97.5 The Fanatic's Mike Missanelli says 610 WIP tried to woo him back
Dan Gross' blog, PhillyGossip, covers the behavior and misbehavior of celebrities both local and Hollywood. His Dan About Town column runs Mondays through Thursdays in the Daily News.
97.5 The Fanatic's Mike Missanelli says 610 WIP tried to woo him back
Dan Gross
97.5 The Fanatic's Mike Missanelli said on yesterday's show that 610 WIP tried to woo him away to replace Howard "The King" Eskin. Missanelli made the vague remarks while announcing that he had signed a multiyear contract extension with The Fanatic, which also airs on AM as 950 ESPN.
"We have had no formal conversations with Mike. However, we are friends and I do speak to him from time to time," Marc Rayfield, market manager for CBS Radio, which owns WIP, told us yesterday.
"I can categorically deny that any sort of offer was made to Mike," said WIP program director Andy Bloom. "He's trying desperately to create a story," Bloom said of Missanelli. Bloom also pointed out that Eskin remains under contract.
"It was suggested to me by a 'high ranking executive' that they would replace the longtime guy they currently have in that time slot with me. I will not name who that is," Missanelli told us in an e-mail late last night.
Missanelli twice worked at WIP, from 1992 to 2003 and from July 2005 to March 2006, when he was fired after punching part-time producer Brian Robbins during a live broadcast at Brownie's 23 East, in Ardmore.
Missanelli's show airs from 2 to 6 p.m. and Eskin's from 3 to 7 p.m., so the pair compete from 3 to 6 p.m. Both stations are primarily concerned with attracting men 18 to 34 and 25 to 54 because those demographic groups pull in big advertising dollars.
According to the most recent Arbitron ratings period, which includes part of December, Missanelli's show was ranked first with men 25-54, with B101 in second place and Eskin's show and 93.3 WMMR tied for third place, while for men 18 to 34, Missanelli was fourth, Eskin 17th (WMMR is first). As we first reported several months ago, WIP teamed Eskin for the first time in years with a co-host, former Eagle Ike Reese, who joined his program on Sept. 14.
Why would Mikey even consider returning to WIP??? Money talks but the new format has generated alot more listeners, especially those of us who have virtually given up on the losers at WIP (Ray Diddy aside). Ray and Glen on Saturday morninings have the only viable show, as for me, give me SR950 during my weekly commutes...nothing beats talk radio on FM!!— dwbye- Hey Howard, What are you going to cook for dinner every night when you are fired? Jerk of the century! Mikey Miss' time has come. Kudos! Love the snarkey comments about Ant--time to call Jenny!— caitlyn
- WIP is still on the air?— Jeff Dowder
- Both Eskin and Mikey Miz suck.— phink
Comment removed.- If you listen to the Eskin show lately, it seems that Ike is getting more and more of the talk time...could they be phasing out Eskin? Agreed that Eskin's "I'm the king and you're a moron" shtick is old and tired. Missanelli has a fresh and upbeat style. Missanelli is starting to get full of himself though...if you disagree with him, forget it, he will interrupt you, then give you 5 seconds to talk, then interrupt you again.— Oak31
- Eskin and Missanelli both suck. They are both the same type of radio announcers. More schtick than substance.— lgeagles
- Suggest Eskin and Wheels open a diner: J-offs-R-Us . Could feature "middle in moron burger with a side of doubles defense nitwit salad."— mick314
- Eskin is a know-it-all who knows nothing. He comes across so unprepared; he has presents little facts to back up his opinions/stories. And that morning show is a train wreck on WIP. Ria is another know-it-all. Although its just radio and we can't see her it seems that when she speaks she rolls her eyes in a "I'm so smart and everyone else is so stupid" way. I like AL though.— jimj266
- In other news, Big Daddy Graham resigned with WIP. They will pay him in a year supply of Tastycakes upfront.— Jack Daniels on the rocks
- Angelo and Howard leave alot to be desired. Glen, Ray, Ike and Anthony have class.— phillyz
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The last article about Cataldis contract issues and possible replacement generated about 95% anti Cataldi comments.Today Another WIP/WPEN article is bringing out more haters. Program directors are you getting the picture yet? .— argonne- I can't even listen to Anthony anymore with that insanly dumb South Philly accent.....even people from South Philly don't talk that way, he is the worst......SMOKE EM MISS'— spowlick
- Eskin never listened to anybody but himself and now no one listens to him.......The morning crew with Hughes and Cataldi are aweful as well. How bad does Rhea want to be a dude?!— spowlick
- I make it a point to tune in to WIP whenever Mr. Didinger is on, with Glen or whomever. Everyone else sucks, especially Cataldi, who should heed Kurt Vonnegut's advise "We are who we pretend to be, so we should be very careful who we pretend to be." Cataldi pretends to be a moron, and that's how he's going to be remembered.— Frank S.
- eskin blows, ike reese is just as bad. how long are they going to stick with all these nerds. cataldi, morganti, hughes. even ant gets on my nerves. he gets excited over stupid s#!t. "AWWWW! YEAHHH! THE GOAL LINE STAND, I LOOOVE THE GOAL LINE STAND!!!! Please, get a life— annad
- Eskin is living on borrowed time.....His act is old, rude and out of touch....(their is no bigger jerk in this country....his brain makes al sharpton's look like a genius)....(hopefully he won't take IKE down with him)...Missinelli has an equally big ego, the gets in his own way alot but he is still easier to listen to and far more listener friendly.....Michael, behave this time.....WIP, fire Eskin and make the sophmononic cataldia stop being such a hihg school girl....— nuggett
Just my opinion but I enjoy the part time hosts of WIP the best. They give you a fresh perspective. The long time hosts have a tough gig.Every skit and P.O.V. they do, we've heard a thousand times and they arent very adaptive to change. I think WPEN did a smart thing with the 2 hour slots. Given the nature and modest talent on Philly airwaves anything more than that becomes exhausting. For whatever reason these 2 stations think the public would rather here repetive usually uninteresting calls about topic of the week e.g. McNabb blaming his youthful teammates, instead of doing some homework to get national experts to tell us about the Eagles and the NFL as a whole. No place on earth can beat a dead horse like Philadlephia sports radio. That may be why they get 3.6 ratings and WEEI in Boston gets 5.6 ratings.- Comment removed.
- Eskin is bad, the Morning Show is worse... they are all that's wrong with the Philly Sports Fan... they get the Philly dopes all riled up... Thank God for ESPN Radio— EndTheDrought
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- WIP is so old and tired, like most of its hosts. Eskin is obnoxious and knows a lot less than he says. If they replaced him with just about anyone, I might listen again. Meanwhile I'll make do with Mikey Miss. And Thank God for the ESPN alternative to the WIP morning show blowhards.— chemlady
eskin is trash, and im gettin real tired of the Morning team as well. Mikey miz rocks- Comment removed.
- I heard Eskin will be a pizza slice at next years Mummers Parade.— billyglasses
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- Let's hope that Eskin is soon seen on the side of Roosevelt Blvd with a cardboard sign that says WILL BE A COMPLETE D-BAG TOOL FOR FOOD. What a creep - any bad fortune that falls upon that loser should be celebrated.— Jack Klompus
- Eskin can polish my bishop! What a toolbag!— hexyscores
- Eskin's irrelevance is translating to weak ratings -- and that eventually has to translate to a replacement. Let's hope.— mmds
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- Eskin is a rat— DJ-Kid #10
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