Philly Radio: Cord Gets Wake-Up Duty, Now WMGK To Fill Middays

Beasley Media Group’s 102.9 WMGK-FM has turned to a familiar face to replace recently retired morning show host John DeBella.

The Philly Business Journal reports the classic rock station has tapped midday host Matt Cord to take the reins beginning on Sept. 5, when he will be joined by DeBella producer and co-host Steve Vassalotti. The show will be called the "Matt Cord Show with Steve Vassalotti" and air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m.

A Beasley spokeswoman said the company will be announcing a midday replacement for Cord in the near future. Andre Gardner, the afternoon drive host and resident Beatles fanatic for the past 21 years, signed a multiyear contract extension with Beasley in April.

Cord took over middays at WMGK in January 2020. He has had a 30-year career in local radio, serving as morning show host at Beasley-owned adult contemporary station 95.7 BEN-FM as well as spending an additional 20 years split between working on the air doing evenings and afternoons on WMMR-FM. He was the afternoon drive host at Y-100. Cord began his career at Long Island’s WBLI-FM in 1988.

Vassalotti and Cord

He has served as the in-arena announcer for the Philadelphia 76ers for 23 seasons. As a young boy, Cord worked as an official ball boy for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1975-78.

“It goes without saying John DeBella is a tough act to follow,” Cord said in a statement. “I’m excited to have Steve as my co-host as our friendship goes back to his intern days.”

Vassalotti joined DeBella’s show in 2017 as a part-time board operator and rose to the role of full-time producer and co-host.

WMGK Program Director Bill Weston said in a statement that naming Cord as the new morning show host was “one of the most obvious hires I’ve made. Having Matt’s market experience and music knowledge plus his easy-going nature with the added producing chops and additional perspective that Steve brings to the conversation is just a terrific pairing.”

DeBella, one of the most enduring and successful voices in Philadelphia radio, told his listeners on May 11 that he planned to retire after more than four decades on the air. His last show was on June 30.

WMGK was Philadelphia’s highest-rated radio station in the May, June and July books.