Inqlings: Cataldi says WIP contract talks "more difficult"

WIP without

Angelo Cataldi

in the morning?

Possible.

With less than two months remaining in his contract - and three months before WIP's signature Wing Bowl - there's nervous buzz around the sports-talk station that a new deal is not at hand between CBS Radio and its 20-year veteran.

Contacted Friday, Cataldi confirmed that talks had been "more difficult than in the past," but did not disclose sticking points. His agent, Steve Mountain, declined to comment. Station manager Marc Rayfield did not return a message.

The economy has been playing a role in all TV and radio contracts, and broadcasters seem eager to get big salaries off their books - even when the big salaries draw ads and cinch partnerships. Cataldi, who makes well over $1 million, is WIP's franchise player.

Asked what else he would do, Cataldi replied: "How would I know? I'm under contract."

The October Arbitron ratings, released Wednesday, found Cataldi and crew just behind WMMR's Preston & Steve among WIP's target of men ages 25 to 54. Though the Phillies inflated sports-talk ratings, the station and the morning show had been on an upturn all year and had their highest ratings in memory last month.

Ryan Seacrest

hosted his radio show and his

E! News

show from Philly on Friday, as he was here on business. Though Q102 carries his program, Seacrest did not visit its Bala Cynwyd studio. In a time-saver, the multitasking mogul did his audio hits from a suite at the Four Seasons and used the lobby of the Comcast Center, about a block away, to shoot the E! show. Comcast, which owns E!, saw its signature video wall used as a backdrop.

South Philly rapper Beanie Sigel has been telling anyone who will listen about his beef with onetime mentor Jay-Z. Beans showed up Tuesday at Power 99, where the Hot Boyz were interviewing 50 Cent about his new movie, Before I Self Destruct. Movie, shmovie. Nothing like a little real-life drama: 50 Cent ended up interviewing Sigel. Hear it at www.power99.com .

CBS3's Pat Ciarrocchi and Ukee Washington play a brief cameo as reporters on As the World Turns tomorrow (2 p.m., CBS3). The episode was shot here last month. Plot: When Lt. Jack Snyder (Michael Park) comes to Philadelphia to work out some personal issues, there is breaking news in City Hall's courtyard.

Actor/sustainability advocate Ed Begley Jr. guested last week on Ecoman and the Skeptic, Philadelphia University's green radio show. It's archived at Green Talk Network's site, through www.philau.edu .

Food Network personality

Guy Fieri

stopped in the other day to talk up the Nov. 18 Merriam Theater stop of his touring show, which he likens to a food rock concert. He promises loud music and big food. (He has a six-foot-tall blender that will crank out 25 gallons of margaritas.) His opening act will be sandwich czar

Tony Luke Jr.

, singing an ode to cheesesteaks.

Reese Witherspoon's comings and goings at various swank Center City restaurants were well-documented during her three months here shooting a comedy with Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson. For her cover-story interview in InStyle mag's November issue, she went down-home. As in Down Home Diner at Reading Terminal Market, where "she blends in just fine" on a Saturday morning while eating an egg-white scramble and side of biscuits "amid the perfume of the diner's famed hickory-smoked bacon and the clanking of waitresses juggling their plates."

The drive to fund the annual holiday light display in Rittenhouse Square got a big boost last week. After reading here that the Friends of Rittenhouse Square and Rittenhouse Row were scraping together $60,000 to hang the white globes,

John J. Dougherty

of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 and

Mike Barnes

of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 8 offered pro bono labor to install and take down. That's about $50,000 in labor.

Mike Sykes

of Levittown took up the Bristol Riverside Theatre's offer to allow suitors to propose during the run of the comedy

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change

. On Thursday's opening night, Sykes had the spotlight on him as he popped the question to

Christen Sinclair

of Bensalem. Other benefits - she said yes, by the way - are free tickets to the show, whose run ends Nov. 22, and to the rest of the season. They met when she texted him by mistake and he responded anyway. "I guess she either thought I was funny, or she felt bad for me, so we kept up the texting," Sykes says.

Philly bartender/server

Sam Murray

won $50,000 on Friday's episode of

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

and became the last contestant to qualify for the show's "Million Dollar Tournament of Ten!" - which starts tomorrow. He'll face a $1 million question on Wednesday (12:30 p.m., 6ABC). See his questions from Friday at

» READ MORE: http://go.philly.com/murray

. Murray, who worked over the summer at Octo Waterfront Grille and is known for his sharp memory, once took a 22-person table's order without writing it down. And, yes, he got it right.