Philly Radio: WPHT Goes Local, Sean Hannity Is Odd Man Out

Sean Hannity’s syndicated radio show will no longer air on WPHT 1210 AM as the conservative talk station has made major changes to its weekday lineup.

Rich Zeoli, who has been handling morning drive duties from 6 to 10 a.m. since replacing Chris Stigall in 2019, will return to his afternoon drive shift from 3 to 7 p.m., where Hannity’s program had aired. Replacing Zeoli in the morning is veteran sports talk radio host Nick Kayal, who will helm a program called "Kayal & Co." Zeoli’s morning co-hosts Dawn Stensland and Greg Stocker — who doubles as WPHT’s brand manager — will now work with Kayal.

All changes will take effect Oct. 3 and will give the Audacy-owned station all local hosts during day parts for the first time, reports The Philly Business Journal.

Nick Kayal

“For the first time ever, WPHT will be live and local from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., which further cements this fan favorite as the voice of Philadelphia and a reliable destination for our listeners,” Audacy Philadelphia Market Manager David Yadgaroff said in a statement. “We’re excited to welcome Nick, who is trading in his sports background for his passion for politics, to our morning drive, and move Rich and his highly-successful program to entertain and inform listeners as they wind down their days.”

Kayal is an Easton native and 2006 Temple University graduate perhaps most familiar with local audiences from his time at 97.5 The Fanatic (WPEN-FM) from 2009 to 2015. He moved on to hosting gigs for SiriusXM and, more recently, ESPN 102.5 The Game in Nashville and Audacy's 92.9 The Game in Atlanta (2020).

“While I enjoyed those markets, the people, the weather and living in the south, nothing gets my juices flowing like talk radio in the city of Philadelphia,” Kayal said on Twitter.

“I am looking forward to a new challenge," he said. "Going from sports talk to news/political talk. Over the past 6-7 years, but increasingly over the last three years, my appetite for political content has increased and now I finally get to voice my opinions on these subject matters.”

Audacy started to move toward more local programming last year when Rush Limbaugh died, leaving an opening between noon and 3 p.m. That was filled by local host Dom Giordano, who was replaced by Stensland on his 10 a.m. to noon shift.

Sean Hannity

So WPHT has gone from having six hours of local programming to 13 hours in the past year, with Limbaugh and Hannity exiting the station.

Audacy could have chosen to air Hannity’s show on tape delay at night but instead has decided to stick with Mark Levin from 7 to 9 p.m. and Dana Loesch from 9 p.m. to midnight.

WPHT is the lowest-rated of Audacy’s six Philadelphia stations, ranking No. 23 in total listeners during the August period. Despite a U.S. Senate and governor’s race coming in November, former President Donald Trump under investigation by federal and local prosecutors, and a bevy of hot-button topics to discuss, the station’s ratings have sagged from as high as a 2.2% share to 1% for the past three months. It has fallen behind Trenton-based New Jersey WXKW 101.5 FM (1.3%), which is owned by Townsquare Media and has a news/talk format.

Despite the poor ratings, Yadgaroff has said that while conservative talk radio doesn’t have mass appeal, it does have a loyal audience.