had a talk radio program on WHMP-AM for four years, said Tuesday he hopes to return to the airwaves next Monday, after leaving the show Monday morning following a disagreement with management at the station.

WHMP general manager Sean O'Mealy said his conversation Tuesday with Dwight was productive, and that it is ongoing. He said he hopes it will come to "mutual understanding that will benefit both of our interests." He also stressed that Dwight hadn't been fired.

"Bill and I came to a few mutual understandings, and it looks like he will be back," O'Mealy said. "This is still a conversation that is currently in progress, so I would not be certain that he will be back on Monday, but as this continues to evolve we hope we will be able to work it out."

Dwight, 55, meanwhile, said he hadn't quit his job, but that he left the station Monday after receiving an ultimatum he couldn't live with: either cancel a guest he had lined up or leave altogether. He declined to reveal the name of the prospective guest.

"We had a public spat that was a little embarrassing, tempers flared, and when we should've stepped back and had a 10-count, we ended up making the front page," Dwight said. "Now we have a clear understanding as to what my status is at the radio station. I've asked for the final word as to who comes on my show and what we talk about on my show, and they have the right to fire me when they want to."

Dwight said after his conversation with O'Mealy Tuesday, he hopes to be back on the air as soon as next Monday.

"What makes this situation so mortifying is that now it looks like this was some kind of gimmick to put us in the news or something, when in fact it wasn't a gimmick, it was a hissy fit that had nothing to do with me," Dwight said.

Dwight's show airs weekdays from 9 to 10 a.m. Monday is his four-year anniversary with the station.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.