Philly Radio: New WPEN-WIP Sports Wars Point To Long Battle

Hunter Brody, Tyrone Johnson, Ricky Bottalico and Jennifer Scordo

Starting August 1, the new afternoon drive team at WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic will have big shoes to fill.

The Fanatic announced last week that the trio of Tyrone Johnson, Hunter Brody and Ricky Bottalico will take over the coveted time slot long occupied by Mike Missanelli, who had been the station's anchor since it switched to the sports talk format in 2010.

Reporter Jeff Blumenthal at The Philly Business Journal says the new hosts skew younger and will certainly be cheaper than Missanelli’s sizable contract. And the trio will now try to win back the ratings lead that veteran host held for so long over rival SportsRadio 94 WIP-FM before that station’s afternoon duo of Jon Marks and Ike Reese wrestled it away a few years ago.

Ray Mayo, managing director of Blue Bell media agency MayoSeitz Media, said finding Missanelli’s successors was critical from the perspective of attracting and retaining listeners and advertisers.

“I think that having some continuity from the previous show will certainly help with that,” Mayo said. “But I also think Bottalico or another big name is also an asset.”

Advertisers chose Missanelli’s show due to his personal brand and history of ratings success, but his replacements will not have that. Mayo said the station and Missanelli’s successors will have to work hard to retain partnerships in key categories like automotive, sports betting, beverage or restaurant

“The need to have long-term relationships and partnerships and bankable revenue is certainly critical for a radio station,” Mayo said. “The other thing is that you get a little younger. So getting a little more connected to social media platforms and alternative ways to listen. It's not just about the radio station. It's about the audio impact that you can make — and that would be rebroadcasting, having access to the show at all times, social media soundbites and things like that. I think it's about the impact you can make in the audio space, and I think the younger part of the team will certainly bring that.”

The younger component would be Brody, who is in his 20s, while Johnson and Bottalico are GenXers. All are younger than Missanelli, who is in his 60s.

“If you want to talk about Tyrone and Ricky, maybe a more middle-age audience,” Mayo said. “You kind of need that balance. But sports talk radio is at its best when there's conflict or when there's differing opinions. If everybody agrees, there's no real theater there. So having those perspectives and trying to broaden the appeal certainly seems like a smart decision to me.”

With Missanelli’s replacements in place, local sports talk radio listeners are waiting for one more successor to be named — WIP morning show host Angelo Cataldi plans to retire at the end of the year

The Fanatic, owned by Naples, Florida-based Beasley Broadcasting Group, trails Audacy's WIP in overall ratings and the most important demographics — which for sports talk radio involve men in their 20s, 30s and 40s that advertisers find so attractive. So it has focused on appealing to the millennial and GenZ audiences, especially with the emergence of podcasting and audio streaming as other options for those looking for their sports fix. The war with WIP will only intensify when morning drive ratings kingpin Cataldi steps down as host of the Audacy station.