Radio rift that led to end of Bill Dwight show detailed by ex-host

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - Bill Dwight, former host of "The Bill Dwight Show" on WHMP-AM, said he left the morning program last week after the station's general manager told him an area businessman couldn't go on air as a guest because he was no longer advertising with the station.

Dwight, 55, who served as a city councilor from 1996 to 2004 and hosted the show for four years, said that as he was drafting notes for his show on April 26, he was told by Chris Collins, the station's program director, that Michael Kusek, an area publicist, was no longer allowed on the show because one of the businesses he represented was no longer airing ads with the station's FM affiliate, 96.9 The River.

"For whatever reason they decided that Michael wasn't allowed to come on because he stopped running advertisements, and I took serious issue with that," Dwight said. He declined last week to identify the issue that led to his leaving the station.

"That is not a condition that I reviewed my guests based on, and I told him that those were not the terms I was willing to work under," Dwight said.

Shortly after, Dwight said he was told by Sean O'Mealy, the station's general manager, that "either Michael is off the show or 'The Bill Dwight Show' is finished."

"That was when I decided to leave the show," Dwight said. "I did leave, but it was after they canceled the show. You can split hairs about it, but showing up when I didn't have a show would have been pretty silly."

O'Mealy directed inquiries for comment Tuesday to a statement posted on the station's website, in which he stressed that Dwight was not fired but chose to leave after a policy dispute.

"Like any other business, we set up some rules that we think are important for our employees to follow," the statement reads. "We try very hard not to be too bureaucratic especially in an entertainment based business in which creativity is valued. We have many longtime employees who have carved out their own identity following some simple guidelines. For his own reasons Bill became uncomfortable with those guidelines and chose to leave WHMP. He was not asked to leave and in fact, we were not expecting for this to be significant issue - it certainly hasn't been for our other staff members."

The statement went on to reaffirm to listeners that the sudden ending of Dwight's program was not based on his politics or political viewpoint.

"We are sorry to see Bill go, but we cannot create separate policies for each employee. Anyone who runs a business will certainly appreciate that conundrum. And so we will move on and find someone else to inform and entertain," the statement reads.

Kusek has been a regular guest on the radio station since he first appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" several years ago to promote several area nonprofits he represents. He said he was shocked to hear that he was no longer allowed on air because he said he discussed the pulled ads with O'Mealy before O'Mealy's confrontation with Dwight.

"Whatever the issue was that my clients had with their advertising - I went to them and had a subsequent conversation with management that made me feel like we were moving in a positive direction," Kusek said, adding, "I got off my chest what I had to get off my chest for my clients, and we had a meeting scheduled for this week to talk about advertising, which I canceled."

Dwight's show aired weekdays from 9 to 10 a.m., a slot that has since been filled by "The Stephanie Miller Show," which was airing from 10 a.m. to noon, and now begins at 9 a.m. and lasts three hours rather than two.

O'Mealy's statement can be seen in its entirety on the WHMP-AM website, http://www.whmp.com.

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