ANCHORMAN Steve Bartelstein has found his way back on to local television while simultaneously battling cancer.
Bartelstein, 44, begins a new job Saturday as a weekend morning anchor at CBS-owned Ch. 2. He’ll be seen Saturdays at 6-7 a.m. and 9-10 a.m., and Sundays, 6-9 a.m., the station announced yesterday.
“I’m feeling OK,” he said on the phone yesterday. “I’ve got a long road [ahead], but I had one operation already. Now I’m in chemo.”
Bartelstein disclosed that he was diagnosed earlier this year with testicular cancer. “It spread, unfortunately, to the pelvic region and also my lymph nodes,” he said, adding, however, that his prognosis is good.
“Without a doubt, it’s highly beatable,” he said.
Bartelstein was a popular morning news anchor at ABC-owned Ch. 7 for six years before leaving in March following an incident in which he reportedly fell asleep in his office and missed a newscast. It was the day that nine children perished in a Bronx house fire.
Yesterday, Bartelstein neither confirmed nor denied the story. “It’s old news for me,” he said. “This [new job] is going to really put everything in perspective and I’m excited just to come here.”
On the weekend morning newscasts, Bartelstein will be paired with Mary Calvi, who will also continue as co-anchor, with Don Dahler, of the weekend evening newscasts until her replacement is named.