Philly Radio: WPHT Goes Local At Noon With Dom Giordano

Audacy Philadelphia has decided to go both local and internal in finding a replacement for the late Rush Limbaugh on Talk WPHT 1210 AM.

The Philly Business Journal reports Dom Giordano will move from mornings to Limbaugh’s 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. shift. Morning drive host Rich Zeoli announced the change on air Tuesday morning, noting that his show will extend another hour to 10 a.m., assuming an hour of Giordano’s former 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. slot. Weekend host Mike Opelka will fill in on the 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. shift until a permanent replacement is named.

Market Managerf David Yadgaroff said that permanent replacement will be a local hire and not a nationally syndicated host. He said local hosts are appealing to local advertisers seeking endorsements for their products and services. It is a different approach than the last time WPHT shuffled its lineup by replacing locally based morning show host Chris Stigall with Zeoli, a local afternoon drive host — freeing up the latter time slot for Sean Hannity's show to run live instead of later in the evening on delay.

Due to the topical nature of Hannity's show and the fast-paced news cycle, Yadgaroff said management felt at that time that airing it on tape delay was not helpful. WPHT will now have local programming from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

When Philadelphia-based radio and audio streaming company Audacy reached an agreement last month with former National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch to air on 11 of its stations, WPHT was one of them. Yadgaroff said at the time, “What we have planned is a little more of a value proposition for Philadelphia. We are very excited to air Dana’s show but what we have in mind might be a better strategy.”

Loesch will air on delay from 9 p.m. to midnight., though Yadgaroff does not think that will be as much of an issue as it was for Hannity's program. She joins a string of nationally syndicated conservative firebrands on WPHT’s afternoon and evening schedule — Sean Hannity from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Mark Levin from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Loesch appears to be replacing another syndicated host at 9 p.m., Joe Pagliarulo, who will no longer air on WPHT.

WPHT is the lowest-rated of Audacy’s six Philadelphia stations, ranking No. 21 in total listeners during the May period. As the post-election news cycle has simmered somewhat, so have the station’s ratings, falling from a 2.2% share to a 1.5% share. It has fallen behind Trenton-based New Jersey 101.5 FM (1.6%), which is owned by Townsquare Media and has a news/talk format.