Friday marked the end of The Bert Show after nearly 25 years, with Bert Weiss officially stepping away from the program.
After originally launching the program in 2001 in Atlanta, The Bert Show grew to more than two dozen affiliates around the nation.
As he bid farewell to the show, Weiss said he’s become retrospective of his career in the final weeks of the show. And it’s something he’s glad he’s done.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done. (Co-host Kristin Klingshirn) has given me the most beautiful gift, the most selfless gift over the last couple of weeks in demanding that I take a look at what we have all done together over 25 years, and this group of Bert Show also, because I wouldn’t have done it,” he said. “And you’ve given me the gift of joy signing off today. And I wouldn’t have done that without you. And you have done that with me time and time. I have learned so much from you, so much from you. The other day, we were taking a look around the studio and there’s this big Bert Show sign behind me that I’m taking with me today. It’s going to be the last thing that I do in this studio, is take that thing off the wall and walk out the door and shut the lights off.
“And I’ve been looking at it quite a bit the last couple of days, not just because it’s a sign, because the words mean something, you guys. When you look at The Bert Show, it’s not just the logo. It’s 25 years of bringing a city together.”
“I always felt rejected as a kid. I always felt like I was never the person that people wanted to hang out with, or thought was cool, or thought was fun, or thought was funny,” added Klingshirn. “And I joined the show, and just every single person from The Bert to Big Adventure Women to my co-workers here, you always embraced me like I was somebody already.”
During his final program, Bert Weiss welcomed former and past members of the show, as well as those from his personal life come on and sare their farewells.
“I tell people this all the time: it’s just a natural talent that you have,” Weiss’ ex-wife, Stacey, said on the show. “And you have this way about getting people to talk to you, to say things. You have this curiosity about you. And I think it’s what’s made you so great. But the bigger thing that’s made you the greatest at the show is that you never, ever, ever varied from who your audience was. You always delivered to them. It was always about them. So anyone listening that’s ever listened, Bert made it about you all the time. All the time. To the point where we sacrificed a lot of our family for you to have him at 100%.”
“Thank you for embracing me and for welcoming me,” Weiss’ fiance, Amanda, shared. “I really wanted to stay in the shadows and I didn’t want to be a part of the grandeur of all of this. But you have shown me nothing but kindness and love and I wish I could return that tenfold to you.”
During his tenure, Bert Weiss earned induction into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame, recognition from the Friends of Georgia Radio Hall of Fame, and three National Radio Hall of Fame nominations.
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