Philly Radio: Layoffs Hit Beasley Stations

Hunter Brody, who was part of an afternoon trio that replaced Mike Missanelli at WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic, has been laid off as part of wider cutbacks at Beasley Media Group.

Brody took to Twitter to announce the news Monday afternoon, just an hour before the show was scheduled to air.

Found out this morning that Beasley Media had to make some cuts and I was unfortunately part of it. Can’t thank @975TheFanatic enough for the last few years. It was an absolute blast.

Excited to keep it rolling on Brodes Media!

— Hunter Brody (@Brodes81) July 10, 2023

Sources tell The Philly Inquirer that Eric Camille, the station’s assistant program director, was also laid off. Camille had been in the role since his promotion in Aug 2018.

Brody’s co-hosts on The Best Show Ever? — Tyrone Johnson, Ricky Bottalico, and Jen Scordo — will remain on the show, and addressed the news during the opening minutes of Monday’s episode.

“It makes me extremely sad, and upsetting for it to happen. I’m not happy about it,” Johnson said. “I know my program director is not overly happy about it, but this is the profession that we chose. And this is where we are employed.”

“The post-Covid months have been a particularly challenging time in our industry. Like other media companies, our markets have been directly impacted due to these uncertain economic conditions,” a Beasley spokesperson said in a statement. “As a result, we have proactively adjusted our operations accordingly to reflect the current financial climate.”

Hunter Brody spent a year co-hosting afternoons on 97.3 ESPN in South Jersey before joining 97.5 The Fanatic in March 2021 to host weekends. He was promoted to cohost for the afternoon show in July 2022 after the station forced out Missanelli.

Back in October, the station parted ways with Jamie Lynch, who most Philly sports fans know as “The Bro.” Lynch had been a co-host on 97.5 The Fanatic’s morning show alongside John Kincade, Bob Cooney, and producer Pat Egan.

Lynch co-hosted Monday’s midday show, filling in for Anthony Gargano, who is on vacation until next week.

In addition to Lynch, Beasley let go of longtime 93.3 WMMR host Paul Jaxon — known as DJ Jaxon — and 92.5 WXTU host Charlie Maxx as part of October’s cutbacks.

Beasley, which is based in Naples, Fla. has been trading around $1 since October. It is unclear how many employees at The Fanatic or Beasley’s other six stations in Philadelphia — 92.5 WXTU, 93.3 WMMR, 95.7 BEN FM, 102.9 WMGK, 610 ESPN, and 860 WWDB-AM — was impacted by Monday’s cutbacks.