{"id":1019,"date":"2025-04-03T13:23:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=1019"},"modified":"2025-04-03T15:06:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:06:36","slug":"replacing-a-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2025\/04\/03\/replacing-a-legend\/","title":{"rendered":"Replacing A Legend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For Dave Wilson, being named co-host of West Virginia MetroNews Talkline<\/em>, it was another step in a winding journey. A journey that began as a kid in Saint Marys, West Virginia with a cassette deck, a dream of being on the radio and the love of sports.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cI always wanted to be in radio,\u201d he says, smiling. \u201cI was a kid making commercials and playing DJ in my room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI was a kid making commercials and playing DJ in my room.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Dave Wilson<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

That early passion led him first to a local overnight shift at his hometown station. But it was Marshall University\u2014specifically, a piece of advice during freshman orientation\u2014that truly changed his path.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dean of the school of journalism at the time, Dr. Hal Shaver told me, \u2018If you wanna be in radio, go find the folks at WMUL,\u201d Dave remembers. \u201cAnd I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many young broadcasters in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Dave dreamed of sports glory\u2014calling games and being the next great play-by-play man. Sports was the goal. News? That was just where they bribed you with donuts to show up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only went to the news meetings for the donuts and pizza,\u201d he laughs.\"\"<\/p>\n

But life\u2014and radio\u2014rarely follow the script.<\/p>\n

A move to Northern Virginia for his then-fianc\u00e9e opened a door. The sliver of news experience gained at WMUL-FM landed him a reporter role in Winchester, Virginia. A few years later, Dave met West Virginia MetroNews host Hoppy Kercheval, who gave him a chance to anchor and report at MetroNews in Morgantown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still thought I\u2019d get back to sports,\u201d he says. \u201cBut then the opportunities kept coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a winding path that eventually led Dave to first fill in for Kercheval on Talkline<\/em> and later to become host, along with T.J. Meadows. Kercheval built Talkline<\/em> over four decades into a platform that sets the political conversation in motion in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a certain gravity that comes with it,\u201d Dave admits. \u201cYou know the audience is listening\u2014 all the affiliates, people across the state\u2014and they expect you to get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

What makes him the right person for the job isn\u2019t ego or volume, but fairness\u2014honoring Hoppy\u2019s legacy while shaping his own. For Dave, that means spotlighting the issues, the voices, the moments that matter to West Virginians.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne day, it’s a senator. The next, it’s someone asking their road still hasn’t been paved. Either way, it’s about the people and their stories.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Dave Wilson<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

\u201cOne day, it\u2019s a senator. The next, it\u2019s someone asking why their road still hasn\u2019t been paved,\u201d he says. \u201cEither way, it\u2019s about the people and their stories\u2014not me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Still, he laughs, recalling the moment that truly set him on this road\u2014a tough love conversation in Dr. Charles Bailey\u2019s sportscasting class.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me I had all the potential in the world, but I was at the time coasting, and if I wasn\u2019t going to step up, then I might as well quit wasting my time,\u201d Wilson recalls.<\/p>\n

That push transformed Dave from a student with a natural gift to one who maximized every opportunity WMUL offered.<\/p>\n

Today, looking back, he marvels at how it all unfolded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m lucky. A guy from St. Marys doesn\u2019t usually end up here,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not sure I was ever supposed to\u2014but with great teachers, a supportive wife, and a few well-timed nudges, here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as the voice of Talkline<\/em>, Dave is right where he\u2019s meant to be\u2014helping West Virginians understand their world, one story at a time.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s not done yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess? For me, it\u2019s retiring from MetroNews one day. That\u2019s the goal,\u201d he grins. \u201cKeep doing the work, keep serving the state, and see where this crazy path leads.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Dave Wilson, being named co-host of West Virginia MetroNews Talkline, it was another step in a winding journey. A journey that began as a kid in Saint Marys, West Virginia with a cassette deck, a dream of being on the radio and the love of sports. \u201cI always wanted to be in radio,\u201d he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":619,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/619"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1019"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1048,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019\/revisions\/1048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}