This morning, Chad Hartman got the phone call that signaled the end of his 20-year-run at KFAN. Program director Chad Abbott said he needed to meet with the 2-4 p.m. host. "I knew then," Hartman says. "I had an eye appointment, and I had the sense I should pass on that."

He was nothing if not gentlemanly, expressing sympathy for bosses carrying out corporate's edict to lay off "a number of talented individuals." At one point, Hartman was so even-handed I had to ask how he felt about the day's events.

"I'm disappointed," he said, sounding both diplomatic and numb. "I'm not going to deny that. I wasn't looking to leave. I liked The Fan. The Fan is a good place to work. That doesn't mean I agreed with every decision. But I worked somewhere for 20 years, and we had a good relationship. It's disappointing."

In the five-to-ten-minute goodbye meeting, management didn't specify a cause beyond parent Clear Channel's financial stress, Hartman says. Was it possible ratings were a problem? "Let me put it this way — we had a ratings period recently, it came out Friday, where they told me I met a bonus," he says matter-of-factly.

This, of course, brings up the subject of working for someone else. Asked about non-competes and severance, Hartman wouldn't get into the mechanics of his contract, which reportedly runs to 2011. "There are just some things written into the contract that they promised to live up to."

Does he still want to do radio? "Sure, yup."

For WCCO or KSTP, which currently have slots open? "It's all happened so fast — I've worked at the Fan since the spring of 1990 — for me to turn the clock ahead and say I'm interested in places one, two or three, I'm just not there yet," he says. "And I don't know where anybody's at; so many different businesses are being decimated by what's taking place. The electronic or print media business, it's no different."

I was curious if Hartman felt he'd made a mistake eight years ago when he approached Barreiro about splitting up. Sid Hartman's smooth-talking boy got the less mission-critical 2-4 p.m. slot, while the fulminating Barreiro has become an afternoon drive fixture.

After allowing anything was possible, Hartman explained, "The reason I approached Dan at the time was the upcoming birth of our third child. Three kids, broadcasting Wolves game, I needed it to balance out a little bit. I'd expressed interest in working earlier in the day; he wanted to stay where he was at. Considering the time I've spent with my kids" — now 7, 12 and 13 — "it's hard to argue with in any way."

KFAN's designated explainer, General Manager Mike Crusham, hasn't yet returned calls for comment, but I'll toss off another item if I get his input.