Final day on air for ‘The Bert Show’: sadness mixed with pride and joy
The final “Bert Show” on Q99.7 Friday went more than two hours past its normal end time thanks to a series of family testimonials and no shortage of tears.
“I didn’t know this day would come,” said host Bert Weiss’ oldest son Hayden on the air. “I thought you’d be doing this until you were in hospice.” Then he joked, “Like, in three years.”
But at 58, Weiss felt like it was time to retire after grinding nonstop for nearly a quarter century and building a successful, award-winning morning show in Atlanta that was also heard in more than 20 markets nationwide.
“I have been sad but filled with joy also over the last couple of weeks,” Weiss said on air. “I’ve never experienced both emotions together but I’ve been pretty fragile.”
Earlier this week, he said he was driving and heard the ELO song “Mr. Blue Sky.” Inexplicably, that song triggered him. He had to pull over behind a Target and cry.
And as family and colleagues heaped praise on Weiss, he said, “I am not good with emotions and you’re making me face them.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also came to the studio on Thursday afternoon to thank Weiss for his service to the city residents.
“Twenty-five years of great impact in this city,” Dickens said. “This whole region knows your name, knows your voice, knows your heart.”
The show decided to throw the clock out the window and gave everyone on the show a chance to speak their piece.
Weiss’ first wife and mom of his two sons Stacey showed up on the mic Friday. He credited her for “making me as good as I could be at this while she handled everything else. It was a running joke for years.”
Stacey negotiated his early contracts and helped him launch Bert’s Big Adventure, his nonprofit which sends chronically and terminally ill children to Disney World in Orlando every year.
“You are amazing at what you do,” said Stacey to her ex-husband. “It’s a natural talent you have, the way you get people to talk to you and say things. You have this curiosity. It’s what made you so great. You never ever varied on who your audience was. It’s always about them.”
Weiss said his fiancee Amanda Coker opened his eyes and paved his way to retirement with plans to travel the world. He added that while “The Bert Show” has always strived for authenticity, his radio persona is “performative” to a degree. Now he can truly be himself off the air, he said.
“You made me a better person and a more authentic person,” he told Coker on the air. “I’ve been thirsty for this for a long time.”
Abby Murphy, a host for the past two years, thanked Weiss and his team for being so welcoming when she came on at age 26.
“This show healed a portion of me that was broken as a kid,” Murphy said. “I always felt rejected as a kid. When I joined the show, you embraced me as if I was somebody already... I’ll have to create my own magic somewhere else.”
Kristin Klingshirn, Weiss’ co-host going back to 2011, said she will remain on Atlanta radio without specifying exactly when or where. Q99.7 will run rotating substitute hosts for the time being starting Monday until a replacement show is announced.
“This show has become a part of me, which is why I feel like I’m losing an appendage today,” she said through tears. “Radio is what I do, but it’s also part of who I am. I am now fully embracing that.”
She said her friendship with Weiss has only deepened over time.
“You took a chance on a hick from Kentucky,” she said. “I have learned so much from you and you have not only made me a better radio personality and a better person.”
As it approached noon, Weiss ended the show by noting how he had managed to keep his emotions in check, saying that pride and joy was superseding any melancholy.
“We created this beautiful thing together that people are crying over,” he said.
He said he was in Athens over the weekend with his family and a fan approached him and teared up, which really hit him.
“You can really penetrate someone’s life like that and really make a connection and make yourself part of their daily routine,” Weiss mused. “That is big. When I say big, that is awesome... People could be in a bad place but they wake knowing they could get a chuckle or a little peace from what you do.”
But even as the accolades flowed in the past month since he announced his pending retirement, Weiss hasn’t wavered in his decision to close shop.
“I am totally at peace,” he said.
For now, he plans to travel and continue to run his small podcast company as well as Bert’s Big Adventure.
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
