Philly Radio: 94 WIP Morning Host Plans To Hang-Up His Headphones

Ratings powerhouse Angelo Cataldi plans to retire at the end of 2022 as host of the morning drive program at SportsRadio 94WIP — his professional home for the past 33 years.

The Philadephia Business Journal reports Cataldi, 70, made the announcement on air Wednesday morning after hinting last week that a big announcement was coming. The popular sports talk radio host said he was originally planning to retire last May after experiencing burnout symptoms but that David Yadgaroff, market president for WIP's Philadelphia-based parent company Audacy, asked him to stick around for one more year.

Cataldi, whose contract expires at the end of this year, said he agreed as long as he got a few things in return, including working four-day weeks, a driver to take him to weekly remote broadcasts at the Borgata in Atlantic City, and the company bringing back former WIP marketing director Cindy Webster, who was laid off by Audacy last year, as a consultant.

Cataldi said he believes co-hosts Al Morganti, Rhea Hughes and Keith Jones would like to continue at the station after he departs.

"I am officially announcing that my final day at WIP with be December 2022,” Cataldi said during Wednesday's broadcast. “I will work one additional year as a sense of thanks to the people who have run this radio station and have been so good for me.”

The Providence, Rhode Island, native said he wanted to wait to make the announcement until he spoke with WIP Brand Manager Rod Lakin, who is in just his third day on the job after being hired to replace Spike Eskin last month.

Lakin now has a massive responsibility less than a week into relocating to Philadelphia and WIP from Phoenix: Replace his station’s ratings powerhouse who is responsible, directly and indirectly, for bringing in a large chunk of its advertising and sponsorship dollars. Cataldi is a prolific pitch man for sponsors ranging from fork lift rental companies to auto dealers, and the higher the ratings for his show, the more WIP can charge for ad spots.

The person perhaps most rumored to be Cataldi’s successor is now his biggest competitor, John Kincade, the Philadelphia-area native who returned home last year from Atlanta to become the morning show host for rival station 97.5 The Fanatic WPEN-FM.

WIP has some internal options to replace Cataldi such as midday hosts Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie, afternoon drive team Jon Marks and Ike Reese, evening host Joe Giglio and fill-in host Jon Johnson. None are obvious choices and each would leave another hole in the station’s lineup.

Cataldi, who reportedly earns over $1 million, first joined WIP in 1988, when he left the Philadelphia Inquirer to co-host a show with former Eagles great Tom Brookshier. Cataldi had earned a reputation as a serious journalist at The Inquirer, where he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in specialized reporting.