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RADIO WARS: Is There Anybody Left to Cut at 97.5 the Fanatic? And What’s the Strategy Anyway?

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Apr 29th, 2025 · 2:50 PM EDT

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Tyrone Johnson departed 97.5 the Fanatic on Friday afternoon, wrapping up a nine-year stint that saw him go from Mike Missanelli’s producer and co-host to PM drive lead anchor. On Monday and Tuesday, Connor Thomas sat in the host chair alongside Ricky Bottalico, a temporary arrangement until Beasley installs a new host.

As we mentioned in the Tyrone post, current Fanatic leaders Scott Masteller and Paul Blake were not in charge when Missanelli first departed in 2022. The decision to launch The Best Show Ever? with Tyrone, Ricky Bo, Jen Scordo, and Hunter Brody was made by then-VP/Market Manager Joe Bell and Program Director Chuck Damico. Bell was let go in 2024 while Damico went back to his previous role with 93.3 WMMR.

The first thought that comes to mind: is anybody left at 97.5 the Fanatic? It feels like they’ve cut the entire staff over there. Going back five years now, the following folks have departed:

• Tyrone Johnson
• Mike Missanelli (left and returned)
• Natalie Egenolf
• Hunter Brody
• Jen Scordo
• Marc Farzetta
• Devon Givens
• Pat Egan
• Jamie Lynch
• Anthony Gargano
• Bob Cooney
• Sam Wilson
• Tyler Zulli
• Tom Alvord
• Eric Camille
• Joe Bell
• Chuck Damico
• numerous folks behind the scenes, in sales, programming, etc

The list doesn’t even include cluster-wide cuts at WMGK and other stations, talent like Andre Gardner, Paul Jaxon, Eric Johnson, etc.

If you want to take it back even further, about 10 years or so to 2015, the Fanatic has also lost Tra Thomas, midday hosts Jon Marks, Sean Brace, Jason Myrtetus, Rob Ellis, Harry Mayes and Tony Bruno, plus Eytan Shander, Nick Kayal, and a number of hosts who filled weekends and nights and covered for vacations and other absences. 94 WIP has had turnover as well, but not nearly to the extent of WPEN.

Certainly, Beasley has added pieces to replace the departures. Ray Dunne, Thomas, and Sylvana Kelleher have been getting opportunities. Ricky Bo and Kevin Cooney are a net positive in the institutional knowledge department. Andrew DiCecco came in as the football guy and has been featured prominently. Bill Colarulo made a quick rise through the weekend ranks to find himself on middays, while Amy Fadool is still appearing occasionally on the airwaves. It’s a younger staff overall, still relatively green when considering that this is one of the largest media markets in the country.

When readers send us RADIO WARS emails and DMs, the one thing we hear more than anything is something along the lines of, “what’s the plan at the Fanatic?” They aren’t really sure what the station is trying to do, and outside of trimming costs, neither are we.

It’s been a tough run for radio, TV, and legacy media in general. 94 WIP’s owner, Audacy, went bankrupt. We know Beasley isn’t flush with money, so they can’t go out and make a splash and hire big radio names to come in and move the needle. They aren’t going out to get one of the Mike Golics, or whomever else. The result is a situation where the Fanatic doesn’t have an identity. If you insist on talking Eagles and “playing the hits,” you’re always going to be far behind WIP. You can think whatever you want about WIP, but they have a defined and successful strategy. They are going to put a former Philadelphia Eagle in every time slot and bludgeon you to death with football until you are nothing but a bloody gridiron pulp. That works very well when you have the resources and the radio rights, which the Fanatic does not have. So if I’m Eagles fan, why would I listen to the Fanatic at all? What Eagles talk do I get at the Fanatic that I don’t get at WIP? The only reason you’d choose the former for your Birds talk is if you like a specific host, DiCecco for instance, or dislike the WIP staff.

So the question is, and always has been, how does the Fanatic find a lane of its own? Does one even exist? They don’t have the Eagles rights or the Phillies rights. What do you do with the Sixers, Flyers, and Union rights? Well, you could try being the anti-WIP. You could try to offer a product they don’t offer. Maybe instead of playing the hits, you kick the door wide open. That means you talk about all of the teams in the city and you expand the discussion to anything that listeners want to talk about. Maybe you try to find unique guests that WIP doesn’t, and make up for a nascent staff’s lack of deeper knowledge in that way. Back in the day, people like Jayson Stark and Brian Westbrook were frequent, recurring guests, and you see the value of the weekly Adam Schefter hit on the Kincade and Salciunas show. Kevin Negandhi, too. Program Director Masteller, who isn’t a phone call guy, would probably agree that lining up more and better guests on a daily basis would be one way to bridge the gap and give listeners something different.

Similarly, they could lean more on their partnership with NBC Sports Philadelphia as a tool that WIP doesn’t have. It’s worked out well enough with Ricky Bo bringing his baseball knowledge to the station.

Otherwise, the options are what? Focus more on the Sixers and Flyers as the rights holder? The Sixers stink and hockey is difficult to talk about on the radio. The NBA is dramatic and interfaces very well with sports media in a number of ways, but hockey doesn’t. The media also knows nothing about hockey because very few of us actually played the sport. We can’t speak about it with much expertise or knowledge, but we can probably talk about LeBron and the Lakers and whether or not the Sixers should blow it up or run it back with the hobbled duo of Joel Embiid and Paul George.

I also think the Fanatic would benefit from finding some older personalities who have been working in Philly sports for a minute and wouldn’t mind picking up the occasional part-time or weekend shift. WIP has always had that stable of Rickie Ricardo, Rob Ellis, Rob Charry, Paul Jolovitz, Reuben Frank, Big Daddy Graham (RIP), Al Morganti post-morning show, etc – guys who have been around the block and just have a good, general knowledge of Philly sports history. Glen Macnow and Ray Didinger held down weekend mornings for a long time, and you can still turn on WIP on a Saturday or Sunday night knowing that there’s a veteran in the seat who can talk a little bit of everything. The Fanatic has Dei Lynam and Kevin Cooney for that right now, but could beef up that portion of the roster without breaking the bank.

Otherwise, I don’t know what the answer is. They don’t have a lot of money and a lot of options. You’re not going to beat WIP at their own game, so do you accept 2nd place in perpetuity, and try to make enough money off 4.0 and 3.5 Nielsen numbers? Or do you say, “you know what? screw it, let’s roll the dice here and try something different“?

A question for the philosophers.