Dan Gross: Mikey Miss: WIP wants me back

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.

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 WMMR tied for third place, while for men 18 to 34, Missanelli was fourth, Eskin 17th (93.3 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.

Brendan Fraser to join Fox 29?

Actor Brendan Fraser tried his hand at weather anchoring yesterday morning on Fox 29's "Good Day," goofing around with meteorologist SallyAnn Mosey and trying to give a forecast. The star of "Encino Man," "School Ties" and "The Mummy" was in town for a screening of "Extraordinary Measures" at the Prince Music Theater (1412 Chestnut). Fraser, who stayed at the Four Seasons, stars as

Princeton's John Crowley, who attended the Monday-night screening along with his wife, Aileen, who is played by Keri Russell in the film. The film, which opens Jan. 22, is about the Crowleys' struggle to find a medical researcher to help their kids, who had a rare genetic disease. Local heroes, such as representatives from Alex's Lemonade Stand, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Autism Cares, among other charities, were acknowledged at the screening.

Strip club Daydreams tries radio

Apparently the dancers at Daydreams (5200 Unruh) have great faces for radio. At 11 p.m. tomorrow, the strip club premieres a weekly hour-long show on 1360 WNJC AM hosted by Daydreams owner Steven Gross (no relation to Your Humble Narrator) and with some of his dancers' talking about their club and its goings-on.

The all-nude club's broadcast will be streamed online at wnjc1360.com and daydreams.us.

Area actor appears with Murphy

Abington native actor Mike Vogel starred opposite Brittany Murphy in "Across the Hall," which is out on DVD Jan. 19. It was one of the last movies Murphy made before her death.

Meat maven plays hostess

Dee Lincoln, founder of the Del Frisco's steakhouse chain with a local outpost at 15th & Chestnut, invited a crew of Philly friends to catch Sunday's Eagles loss in her Cowboys Stadium suite.

Lawyers Pat Hoban and Gary DeVito, Wodjak lobbyist Nina Tinari, local Del Frisco's spokeswoman Kelly Boyd and the restaurant's GM, Shang Skipper, who was promoted to regional manager for Sullivan's (which owns Del's), were guests of Lincoln, who just opened a wine bar called Dee's Bubble Bar in the stadium.

Visit PhillyGossip.com for Dan's latest updates or follow PhillyGossip on Twitter. Have a tip? Call 215-854-5963, or e-mail grossd@phillynews.com. For recent columns, visit go.philly.com/dangross.