Philly Radio: WPEN's Mike Missanelli Is Cooking Up New Ventures

After 30 years in sports talk radio, WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic afternoon drive host Mike Missanelli has no plans to abandon his microphone any time soon.

The Phbilly Business Journal reports he is, however, looking to explore other interests. Hence, the launch of Mike Miss Ventures, a collection of side projects with a focus on his passion for cooking.

“Everyone’s got their own podcast, focused on creating their own brand,” Missanelli said in an interview Wednesday as he prepared for his show, which is also televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“We talk a lot about a lot of non-sports stuff on the air. We actually tried to do something with cooking on the air but it’s hard because we are half on television and half on radio and the radio listeners can’t see what we’re doing.”

Missanelli said his latest venture, “The Every Day Cook” show, will kick off with a live airing on Jan. 18 on celebrity video-sharing platform Cameo, with hopes that it can morph into a regular show. Sports talk radio has a largely male audience and Missanelli believes many men are reluctant to cook.

“So I want to show them they can make a nice meal for themselves,” Missanelli said. “They have all the ingredients they need at home.”

Missanelli said his interest in cooking began as a child, when he learned at the feet of his Italian grandmothers, often serving as a helper. The passion stayed with him his entire life.

A few years back, Missanelli spent a week in Tuscany enrolled in a cooking school run by a celebrity chef from Manhattan. He said he went by himself and was in a class with 12 Americans, most being women. He learned the art of making fresh pastas, kneading it for a half hour to prepare. Back home, a food processor helps speed up that process, but the results are the same.

“You can do so much with it,” Missanelli said. “Red sauce, white wine sauce, brown butter.”

On the upcoming “The Every Day Cook” show, Missanelli will show viewers how to make a chili dish for the coming weekend’s football games. There is also a complementary cooking blog.

There is also the hopeful relaunch of "PhillyPheud" game show, a take on "Family Feud" that includes Missanelli as the host and local celebrities and sports fans as contestants. The show, which aired on NBC Sports Philadelphia, has been put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic. Plans to relaunch it in the first quarter of this year were stalled by the recent emergence of the omicron variant of the virus.

Missanelli just signed a contract extension — he wouldn’t say for how long — at Beasley Broadcast Group's 97.5 The Fanatic, where he has hosted his popular afternoon drive show for the past 12 years. So the formal launch of Mike Miss Ventures is not a signal that he is planning to retire.

“I expect to stay for a good long time,” Missanelli said. “As long as I still enjoy it and the show is doing well, I don’t see a reason to stop.”