Lost in the "Wing Bowl" mania of Friday was the fact that it was the last day on the air for Joe Conklin, of WIP 610-AM's morning show.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Conklin, 40, confirmed that he is not an employee of WIP anymore.

"I was notified in August that my contract would not be renewed because [WIP owner] Infinity is cutting costs, and the morning show was too expensive to produce," said Conklin, whose impersonations and comedy bits have been a mainstay of the morning show with Angelo Cataldi, Rhea Hughes and Al Morganti for nine years.
 
Another theory is that Conklin is involved in a contract dispute. Last year, Hughes went off the air for three weeks when her contract expired. Conklin and Hughes share the same agent, Steve Mountain. 

Conklin would not comment on his salary, which is estimated to be in the low six-figure range. Hughes was asking for $150,000 in her contract discussions with the station last year.

WIP 610-AM general manager Tom Bigby had no comment.

Known for his dead-on impressions of Bill Campbell, Bob Clarke, Larry Brown and Andy Reid, Conklin has turned his radio bits into a thriving business. He makes numerous personal appearances at sports banquets and comedy clubs throughout the area (http://www.joeconklin.com/).

The 1984 Temple  graduate got his on-air break as the sidekick to "Motor Mouth" Terry Young on the WCAU-FM morning show in 1986.

He worked part time for WMMR and got his entrée into WIP by calling into the old Jody MacDonald Show in the early 1990s. The morning show stole him away a couple of years later.

Though disappointed that he isn't at WIP, Conklin is realistic about the business of radio. "Nine years is a long run," he said.

Although he occasionally makes appearances on "Daily News Live" on Comcast SportsNet and CN8's "Sports Connection," Conklin said he is hoping to return to radio. He said he is in discussions with several stations. 

One of those stations is said to be WMMR 93.3-FM, which has been looking for a morning personality since the departure of  Barsky. WPTP 96.5-FM also has a morning vacancy after the firing of Mike Rossi last week.

Laura Nachman can be reached at bradyresident@aol.com.